Mead exploded...

well, foam exploded.

Not sure what happened, made a 5 gal batch of mead yesterday and fermentation started around 10 pm (really slow).

When I got home tonight I noticed a small amount of foam in my blow off tube. I didn't think mead foamed up when fermenting. Well I popped the top off the bucket and dumped in my next nutrient addition. Seconds later the damn thing volcano'ed on me, like when your a kid and you made your volcano experiment.

I think I lost 1/4 to 1/2 a gallon on the carpet before it stopped.

This is my second batch of mead and my first adding nutrient.

Has this ever happened to anyone before? What would have caused it?

I am using fermax nutrient.

Craig

Well, found the answer:

"Be careful when adding dry powders to fermenting mead! The sudden release of co2 can cause the mead to foam out of the fermentor. Removing a small portion of the mead to combine with the nutrients first can help, as can stirring to release co2 before adding the nutrients in."

http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2011/09/nutrients-and-mead/

Yep foam all over the kitchen.

A carboy I take it ?

One of the setbacks that happens often is that your ferment had kicked in and when you added the fermax you created thousands of "nucleation points" which the carbonic acid (dissolved CO2) attached to and promptly escaped as bubbles of gaseous CO2.

With carboys, it helps to mix the must except the yeast, take your readings -gravity, maybe pH, temperature etc, then take some out. Maybe into soda/pop bottles which are reserved in the fridge.

Then pitch the yeast to start it off.

Then once you see some fermentation (bubbles etc), you give it a slow stir. The airspace created by removing some must gives the foam some expansion room. If the foam rises too high just stop stirring and let it subside or if you have enough expansion room you can sometimes stir quickly enough to knock the bubbles back.

Either way, you can add the reserved must back in once the most active gas producing part of the ferment is over.

It's good technique to stir the brew before adding stuff like nutrient etc as that also helps prevent eruption.

Or of course, you can start your batches in a bucket, moving them to carboy at maybe the 1/3rd sugar break because a bucket gives more room for expansion and once you've passed the 1/3rd break you should be ready to airlock it off and leave it to finish.......

I am in a 5 gallon bucket but I didn't think mead foamed when fermenting so I didn't have much head space... maybe 2 or 3 inches.

Tonight I will pull some out for my reading and some out to mix the nutrient in, then pour it back in. Hopefully that will keep it from exploding

No it won't! Pour very slowly, it can still cause foaming.

you should have degaused it before adding the nutrient

Yea... I will try degassing it first. What is the best way? Just stirring with a spoon?

yup.. you want to stir it before adding the nutrient with a sanitized spoon and then stir in the nutrient .

This too just happened to me. It's my first mead and first time adding nutrients. My question, is it ruined? I don't want to waste my time if its not going to turn out.

Well what is out is 'ruined' but what is in your fermentor is fine. Just remember to give it a gentle stir to help degas it some before you add anything in, and uses some head space.

Mine finished up about a week ago at 1.004. Tasted pretty good, the yeast is giving it a nice fruity aroma and taste.

Thanks y'all! I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out

For what it's worth, I have come to an understanding that if you have a nice, vigorous fermentation going it is usually going to release so much CO2 that any wild yeasts or germs are going to have a hard time propagating after you had a blow off like that. Just clean up and sanitize the best you can. As a lurker on this forum finally coming forward, I have heard about pets getting into musts, people having to reach into their fermenting buckets to retrieve dropped tools/objects, etc and usually it comes out okay. Sorry to hear about the mess on the carpet though... I usually ferment with my bucket in the tub or sink just in case.

If you are having that much of a problem with foam-overs in your bucket, you might try removing the lid after sanitizing the outside and putting a lint-free cloth over the top of your bucket to allow for the CO2 to escape easier. It works for me, and the cloth keeps out any air-bourne nasties that try to infiltrate.

Cregar said:

Yea... I will try degassing it first. What is the best way? Just stirring with a spoon?

Click to expand...

If you have a bucket fermenter I'd suggest getting a paint stirrer and attaching it to a drill. Works wonders. Oh, and start slow. Work up to a high speed.

Nutrient additions into gassed meads will always cause the release of CO2 so it's best to just get rid of the CO2 via controlled method.

