Holy Fermentation!!!!!!

I started a 5 gallon batch of plum wine this week with 36# of wild plums, 8# of sugar, acid blend, pot met, etc. in a 6 1/2 gallon Ale Pail. I had fast fermentation after 24 hours, and extremely fast fermentation after 48. When I was punching down the cap after 48 hours and mashing it up with a drywall mixer, I joked to myself that I was going to need a blow-off tube by the time this was done. I came back in 1/2 hour to see wine all over the place, blowing right out of the airlock! I probably had 12 oz. of wine on the table, floor, and lid. I rigged up a blow-off tube with a 3 piece airlock, poured a homebrew, and watched. I watched a piece of plum plug the bung, the bucket swell, and foam blow out the sides of the lid. The next morning, I found the blow-off assembly blown off of the lid. Things have calmed down a bit now, and I am back to an airlock, but this has been a mess!!!! It sure smells good, though.....

If you want to stick with plastic I'd go buy yourself one of the 7.8 gallon buckets , not only do they hold more, they have more head space and a larger surface area. I just did 5- 6 gallon batches and the head space was plenty with no problems, Ken

You can also get a trash can from HD that's just big enough to put your fermenter into and put a lid on it. Then it should contain any unexpected fermenter detonations.

KENfromMI said:

If you want to stick with plastic I'd go buy yourself one of the 7.8 gallon buckets , not only do they hold more, they have more head space and a larger surface area. I just did 5- 6 gallon batches and the head space was plenty with no problems, Ken

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Yep, I already have ONE. Unfortunately, it was being used by a batch of Barolo that I started the day before I got the plums. I had to resort to using one of my beer primaries.