Fermenting a Barleywine, level of beer dropping in carboy

So I am fermenting a simple barley wine. Had an OG of 1.089. Used a starter and the fermentation started within about 6 hours. Now after 48 hours the fermentation is going like mad, which is great but the level of the beer in the carboy is dropping. It started out above the top curve in the carboy and is now below the curve.

Is this normal? I don't want to lose all my beer...

thoughts?

Are you using a blow off tube?
Is the carboy sitting in a puddle of beer?

-a.

I am using a blow off tube, and no there is no puddle, its going into the blowoff bucket, which I will need to dump...

I have lost about 1.5" of beer in the carboy.

Make sure that your blow-off tube isn't touching the level of the fermenting beer. Also, it is very important to control your ferment temperature on big beers to prevent it from going too crazy.

You'll stop losing beer when it stops blowing off. That's why I don't like blow off tubes.

-a.

Ok, AJF, not sure what you mean you don't like blow off tubes, how else could I handle that level of CO2 and kruesen?

So here is where I am at, I pitched in the low 60's and put the carboy in a room that is 67'. The fermometer on the side of the carboy says its in the mid-70's but the room is cooler than that.

I just moved the carboy into my garage that lives at about 55' if I keep the garage door shut which I do.

any other recommendations. Hopefully I haven't lost the beer to diacetyl.

thanks so much for the input.

I'd rather use a larger carboy than a smaller one with a blow off. I'm really cheap, and don't like the thought of blowing excess beer out of the top of the carboy.
Putting it in the garage for a while should help it cool and slow down the fermentation. You may find that you can bring it indoors again when the fermentation slows as it won't produce so much heat.

Good luck.

-a.

promontory said:

So here is where I am at, I pitched in the low 60's and put the carboy in a room that is 67'. The fermometer on the side of the carboy says its in the mid-70's but the room is cooler than that.

Click to expand...

Keeping it in a room at 67* probably means that you're in the mid-70's actual fermentation temp. This will likely lead to fusel (hot) alcohols and esthers. It would also explain the vigorous fermentation.

OK, it is time to let you in on the secret of the invisible bear that lives in your primary, and the gnomes that make his life hell...........

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/apparently-i-have-evil-gnomes-stealing-bear-out-my-primary-187905/

Definetally some gnomes in there. I use a blowoff normally because I do yeast starters and fermenting typically is pretty aggressive so it helps but I have never lost any to the blowoff like this. Total I probably lost 2-3" in the carboy. Oh well.

So I have it in the garage and the temp is coming down which is good. The blowoff has slowed quite a bit. Is there any way to figure the fermentation temp other than the fermometer?

thanks and hopefully the fusel and esters are that prevalent.

Aggressive fermentation is BAD.

Lol, that is generalizing, but really, you want a slow low ferment with or without a starter. "Vigorous" fermentation usually means that the yeast have warmed the beer beyond what your swamp cooler, or whatever can control.

Good to know. Well the temp is continuing to come down so hopefully I can salvage this without it being to sweet... Its my first try at a Barley wine so here goes nothing anyway right...

promontory said:

Ok, AJF, not sure what you mean you don't like blow off tubes, how else could I handle that level of CO2 and kruesen?

So here is where I am at, I pitched in the low 60's and put the carboy in a room that is 67'. The fermometer on the side of the carboy says its in the mid-70's but the room is cooler than that.



any other recommendations. Hopefully I haven't lost the beer to diacetyl.

thanks so much for the input.

Click to expand...

You shouldn't have any diacetyl issues at such a high temperature.

If the fermometer says "mid-70s", you can believe that the beer temperature is every bit of that, within a degree or two. They are pretty accurate.

Next time, control the temperatures at the beginning, as that is where most of the esters and off-flavors are generated. A very vigorous fermentation is often a "hot" fermentation. The hotter it gets, the faster it goes, so the hotter it gets, so it goes even faster. Try your best to avoid that! Keep the fermenting beer at the lower end of the yeast strain's recommended fermentation temperatures, especially for a big beer like a barley wine. Ideally, the beer would have never got above about 67 degrees for best flavor.

Try to keep the temperature cooler, but stable. Fluctuations aren't good.