Help - Primary is going crazy

Please help.

I brewed a 1.080 batch of extract brew last night and I made a starter. The fermentation temp was supposed to be 68 and I have been there or at 70 for the last 24 hours. After about 12 hours the top popped on my plastic 6.5 gal carboy and the foam was coming out the sides slowly. I cleaned it up and put the top back on the carboy but it happened again about 2 hours later. now the foam is coming straight out of the air gap and I can tell it is about to build up pressure and pop again.

Is there any way that I can slow this down without ruining the beer.

Dennis

Not really, just use a blow-off tube in a bucket of sanitizer water. the bigger the tube the better but you can use small tubing as well, it clogs easy though.

cheers!

You need a blow off tube. An airlock is not going to release it fast enough. If you don't have a blow off tube, put the fermenter in the bath tub and cover the top with foil. It will still make a mess but a contained one.

I also recommend making sure that you have enough space at the top of the fermenter. And dropping that fermentation temp a few degrees for future brews may result in less mess. Mid 60s for most ales will slow things down just a tad and will result in ultra tasty brew.

I had this happen to me not long ago. I basically had to open ferment for about 12 hours because no matter what I tried to do, the bucket looked like it was going to pop. After things died down a bit, I was able to put a blow off on and it without it looking like it was going to explode.

If your beer is fermenting that vigorously, it is most likely throwing out enough CO2 to keep any bugs out. My beer has been in the fermentor for 11 days now and I have no signs of infection. The hydrometer sample I took tonight tasted just fine.

Thank you all for your replies.

I have moved the primary out into the garage where it should get into the low 60's also I have attached a blow off tube that is not exactly air tight but I figure at this level of activity it should create enough co2 to keep in clean. I will try to recap it in the morning.

Thank you again.