It exploded.

Made my first batch of Brewers Best IPA on Sunday. Everything went awesome, well except my buddy broke my hydrometer, but other than that. Filled my 6.5 fermentation bucket, put on the lid and the airlock filled with purified water. All was right in the world.

Sometime yesterday, the lid blew off my bucket. Dried foam is all down the sides. I am guessing the lid has been off for at least 12 hours, possibly more.

Looks like the airlock got plugged. What do I do now?

Clean and sanitize the lid and airlock, then put it back together. Also, if your fermentation temp is 70F or more, consider moving the bucket near a cracked window to keep it under 67F. Should be fine

It happens to the best of them...post a pic!

At this stage of fermenation there would have been a nice c02 layer over the brew to keep it safe. As stated above, just sanitize and put back together. Explosive Ale!

Think of it as a great name for your brew

I usually put cheap vodka in my airlock for an extra layer of protection from bugs.

I'm not saying that was your problem, but just sayin

So with all the talk about cleaning and sanitizing this and that, the lid being off for so long won't affect anything?

Like others have said, sanitize lid and put back on. You're probably fine. In future, maybe use blowoff tube instead of airlock, or don't put lid on tight, just set it on top without sealing. It may still come out the top, but won't explode. I bought a 7.9 gal fermentor instead of the 6.5 to reduce chances of exploding fermentor. Even with that I've had one overflow. The lid on mine doesn't seal tight and never had a problem with infictions or oxidation.

damn. how full was that thing. i usually keep my batches to 5.5 gallons in my 6.5 gallon bucket, and even then sometimes i have to do a blowoff.

Wow. Just saw your pic. I made that same kit and didn't have near that active of a fermentation. Did you jsut pitch the one pack of yeast? What was you fermentation temp?

It should be fine. That is a great picture. There really isn't much else to do but sanitize and put it back together. It should still turn out fine. It happens a lot to people. Search the forum for how to make a blow off tube and use it next time.

cincydave said:

Wow. Just saw your pic. I made that same kit and didn't have near that active of a fermentation. Did you jsut pitch the one pack of yeast? What was you fermentation temp?

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Yes, just one pack of Nottingham. I chilled the wort to about 72 degrees, then poured it into the bucket, let it sit a minute or so and sprinkled in the yeast. It was very foamy when I added the yeast. And I may have had about 5.5 gallons of wort in there.

chchad said:

so with all the talk about cleaning and sanitizing this and that, the lid being off for so long won't affect anything?

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niiiicccceeeee!

I'm pretty new to brewing too, but after my first batch of Porter almost blew all over the kitchen I quickly switched over to a blow off tube for all my subsequent batches. At the moment I have a Honey Wheat in the secondary and a Lagunita's IPA clone in the primary. The IPA was going nuts a couple nights ago, but my setup seemed to handle it without any issues.

Here's a couple pictures of the primary and secondary. I cut a hole in my primary that matched the tube I bought. I then wrap cling film around the tube to make sure the seal is nice and tight, then duct tape to secure everything. With my secondary, it's just a #10 stopper with a smaller hose fitted to it. The reason that one is duct taped is because I tried hollowing it out with an x-acto knife a while back and kind of botched it.

chchad said:

Yes, just one pack of Nottingham. I chilled the wort to about 72 degrees, then poured it into the bucket, let it sit a minute or so and sprinkled in the yeast. It was very foamy when I added the yeast. And I may have had about 5.5 gallons of wort in there.

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I'm curious, what brand is your fermentation bucket?

I have a 6.5 gal Brewers Best Ale Pail and it doesn't have a rubber seal in the lid so it doesn't seal 100% air tight so I get active fermentation's with only minimal bubbles coming out the airlock because some of the CO2 can release through the lid seal. I've got a strong blonde ale in their now and active fermentation is about done now at day 4 and my air lock is still clean as a whistle. If your ale pail has a rubber gasket in the lid where it seals to the bucket, I suggest removing that and letting it breathe a little...it won't hurt anything but If you want to leave it in the pail for more than 14 days before bottling you may want to transfer to carboy where it will have a true air tight seal.