FYI,,,,I have learned to put my fermenters in a Rubber Maid tub

p4ttythep3rf3ct said:

If you have a bucket fermenter I'd suggest getting a paint stirrer and attaching it to a drill. Works wonders. Oh, and start slow. Work up to a high speed.

Nutrient additions into gassed meads will always cause the release of CO2 so it's best to just get rid of the CO2 via controlled method.

Click to expand...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-stainless-steel-mix-stir.html

If you have a carboy you can uses one of these, the blades fold in and spin out with a drill. You LHBS or IHBS should have one.

I may just be lazy, but I add nutrient a little at a time precisely for the degassing. I don't use a bucket so it's hard to get anything into the carboy to degas. The nutrient does it for me. Although, it is a bit like playing with fire. Some times you wake the dragon...

nitack said:

I may just be lazy, but I add nutrient a little at a time precisely for the degassing. I don't use a bucket so it's hard to get anything into the carboy to degas. The nutrient does it for me. Although, it is a bit like playing with fire. Some times you wake the dragon...

Click to expand...

And you don't want to wake the dragon. (can't wait for the series to start again)

I had a mead explosion once but nothing like what was discussed here. The mead had been bottled and was sitting in the top of my closer, a few days after it had been in there I was walking near my room when I heard a loud pop followed by what sounded like running water. As soon as I entered my room I smelled mead and knew what had happened. I lost 3 bottles that day due to the bottles exploding. Only thing that made sense was that they were bottled too early and the gas had to go somewhere. My room smelled like mead for a week or two afterwards. That little accident has led me to leaving the mead in the first carboy for a month before moving to the next carboy.

Classic

Yeah, always gas the heck out of the must before adding nutrients. It knocks out the CO2 and whips O2 in. Doesn't hurt to make a slurry with the nutrients as well, instead of sprinkling them in dry.

Have not even used nutrients, unless the yeast counts as a nutrient. So far the explosion has only happened once.

p4ttythep3rf3ct said:

Classic

Yeah, always gas the heck out of the must before adding nutrients. It knocks out the CO2 and whips O2 in. Doesn't hurt to make a slurry with the nutrients as well, instead of sprinkling them in dry.

Click to expand...

Yea.. I need to buy one of the wands you hook up to a drill.

Cregar said:

Yea.. I need to buy one of the wands you hook up to a drill.

Click to expand...

They are handy for mixing but use a vac pump to degass.

Inner10 said:

They are handy for mixing but use a vac pump to degass.

Click to expand...

Where you get your vac pump? Couldn't find one on Midwest website.

nitack said:

Where you get your vac pump? Couldn't find one on Midwest website.

Click to expand...

Refrigeration supplier...but for a cheaper option get a foodsaver or a manual break bleeder. If you have a big compressor you can use a venturi vac adaptor but they are brutally loud.

Anyway, a 3/8 barb fitting fits perfect in a drilled stopper, get some reducers and stiff polyethylene hose. I use bigger stoppers so they don't get sucked inside the carboy.

nitack said:

Where you get your vac pump? Couldn't find one on Midwest website.

Click to expand...

Not familiar with this process, will have to google it

Cregar said:

Not familiar with this process, will have to google it

Click to expand...

When you use a vacuum pump it pulls air/gas out of the container. This creates a relatively low pressure area above the mead. In order to equalize pressure the mead will expel any dissolved gasses in the liquid to fill that area of low pressure. It allows you to degas the mead of CO2 with out agitating the mead itself and risking introducing more oxygen.

well, i'm fermenting molasses/water. after heating every thing on the stove to melt the molasses etc, then cooling..... i added the fermax before the yeast...... approx 6 gal of wash exploded like a volcano, probably losing ½ -1 gal from foaming overflow. no one warned me about this. had it started to self ferment during the time of cooling? next time i'll add the nutrient to a portion of the wash, and in a containable space, then pour that into the wash after a time letting it settle

goodhand said:

well, i'm fermenting molasses/water. after heating every thing on the stove to melt the molasses etc, then cooling..... i added the fermax before the yeast...... approx 6 gal of wash exploded like a volcano, probably losing ½ -1 gal from foaming overflow. no one warned me about this. had it started to self ferment during the time of cooling? next time i'll add the nutrient to a portion of the wash, and in a containable space, then pour that into the wash after a time letting it settle

Click to expand...

No idea what happed there