Jackjama

Recipes 

I have been using a 7.9 gallon bucket to ferment five gallon brews. I have always used the standard three piece airlock with good results.

As i move to new recipes and yeasts, is there a rule of thumb to know when the fermentation will be aggressive enough to require a blow off tube?

501irishred

Recipes 

With that large of a bucket, you may never need one........ I typically brew 5.25-5.5 gal in a 6.5 bucket and my personal rule of thumb is anything over 1.050 OG.

heyblinkin

Recipes 

Depends on the gravity, fermentation temp, and yeast strain. I've never needed one with my 8 gallon bucket, but use one all the time with carboys.

duboman

Recipes 

It comes down to how much head space you have in your vessel, if you have 30% or more available then most likely a blow off tube is not necessary but iMO it is a good idea to just get in the habit of using one so you don't ever have to worry about it!

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mobilecabinworks

Recipes 

When you have krausen coming out of the airlock That's when you need a blowoff hose

Jon73

Recipes 

I went to one when I had to clean the krausen off the ceiling.

Nagorg

Recipes 

Just know that your blowoff tube can still blow off like mine did! It needs to allow some good flow...

501irishred

Recipes 

Mom always said there would be one in every group!

HungerJack

Recipes 

Personally I lways use a blowoff. To me, it's not worth the risk of having to clean up an entire closet, or wherever you choose to ferment.

Frogmanx82

Recipes 

Its certainly more of an issue the warmer your fermentation area is so its a bigger threat in summer.