had an explosion

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maltbarleyhops

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actually besides the cleanup, it was kinda cool. but, after the hiroshima went off and i got the blow off tube in, it hit hard for about 2 -3 hours and then it had calmed down enough for an airlock.

now 12 hours later, no airlock activity, should i re-pitch and shake it up a bit or sit back and let it go.

recipe:
4 lbs ironmasters irish stout syrup
1 lb black patent malt
1 lb dark brown cane sugar
1 oz hallertau hop pellets

advice is, of course, greatly appreciated

posted 7:47pm CST
 
Airlock=irrelevant. Trust your hydrometer. No airlock activity really doesn't mean much. The yeasties are still doing their job and you should just leave it alone.
 
right on, that was my first instinct. im just concerned that i may have lost most of the yeasts in the explosion. (it was a fairly violent one, it involved the ceiling in one room and walls in 3 rooms) hopefully im just being a bit paranoid.
 
Oh my GOD!!!!

*falls to knees*

When will they LEARN!?!

When this sort of thing happens...

You need to take PICTURES!!!

:ban:
 
i was going to snap a pic or two but my "incident recovery team" advised that any evidence of this may be looked at unfavorably by the domicile high command
 
1. You should have taken pictures, posted them to the forum, then deleted the evidence from your camera.

2. What kind of yeast did you use? My US-05 seems to blow up on me quite often.
 
ive had really good luck with this beer before, never any results like this.
its my house stout, simple recipe good beer.

nothing drastically different.

only difference was that it went into a better bottle rather than glass.

anyway, as always, thanks for the advice and ill put the fermenter in the locker and give a couple weeks.
 
The exact same thing happened to me two days ago. Crazy fermentation (Including an explosion that soaked me in beer) than after about 8 hours there was barely any airlock activity. However I checked with my hydrometer, and fermentation was still going on :D.

Seems like your in the exact same boat.
 
Yeah this thread is worthless without photos of the actual aftermath... or at least a picture of domicile high command (I'm guessing SWMBO) unless the the incident recovery team (guessing friends) feared for your life if SWMBO has swords (mine is half asian so you might imagine my fear... and yes she has swords (I don't know why but why am I one to question her....honestly!!)) face when walking in on the devastation.
 
Yeah this thread is worthless without photos of the actual aftermath... or at least a picture of domicile high command (I'm guessing SWMBO) unless the the incident recovery team (guessing friends) feared for your life if SWMBO has swords (mine is half asian so you might imagine my fear... and yes she has swords (I don't know why but why am I one to question her....honestly!!)) face when walking in on the devastation.

I am impressed that you managed to keep track of those parentheses and close them correctly!
 
Oh my GOD!!!!

*falls to knees*

When will they LEARN!?!

When this sort of thing happens...

You need to take PICTURES!!!

:ban:

I think this needs to be added to the forum rules. Or at leasty a stickied post about this sort of neglegence.
 
When an excess of of gas comes off your fermenting beer, and cannot escape through your airlock or blowoff tube, the pressure build's and kaboom. It can happen with a bucket, but it is more likely to happen with a carboy.

You can reduce the chances of this happening by using a blowoff tube, however if it becomes blocked it is still possible
 
well im about to make a high abv/ gravity beer are the chances higher. would it be a good idea to open it once or twice during fermentation to let the gas escape?
 
I would just do what you regularly do, your beer will show signs if it is going to pop. If your worried about an explosion just use a blowoff tube. That should take care off any gas, and any krausen that is blown off.

I wouldn't remove the lid unless you absolutely need to, because everytime you expose your beer to the air, you expose it to infection. Buckets tend to leak a bit of gas around the seal as well if the pressure is built up very high.
 
Okay, since there was no pictures, I'll post a post-blowup picture.

Brewing Orfy's Hobgoblin clone Saturday night. Had finished earlier that day brewing a nut-brown ale, and I figured what the hell, I'll pitch onto the yeast cake since it was the same strain.

Did things a little differently. Tried the whirlpool method of racking into the carboy, which worked pretty damn well when combined with a mesh filter when you're getting started. Also helped cool off the wort an extra little bit since it was so damn cold outside.