Jayhem said:

I'm curious, what brand is your fermentation bucket?

I have a 6.5 gal Brewers Best Ale Pail and it doesn't have a rubber seal in the lid so it doesn't seal 100% air tight so I get active fermentation's with only minimal bubbles coming out the airlock because some of the CO2 can release through the lid seal. I've got a strong blonde ale in their now and active fermentation is about done now at day 4 and my air lock is still clean as a whistle. If your ale pail has a rubber gasket in the lid where it seals to the bucket, I suggest removing that and letting it breathe a little...it won't hurt anything but If you want to leave it in the pail for more than 14 days before bottling you may want to transfer to carboy where it will have a true air tight seal.

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I have the same Brewers Best Ale Pail and yes, the hole in the lid has a rubber gasket and the airlock is very tight. I planned on moving it to a carboy after a week or so.

chchad said:

I have the same Brewers Best Ale Pail and yes, the hole in the lid has a rubber gasket and the airlock is very tight. I planned on moving it to a carboy after a week or so.

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I wasn't talking about the rubber gasket that the airlock fits into, I'm talking in the actual lid of the bucket. Brewers best buckets do not have rubber gaskets in the lid seal (where it makes contact with bucket rim) which means they don't truly seal air tight. Yours must be different but I've done 4 fermentation's in my BB ale pail and no leaks, no clogged air locks or blown lid yet.

Your scaring me... my 2 are sitting on my lovely carpet... err... actually my landlords lovely carpet!

Now I'm glad I didn't seal my bucket lids! Low airlock response I can live with, an exploded fermenter all over the carpet I cannot

I use a blow off tube for EVERY batch. Judging from the water in my little bucket, it's a good call.

40watt said:

I use a blow off tube for EVERY batch. Judging from the water in my little bucket, it's a good call.

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buy this man a beer!! always use a blowoff during active fermentation.

OP, very nice ferment!! looks like that thing went bonkers!

**Nothing of value in this post**
I just really enjoyed your title and laughed when I saw the picture!
+1 for using blow off tubes!

I love that picture. Hopefully it all works out for you.

I think I was minutes away from the same thing on my last batch of dark Belgian Ale. On the last two brews I re-hydrated my Nottingham yeast and noticed an increase in the airlock activity. The last batch was the worst. I always use the same sequence when brewing, but this last one almost blew the lid off.
I came home to find that the bucket lid was bowed out and dripping from the edge of the lid. Noticed a small amount on the wall behind the bucket. I truly think if I was 15-20 min later it would have exploded. I removed the airlock and put on a blow off tube and it has been fine.

How many of you re-hydrate the yeast before pitching?

beerloin said:

**Nothing of value in this post**
I just really enjoyed your title and laughed when I saw the picture!
+1 for using blow off tubes!

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first thing i thought too man. :rocking: great pic though!

Haha! Insane fermentation!

yep...

blow off tubes and fermentation temperature control -
If your room was 68F, your beer probably hit 78. The first few days sees a very large increase in the metabolic activity of yeast, and the temps climb 5-10F. I've personally experienced 10F, and one fella on here posted 16F above ambient.

Congrats on the first brew - but hot ferments can lead to some off flavors. (I know my first several brews were somewhere close to "barely palatable")

Welcome to HBT!

Jayhem said:

I wasn't talking about the rubber gasket that the airlock fits into, I'm talking in the actual lid of the bucket. Brewers best buckets do not have rubber gaskets in the lid seal (where it makes contact with bucket rim) which means they don't truly seal air tight. Yours must be different but I've done 4 fermentation's in my BB ale pail and no leaks, no clogged air locks or blown lid yet.

Click to expand...

Ah, I see. My lid doesn't have any gasket either, but it fits incredibly tight. Like I have to put most of my weight on it to make it snap shut.

I had the same thing happen when a friend of mine brewed with me once. Even though we used a blow off tube, he forgot to strain out his wort and all the pellet hops clogged up the blow off and bang! I came home to find his bucket wide open with the lid sitting across the room. Luckily it was in the basement and it wasn't my brew so I made him clean it up. I sanitzed his lid and put it back on and the brew turned out fine.