Always use a blow off

NRF said:

Cleaning the fridge would still suck, no?

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Hopefully if that happens I can just unplug it and hose it out

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

I used to use water and never had any problems. It would be quite a journey for nasties to reach the carboy, especially with the amount of outward CO2. Now I just dump the starsan I use to sanitize my carboy into a waiting vessel, typically a 1/2 gallon carboy which I use for the blowoff. I don't know that it's necessary, but previously I was just dumping the san-solution down the drain...might as well repurpose it

travis87 said:

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

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I had an assumtion my idophor needed replaced when i had some funk develope a few times,so now i replace my idophor-airlock or i leave it low and put new in with my spray bottle every week.I dont exactly have an airtight seal all the time sometimes, with my widemouth jars so i have since bottled earlier or kept replacing the solution weekly.
I think clean water would be ok for a while but why not put some sanitizer in it-its a small amount and cheap enough.Maybe even some non-cholorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide if i was desperate. I just use what i would throw out or clean with and have extra i save in a jug just in case or i use for my next batch usually adding a little more to it. I think the risk is lower with less time ideally besides co2 is trapped inbetween anyway.

Good to know, I was just curious more than anything. It's not at all an inconvenience to use sanitizer, not to mention the piece of mind that comes with it. Just something that had crossed my mind as a first-time brewer.

Thanks guys!

travis87 said:

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

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I just use plain old tap water. If you start to notice suck-back in your blow off tube due to temp change, cold crash, etc.., just lift the end of the tube out of the water and it will drain back to the blow off container.

I don't really think there is a wrong answer for this, just whatever is convenient and works for you.

Pez.

I've done 9 or 10 batches now and all but one have required a blow off regardless of gravity. Is that normal?

I started using blow-off tubes for primary and 3 piece airlocks for secondary and after the initial rush of fementation in the primary.

travis87 said:

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

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I use Everclear in all my air locks.

Grumpybumpy said:

I've done 9 or 10 batches now and all but one have required a blow off regardless of gravity. Is that normal?

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I would say that it depends.. What size batch in what size of a vessel? If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy there is almost no extra space for the krausen.

I have a bucket that holds almost 7 gallons to the brim. I did an average brew and it blew a lot. I have 6 gallon better bottles and sometimes they never get close to blowing. I usually use Fermcap-s to control the krausen but have even gotten blow off with it.

Someone else:
Saying you don't need a blow off for low gravity beers is like playing Russian Roulette. Good luck.

kh54s10 said:

I would say that it depends.. What size batch in what size of a vessel? If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy there is almost no extra space for the krausen.

I have a bucket that holds almost 7 gallons to the brim. I did an average brew and it blew a lot. I have 6 gallon better bottles and sometimes they never get close to blowing. I usually use Fermcap-s to control the krausen but have even gotten blow off with it.

Someone else:
Saying you don't need a blow off for low gravity beers is like playing Russian Roulette. Good luck.

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5g in a 6.5g better bottle. I guess it's the 1056? I usually make a starter and get a crazy churning fermentation. Not complaining, just fascinated that all my beers want to escape

I've got about 50 brews under my belt so far, and I've always been stubborn about using a blow-off hose, until this morning (see pic).

I checked my beer before bed - no bubbling yet - and woke up 7 hours later to find my carboy about ready to blow funk all over my ceiling. If I had brewed a day later and been working today, I'm pretty sure I would have returned home from work to find that my precious hobby had been banned from the house for a couple years and that my arms would be sore for a week from cleaning the basement.

Not only does this tell me that you never know if a blow-off hose is needed, but it also says that it can happen slowly or just over a matter of hours.

No airlock on primary - EVER AGAIN - for this guy.

My local air quality guys want me to sign up for cap and trade I'm generating so much CO2...is there a way to sequester all that carbon that's coming out of the fermenter?? Should I start an enclosed MJ grow?

OK, so I'm about 30 hrs. into the fermentation of a 1.07 OG IPA, and I pulled the plug on the airlock, and hooked up a blowoff tube.
Now, instead of going: "blu-bloop...blu-bloop", it's going: "bloop-bloop-bloop-bloop".