Anyway, I noticed activity by the time I got the carboy into my fridge to ferment. Got curious and 25 minutes later I open the fridge and to my horror I watch as the airlock spits and sprays, then STOPS. Run to go get a tube and a container for blowoff and my spare airlock into sanitizer. Come back, and to my horror it still isn't bubbling. Crack it open, carefully swap the two airlocks out, and I narrowly averted explosion.

This picture was taken 5 minutes after I had the blowoff tube on. The container I had used was woefully inadequate. I swapped it with a gallon pitcher filled with just enough water to submerge the tube. The next day when everything calmed down, I had 2.5 quarts of beer in my blowoff pitcher.

Fastest start of fermentation I've EVER seen.

blowoff.jpg
 
Being forced out of your own home.

what are you talking about? i dont remember anything about "being forced out of " my home.

new formula for northernlad:
1. read post
2. think about what you just read
3. repeat steps 1. and 2. until everything registers
4. if absolutely necessary, reply to post
5. keep any comments that may, even remotely, reflect negatively towards my wife, (home for 4 months after 14 months in Afghanistan and 9 months in Iraq) to yourself sir.
 
well, all is well. stout turned out fine just .97 gallons short. thanks for all the advice. and i promise, next time(im sure there will be) ill deliver photos.

my notes show that i pitched at 78 degrees. that should have been a good temp. gonna have to chalk this one up as too little headspace.

advice/moral of the story:
if your using 5 gallon carbouy/better bottle for 5 gallon batch, use 2 fermenters and split the batch. less mess, more beer and again, less mess
 
@OP - For the record, I did the Northernbrewer Dark Cherry Stout and went ahead and used a blowoff tube into a bucket of sanitizer. I had a really vigorous fermentation which resulted in a loss of about .5 gallon of the brew. I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had used a simple bubble lock. Let's just say that pics probably would have been a necessity.

The one thing I did was fill it up to a full 5 gallon capacity. Not enough headspace... I was thinking... "Hey, I'll get way more bottles of beer this way!" Heh... for anyone thinking this... fill it up to 4.5 gallons or maybe 4.75 gallons and call it good. You'll lose more through an explosion or through blowoff than you will if you just give the beer enough space to ferment.

For future reference... I do think that I blew out a lot of the yeast. My fermentation got stuck at 1.022 after 3 weeks. I went ahead and bottled. I'll still end up with a 4.2% Stout. It's currently bottled and initial taste test was yummy. The biggest bummer was the loss of .5 gallon of beer and the fact that I nailed the OG.

RE: northernlad... I wasn't sure what he was talking about, either. I don't know for sure that he was referring to your wife in a negative manner. Obviously, it's okay for us to refer to our own wives as SWMBO or high command, etc. But when someone else steps in trying to be humorous... well, it doesn't work! LOL. Chalk it up to maybe too much homebrew?

Additionally, thanks to your wife for serving. I think I can speak for the majority when I say that not only are we proud of everyone who serves and fights for our freedom, but we also sincerely appreciate and pray for them.
 
what are you talking about? i dont remember anything about "being forced out of " my home.

new formula for northernlad:
1. read post
2. think about what you just read
3. repeat steps 1. and 2. until everything registers
4. if absolutely necessary, reply to post
5. keep any comments that may, even remotely, reflect negatively towards my wife, (home for 4 months after 14 months in Afghanistan and 9 months in Iraq) to yourself sir.

My apologies to your wife if she found that offensive.
 
i think that the "blow off kit" (i.e. fat tube and cork, bucket of sanitizer and damp towel) is going to go into the fermentation locker with every batch from now on.

***maybe a rain coat also***
 
I have heard of fermenter explosions before, what is the cause of this. It happened to my bro but he said that he thinks the carboy was cracked. But if everything is fine and you follow your recipe is this a normal thing.
 
I have heard of fermenter explosions before, what is the cause of this. It happened to my bro but he said that he thinks the carboy was cracked. But if everything is fine and you follow your recipe is this a normal thing.

It is normal for a fermentation to create a blow off.
This is not related to a glass carboy disintegrating as you carry it, or set it down, or wash it, or look at it the wrong way.
Glass will always give up at some point as a result of thermal & mechanical shock or age. Every bump or tap (I have to remember to take my tungsten steel ring off) or swing in temperature shortens the life.
I am amazed at how many people pour liqiud over 70 degrees directly into their glass.
 
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