Can some one explain how i lost almost 3/4 of gallon during fermentation?

This past weekend I brewed my first Belgian Pale Ale. It was a 7 gal batch. I had close to 6.5 gal of wort in primary, OG was 1.050. I used white labs Belgian ale WLP550. I pitched two vials bc I did not have time to make a starter. I has been fermenting around 68F. The first night there was not much going on , but the next day it took of Luke crazy. I cam home to a bit of a mess do I switched to a blow off hose. During this time I have lost almost .75 of a gallon. That has never happened to me before, not even when I brew my double IPA's . Not sure if this is normal or did I did something wrong. Can some one help me on this one?

If you are maxing out the vessel space then get some ferm cap.

An aggressive yeast, high temps, and/or a large starting gravity will cause an aggressive fermentation. Sounds like your temps were OK. When you have a very aggressive fermentation you build up a lot of krausen. If you don't have enough head space in your fermenter you can lose a good amount of volume to blow off which is what it sounds like happened. The best solution is to use a bigger fermenter for higher gravity beers or heavy fermenting yeasts. Some people also add an anti foaming agent such as fermcap which helps control the krausen some.

Thank for the info. I use a 6.5 glass fermenter and this time I actually filled it up higher than normal. I wanted to ferment as much beer as I could and in the process ended up loosing more. how freaking ironic. Thanks for the info. Next time I will try the anti foam caps.

Are u sure u had that much in the ferm to begin with? Did u boils 7 gallons and only lost ..5?

did u boil 7gl? or more?

Not anti foam caps. Fermcap http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/fermcap-s-1-oz.html

It is a liquid you add a few drops and it helps keep foaming down. Some use it in the starter, the boil, or the fermenter. I use it in my starters only. The best bet for a bigger batch would be to get another fermenter and split it into two fermenters. I can deal with a little blow off, but I hate when I see like a half gallon or more of beer in my blow off bottle.

I agree, thanks on the info .

Just made a gravity test on the beer after 5 days on primary and got 1.017. My FG is 1.010. After having vigorous fermentation during the first 4 days I would have thought I'll be closer to the FG. Is it the yeast that needs more time or do I need to do something else to it?

Paquitin said:

Just made a gravity test on the beer after 5 days on primary and got 1.017. My FG is 1.010. After having vigorous fermentation during the first 4 days I would have thought I'll be closer to the FG. Is it the yeast that needs more time or do I need to do something else to it?

Click to expand...

5 days is not long enough and the beer is probably still fermenting, give it 2 more weeks and then check gravity again.