desurfer

Recipes 

New to brewing. Brewed one batch successfully. It came out great. Conditioned nicely. Checked my second brew(a stout) after second day of fermentation and found a mess. Top was off of fermenter and the wort was everywhere. looked like during fermentation there may have been too much CO2 build up and the bubbler filled with wort and it spilled over and then the pressure build up popped the top off the fermenter. Any ideas as to why this happened? I am assuming the beer is ruined but I replaced the bubbler and I am going to let the ferment complete because the bubbler is still moving. I'll see what I get in the end. but again, why would this have happened? Contamination, ingredients, something else?????

Aleforge

Recipes 

Nothing, its completely normal!

Hence why most of us, especially on bigger beers use blow-off tubes!

Also it might be fine, even though the lid was completely off. I wouldn't give up on it, just wipe down the lid with starsan and replace it. It probably wont need a blow off tube anymore since the storm has passed. But if you have a tube that can squeeze in to the airlock bung area it you should shove it in, then stick the other side into a bucket of water, or even better left over starsan solution.

Example:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=20791&cat=all&ppuser=9865

However it worked in that picture but the tube was fairly small, I have since switched to one as large as the carboy opening at the advice of other members.

__________________
PRIMARY - Irish Red
PRIMARY - Apple Bee Cider
PRIMARY - Dunkelweizen
PRIMARY - Orange Blossom Mead

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -- Mahatma Gandhi

woollybugger2

Recipes 

yeah, I've only come close to a blow-up once, caught it in the nick of time. No, I listen to these guys and use a blow-off tube.

Here's my set-up:

__________________
Woolly Bugger Brewery

Consumed:#2 Hefeweizen, #3 SoHo Brown Ale, #7 Belgian Wit, #9 Belgian Amber
Bottled: #1 Trout Belgian Trippel, #4 Smoked Porter, #5 Apfelwein, #10 Bell's Brown Ale Clone, #11 Belgian Wit, #8 Wee Heavy
Secondary:#6 Trout Belgian Trippel
Secondary:
Primary 1:
Primary 2:
Primary 3: Empty
On deck: ???

jpsexton

Recipes 

You have to paint the ceiling with killz paint to keep the stain from coming back through.

Don't ask how i know.....

ChshreCat

Recipes 

And you need to remember that anyone who's fermenter blows up is required to post pictures of the aftermath.

__________________
"Science + beer = good!"
-Adam Savage

KayaBrew

Recipes 

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

I've brewed 20 or so batches and this has not happened to me yet. I feel left out. Revvy says it happens to all of us at some time or another. He also claims that airlocks are made in China, but bad on him, because I have one made in Taiwan!

__________________
"...Careful, man...there's a beverage here!..."

fretsforlife

Recipes 

This happened to me with my stout too.. check it out..http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/my-top-gonna-blow-look-pic-please-help-103820/

llazy_llama

Recipes 

Always always always use a blowoff for the first 3-4 days of fermentation when:

1: You're brewing 5 gallons of beer in a 5-6 gallon fermenter
or
2: You're brewing a beer you've never brewed before, or under new conditions (new fermenter, different season, different ambient temperature, different yeast)
or
3: You're new to brewing
or
4: You've brewed enough batches to realize that it's just good practice to use a blow off, and you don't want to risk the mess
or
5: You like the color of your floor/walls/ceiling, and don't want them to be beer-colored.

__________________

Aleforge

Recipes 

Aww, I was hoping to see an explosion!

__________________
PRIMARY - Irish Red
PRIMARY - Apple Bee Cider
PRIMARY - Dunkelweizen
PRIMARY - Orange Blossom Mead

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -- Mahatma Gandhi

fretsforlife

Recipes 

Man, it did explode, I just was able to get that trash bag over it first.. you should have seen the inside of the bag!

Its crazy to think about the pressure buildup those little yeasties can produce. You figure those fermenter lids are damn near impossible to pry off, yet the yeast can throw them across the room like a frisbee...