extremely violent fermentation.

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olz431

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I am about 24 hours into a DFH 90 clone with 2x nottinghams. It is 65 in the room. the better bottle is at 72 and I have a 1/2 blowoff hose with a #10 stopper. There is a steady stream of gasses coming out followed by a large burp of gas every 10 or so seconds. The problem is that I can actually see the fermenter expand and shrink during the burp. Should I pull the hose out and clear it or will there be a mess everywhere? It is releasing gas but it builds up quite a bit of pressure, it is almost splashing sanitizer ouw of the 5 gallon water jug I have the tube running to.
If i pull the hose out where there be a rush of foam?
 
Grab a bottle of alcohol right now that has a sprayer on 70%. Spray everything around the stopper the neck of the carboy and the hose thoroughly. Spray your hands as well. Pull it all apart cleared if you have to put it back together let it blow off into the bucket. As long as you are quick and clean you should be okay. I hope this helps.
 
I moved the hose in and out a couple times and it helped for a minute or two, its getting clogged up with hops, I need a bigger blow off hose asap. There is nothing that I can use. It is entertaining to watch but i dont need the stopper flying out and beer everywhere.
 
I managed to knock down a bunch of the hops and other debris that was plastered to the bung area with the blowoff hose, she is angry though. I'll keep an eye on it, maybe put it in the tub if she decides to blow. I was wondering why I was hearing bottles rattle in the spare bedroom, probably because there is 5 gallons of beer jumping around on a desk.
 
Well it didnt plug up and blow last night. The problem is now that the temp iss above 78. I place two towels that were soaked in ice water, have a fan blowing on it and have the window open(20* outside) is this temp going to ruin the beer?
 
BTW it could not have been at this temp for longer than a few hours as 7 hours ago it was 72
 
I already notice the smell has changed in the blowoff bottle, and not for the best. I am going to isolate the room with the window open and put the fermenter in a rubbermaid full of cool water, hopefully this batch is not ruined, I was really looking forward to the final result.
 
I already notice the smell has changed in the blowoff bottle, and not for the best. I am going to isolate the room with the window open and put the fermenter in a rubbermaid full of cool water, hopefully this batch is not ruined, I was really looking forward to the final result.

That was gonna be my next suggestion. I wouldn't stress too much over this batch being messes up, way to early in the process for that. Get it cooler, mid 60s should work. Once fermentation begins to slow down, let it warm up to 68-70, that will allow the yeast to work a li'l harder and longer and they will actually do a little cleaning up after themselves at the end of fermentation. Get rid of some of those esters produced from the warm temps. Yeast metabolism is amazing, they do crazy $hit like that. My guess is that in a beer as hoppy and flavorful as 90 min, a small level of esters and whatnot won't even be noticed. :mug:
 
Thanks that is kind of reassuring. I never expected fermentation can raise temps 15 degrees, the fermenter next to it is at 68 degrees so i know its not hot in the room.
 
Oh yeah, a higher gravity wort can ferment really aggressively. I use the rubbermaid tote type of cooler too, and for higher grav brews I like to start out at around 60 (water and wort temp) and let it slowly raise to ~67 or so as it begins to slow; keep cool when it's super active, allow it to warm itself up while still keeping the water bath temps in check as it slows down.
 
I got her down to 68 in 60* water. I'm going to leave it sit in their as it should level out somewhere in the mid 60s. This thing is still rumbling away. Is my nose playing tricks on me or is this temp change making the exhaust smell good again?
 
I got her down to 68 in 60* water. I'm going to leave it sit in their as it should level out somewhere in the mid 60s. This thing is still rumbling away. Is my nose playing tricks on me or is this temp change making the exhaust smell good again?

I can't say for sure, but I can give you some anecdotal evidence to support a "yes, yes it can".....

Few months ago I was fermenting an English pale with s-04, it was probably in the mid 60s when it started. The first morning of really active fermentation it was kicking a ton of sulphur. It stunk, bad, like rotten eggs coming out of the airlock. Temp was 68 in the tub, so warmer inside. I dropped it down to a stable 62 and it quickly began smelling more like the fruit and bread that I expect from 04. The sulphur smell began subsiding soon after I began cooling and was gone by the time it cooled. The beer turned out well.

Again, if you're ever worried about a yeast derived off flavor/aroma in a beer, it never hurts to let it warm up a bit near the end. Not that it'll cure all ills, but as the sugars in the wort diminish, the yeast will begin metabolizing some esters and other compounds. Leaving them warm helps yeast stay in suspension longer, so in theory they'll be able to metabolize some more compounds. It's common practice to leave a beer warm (high 60s-low 70s) for a few days to a week after fermentation before removing it from the yeast for this reason. :mug:
 
:tank: It definitely went back to smelling good! Thanks for the tips and insight! I now know what to expect when I make a big beer! :pipe:
 
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