Always use a blowoff tube!

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dime1622

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I almost learned my lesson the hard way this weekend. I have thought about using a blow-off tube in the past as I've had airlocks fill with krausen, but this was just not good. If you think adding a blow-off tube is hard, it's not. The picture immediately below was posted by Revvy in 2009 and shows what I *should* have done. Instead I ended up with the scary picture even further down - this was a beer with only a 1.050 OG (though was using Weihenstephan yeast).

Always, always use a blow-off tube!

Airlockbo2.jpg


beer.jpg
 
I've learned the hard way of not using a blow off tube. Fortunately I was smart enough to have left it in my shower, so it wasn't too big of a mess to clean up. Lesson learned for sure though.
 
hmmm, I had an issue this weekend myself and yes my airlock aparently became a geyser. I woke up sunday morning to find beer on the ceiling and and wall and a table. I am on my brewed 8 batches before this and never had a problem. Batch nine.... not so good.
 
Yeah man,it looked like it was ready to turn into the white whale! Die,die,Die,damn ye blasted krausen! :D Herman Melvill would have flashbacks...
 
I suggest putting the catch vessel on the floor next to the fermenter. You could get a siphon going, sucking the solution back into your fermenter. An air pressure change could start it.
 
Yeah,I usually put the catch jug on the stand next to the fermenter so it's blowing up then down into the jug. Maybe he put it there just for pic clarity?...
 
Yeah,I usually put the catch jug on the stand next to the fermenter so it's blowing up then down into the jug. Maybe he put it there just for pic clarity?...

Could be. I would not be too keen on glass sitting on a bucket, anyhow :)
 
my blow off tube looks like the second pic but in a glass carboy. any suggestions? i brewed Monday so its only day 2....

yellow foam is in the blow off tube and bubbles are on top of the cap. i need help!!!!
 
i have exactly what the second pic shows. i don't have a tube persay i guess...but the little cap that you fill halfway with water and it releases co2. i'm not at home now or i would take a pic. but i woke up this morning and it went from water in the cap, to yellow beer looking foam that's causing some foam to rise out of the cover. its still bubbling so fermentation is taking place. the beer is at 5 gallons (in a 6.5 carboy) so its not going to spill out i don't think....
 
It's called an airlock. Replacing that with a blow off tube/jug will ease your worries. Otherwise,I hope cleaning is something you enjoy...
 
oh my!!! i gotta do that asap then!!!! if I take off the airlock for a few mintues to set something up, will that ruin anything with the air getting into it?
 
I've never even come close to needing a blow-off tube. My smallest fermenter is a 6 gallon better bottle. I pitch stirplate starters at high krausen and I've never had more than 1.5", maybe 2" of krausen on top of the beer. I literally have no idea how you guys are blowing airlocks off your carboys.

The only thing I can think of is that I use fermcap in the boil kettle.
 
Not as long as it's still blowing off co2 & krausen during initial fermentation. Just rig the tube up,then change over.
 
you got me there too! my first batch was perfect, this is my second and even though its a different style of beer I did it the same....
 
I only use a blowoff tube on bigger beers. When you brew every weekend, you tend to figure out what beers are gonna go off and what ones wont. It also helps that I get a 5 gallon yield and have 6 gallon fermenters. Lots of head room!
 
You're welcome. And the fermcap s is used to negate a lot of boil overs as well as cutting down krausen activity in primary as I understand it. I just used fivestar super moss for the first time myself to clear up the protien haze in my PM beers a week ago last Sunday.
I just start with a blow off rig just in case it decides to go wild.
 
i checked the beer level this morning and it was where it started.....there wasn't any foam up in the neck of the carboy either. i'm not sure where this stuff is coming from.....
 
It sounds like the krausen dropped. Initial fermentation could well be done. It'll then slowly,uneventfully creep down to FG from there.
 
so is the krausen making a drop a bad thing?? sorry to hit you with so many questions. this is my second batch and i'm still in a toddler stage when it comes to brewing.
 
I almost learned my lesson the hard way this weekend. I have thought about using a blow-off tube in the past as I've had airlocks fill with krausen, but this was just not good. If you think adding a blow-off tube is hard, it's not. The picture immediately below was posted by Revvy in 2009 and shows what I *should* have done. Instead I ended up with the scary picture even further down - this was a beer with only a 1.050 OG (though was using Weihenstephan yeast).

Always, always use a blow-off tube!

Airlockbo2.jpg
She's gunna blow!
 
so is the krausen making a drop a bad thing?? sorry to hit you with so many questions. this is my second batch and i'm still in a toddler stage when it comes to brewing.

Nope, it's fine. The krausen drops back into the beer after a initial fermentation is done.
 
I only use a blowoff tube on bigger beers. When you brew every weekend, you tend to figure out what beers are gonna go off and what ones wont. It also helps that I get a 5 gallon yield and have 6 gallon fermenters. Lots of head room!

I would be careful with doing it only on bigger beers - the type of yeast can be the factor that causes the blowout. The biggest beer I've ever fermented, the Chimay blue clone, didn't get close to blowing out. But all my hefes regularly have violent fermentations.
 
By the way,I thought I'd mention that it was called primary fermentation in days gone by. but so many of us don't use secondaries anymore,save for oaking or the like. So I changed the term to initial fermentation to more accurately describe the start of fermentation,which is the most vigorous.:mug:
 
I would be careful with doing it only on bigger beers - the type of yeast can be the factor that causes the blowout. The biggest beer I've ever fermented, the Chimay blue clone, didn't get close to blowing out. But all my hefes regularly have violent fermentations.

I've brewed every weekend since July of 2012 and only had 3 violent fermentations that required a blow off tube. 1 was a stout and the other 2 were an Imperial black ale.

EDIT
I do have violent fermentations frequently, but none that require use of a blow off tube.
 
Just had my 1.051 porter with S-04 yeast climb out my airlock. I got lazy and didn't start with a blowoff. Still, not much of a mess and I got the blow off in before real damage. I like the tubing on the airlock idea though - pretty sweet! Leave it to Revvy
 
I needed a blow off tube once, in summer of 2006. It was a wheat beer that got pretty warm and it was explosive. Otherwise, I've never needed one.

I use an 8 gallon bucket for a fermenter, usually.

Often, an explosive fermentation is one that got too warm. Since I tend to ferment most ales at 62-66 degrees (and pitch cooler than that), I rarely have a very active fermentation and usually with an 8 gallon bucket I have plenty of headspace for a 5.5 gallon batch.
 
I bubbled into my airlock and popped the lid, but it looks like explosion was minimal. This was a Hefe. It now is sporting a blowoff tube. It will be my standard issue approach from now on! The hefe is going like a freight train at 3-4 bubbles a second on day 2.
 
if it is a "good yeast bomb" you can smell it when you pull into the garage:) I always chance it when the OG is under 1.06 unless the faq for the yeast says it will blow. But then I have a fridge to control the temp and even more important, a SWMBO who has learned that I never learned.
 
Had a couple of "thar she blows". I love when you pull an air lock and it sprays you in the face. Good times. This is my blow off for 15 gal batches. Everything was pretty snug but i taped it anyway.

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Just had my National Homebrew Day More Fun Blonde foul the airlock, added a blowoff.

Off topic, damn it smells fantastic, I just love WLP 530 yeast!
 
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