"close call" cream ale.....

maltMonkey · 01-14-2009, 01:47 AM

Brewed a cream ale Sunday - nothing exciting: 5 gallon batch (in an 8 gallon fermenter), OG 1.047, 85% american 2 row, 15% flaked corn, wyeast 1056 smack pack, no starter.

It was fermenting fine Monday morning and evening. I got home tonight and the fermenter lid had swelled like a pregnant belly. Krausen through the airlock (plugging it completely).....I think if I had come home an hour later it could have been messy.

I've heard all the arguments for blow off tubes before, but this is the first time I have ever needed one in 40+ batches. No idea what's going on, as I've brewed wheats, hefes, and high gravity beers before with no problem.

The only things I can think of are that I got a smack pack with a really high yeast cell count, or it had something to do with the corn. I also aerated a little more than normal.....

Anyway, I'm just glad I didn't have to clean up an explosion!

andyb0527 · 01-14-2009, 01:55 AM

Had the same problem this morning. After 4 days of fermentation on my wee heavy I thought I was safe and stoped checking on it every few hours. Caught it just in time but from now on I will be installing blow off tubes on all my high gravity beers

**Reno_eNVy** · 01-14-2009, 06:16 AM

Ha, lucky you caught it in time. I wasn't so lucky last year with my Imperial Stout. I left it in my buddies room (he had better temperature control at the time) over Christmas vacation thinking, "Oh, it'll be fine." Heh, come back to a sticky mess all over my friend's floor. I gave him a 12 pack for his troubles ^_^

maltMonkey · 01-15-2009, 12:40 PM

So i put a blow off tube on the airlock, but the stupid airlock has clogged up twice more. Guess I need to cut the tip off of it, because it's the little points on the tip that keep getting clogged up.

Seriously though, why is this beer going so nuts, especially with 3 gallons of headspace? Is it the corn?