Hopper5000
Well-Known Member
Hey All,
I am on my second round of barrel aging in a 5 gal oak barrel and I am having issues with suction in the blowoff tube. I have done 4 beers (3 in the same barrel and one in a second) in 5 gallon oak barrels and have had the same issue each time.
I use a blowoff tube just to be safe as I don't want any overflow. I fill the barrel and might have some blow off action for a few days but then it usually calms down.
Here's the problem. After it calms down it usually starts sucking sanitizer up into the tube. I have never let it get to the crest and start draining into the barrel but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how the solved it?
I usually just pick the tube up and let it drain and stick it back in the sanitizer but I feel like that's just sucking in air which has potential contamination. Am I being too worried about that? Sometimes I purge the vessel with CO2 first which is probably the best bet but I don't so that always
One of my barrel brews got some Brett and while I know that's not unusual with barrel aged beers I was thinking that exposing it to air might have been part of the issue. Thoughts/solutions are much appreciated.
I was thinking of maybe getting a longer blowoff and hanging it from the ceiling or something but that seemed a little extreme.
I am on my second round of barrel aging in a 5 gal oak barrel and I am having issues with suction in the blowoff tube. I have done 4 beers (3 in the same barrel and one in a second) in 5 gallon oak barrels and have had the same issue each time.
I use a blowoff tube just to be safe as I don't want any overflow. I fill the barrel and might have some blow off action for a few days but then it usually calms down.
Here's the problem. After it calms down it usually starts sucking sanitizer up into the tube. I have never let it get to the crest and start draining into the barrel but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how the solved it?
I usually just pick the tube up and let it drain and stick it back in the sanitizer but I feel like that's just sucking in air which has potential contamination. Am I being too worried about that? Sometimes I purge the vessel with CO2 first which is probably the best bet but I don't so that always
One of my barrel brews got some Brett and while I know that's not unusual with barrel aged beers I was thinking that exposing it to air might have been part of the issue. Thoughts/solutions are much appreciated.
I was thinking of maybe getting a longer blowoff and hanging it from the ceiling or something but that seemed a little extreme.