I think my yeast are trying to kill me...

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gdwolfe273

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So I probably filled my fermenter up a little high with my imperial pumpkin ale and the yeast are going nuts. Bucket is very full now and yeast sludge is getting blown into the blowoff tube (thank god I used a blow off tube) you can see it in the attached picture. Does anyone have any suggestions at this point (swap out the water in the growler, clean tube, just leave it and let the yeast party, etc)??? Just want to make sure I don't ruin the beer because of this... Thanks!

image-1760316303.jpg
 
I only have a few brews under my belt and half of them did this. So I asked the very same question. As long as its still fermenting leave it alone. It's still a good barrier against infection. Once it stops you can swap them out with new sanitized equipment. Or as long as the liquid in the blow off tube has not solidified. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks! I have brewed about 10 to 15 beers and this is the first time using a blowoff tube and DEFINITELY the most active fermentation I have had. Looks like I am letting the yeast party for now. :)
 
In the rare cases I have had this happen....once i know a blow off tube is no longer needed I put on a new sanitized airlock....usually after the first 2 - 3 days, I can swap out.
 
louie0202 said:
In the rare cases I have had this happen....once i know a blow off tube is no longer needed I put on a new sanitized airlock....usually after the first 2 - 3 days, I can swap out.

That is what I was thinking as well. Thanks!
 
bja said:
^^This. I'm betting it's way too warm.

2 packs of Safale us-05 and temp is no more than 70 degrees. Pitched at 67 degrees Sunday night and gradually got more vigorous throughout yesterday. It started going nuts like that last night and it was actually probably closer to 67 or 68 at most over night.
 
2 packs of Safale us-05 and temp is no more than 70 degrees. Pitched at 67 degrees Sunday night and gradually got more vigorous throughout yesterday. It started going nuts like that last night and it was actually probably closer to 67 or 68 at most over night.

I usually ferment between 60-62 and rarely have an out of control fermentation. Though it has happened. IMO 70 is way too high.
 
bja said:
I usually ferment between 60-62 and rarely have an out of control fermentation. Though it has happened. IMO 70 is way too high.

bja said:
I usually ferment between 60-62 and rarely have an out of control fermentation. Though it has happened. IMO 70 is way too high.

No dedicated fermentation fridge available, using evaporation technique to keep as low as possible (set fermenter in oil pan, put water in oil pan, tshirt over fermenter to soak up water, and try to have a fan blowing on it). Plus it is cool at night right now so I leave the windows open. But short of cranking the A/C down to 60 degrees (which isn't very feasible) I don't think I will be getting it that low. I have fermented almost all my other beers at that same temp and usually don't have as vigorous of fermentation going on. I always make sure i stay within recommended fermentation temps per the yeast manufacturer www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/HB/EN/Safale_US-05_HB.pdf Part of it (as mentioned above) is that I filled the fermenter up too much, but not much I can do about that at this point. I have a good idea about why it is happening. Mostly wanted to see what was recommended with the blow off tube and growler with star san solution in it.
 
Decided to quickly swap out growler with a new one with fresh star san solution in it...but didn't touch the blow off hose yet. In another couple days if fermentation has slowed down I will swap it out with a fresh airlock and clean out the hose in some PBW. I set up the fan to try and keep the temp as low as possible to slow things down just a little bit and now crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. For the love of pumpkin beers, please keep your fingers crossed with me. Thank you!
 
You could always go down to your LHBS and buy a fermometer for a couple bucks - nifty little things to have, just slap it on your fermenter and you know what tempt the yeast are at inside
 
xmacro said:
You could always go down to your LHBS and buy a fermometer for a couple bucks - nifty little things to have, just slap it on your fermenter and you know what tempt the yeast are at inside

Already got it on there. That's how I was able to quote the temps earlier. By the time I got home from work the temp did go up a little (I'm guessing mostly due to the heat given off during very very active fermentation since the house temp didn't really go up). So I shoved the fan on it to bring it back down and keep it cool.
 
I've had a few fermentations like that. I've never changed out the blowoff tube. I just secondaried one today. Luckily, I had the better bottle in a big tub with the blowoff reservoir in there as well. I put the better bottle cardboard box over the top of the carboy and that contained a nasty yeast spurt when the bung popped out (luckily I heard it pop and quickly secured it back in there with sanitized foil and a rubber band). I did have a scary moment when I was securing the bung back in there. The turbo stream of CO2 completely stopped and I thought that I had created a gap between the hose and the bun. I sprayed starsan all over the whole thing to look for bubbles, but everything seemed airtight. After about 2 minutes of puzzled staring, I heard the BB actually groan and then saw a big plug of trub sliding through the tube. After a huge hippo fart, all was well again. There was about 1/8" of yeast/sanitizer overflow in the tub and there was dried trub all over the BB, the hose, and the reservoir. The one thing I don't like about the BB is that my old big bore blowoff assembly doesn't fit (yet). Part of me thinks that theoretically, once positive pressure inside the fermenter is gone, then nasties could propagate up the blowoff tube and into the beer due to the trub lining on the tube and in the top of the fermenter. But by then the alcohol is up and the sugars are down, and I am really lazy, so I never worry about it.
 
RDWHAHB! That's a great sign that your yeasties are doing their job and doing it well. Leave it be until it's done, or slap on a sanitized airlock after the vigorouus fermentation subsides.
 
krenshaw said:
hey OP, what kind of fermenter is that?

6.5 gallon food grade bucket (not sure on the actual brand of bucket...whatever the local home brew store has). Made the blow off tube out of a three piece airlock and some tubing going into a growler.
 
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