stout blew off the air lock...Help

I brewed a stout last night (allgrain). It was a 5 gallon batch so i sued a 6.5 gallon carboy (which I always use) and this morning I went to check and everything was fine. When i got home from work I noticed the airlock blew off from the pressure. Since then I did install a blow of tub. My worry now is that my brew is now infected. the krausen is still huge and thick i do see bubbles on the surface and also the airlock is going crazy. Should I worry or just wait and see what will come of it? Is it still possible that it will produce a quality beer. Or am I being to optimistic? ANY HELP IS MUCH APPRECIATED

I think all you can do is sit and wait at this point. Also.... RDWHAHB.

If it had enough pressure to blow of an air lock there is enough off gassing that it will keep most of the nasty things from getting in. I've had this happen far more than I care to think about and it has never caused any sort of infection in the beer.

glick said:

I think all you can do is sit and wait at this point. Also.... RDWHAHB.

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...and next time, use a blow-off tube instead of an airlock for your primary.

I wouldn't worry about it, you are probably fine.

Thanks! The blow off tube is going nuts. Should Io shake it up a little to wash some of the trub or krausen that is sticking to the top of the inside of the carboy?

i doubt you'll have any problems. as mentioned above as long as there was enough positive pressure it'll keep the dust from entering and its a layer of CO2 even if you lost pressure so no oxidation worries there either. this is the reason most people use a blow off tube instead of the small air locks.

also a big negative on shaking the container just to get the hops, yeast, and the rest of the trub off the sides. whatever was cooked with the wort is basically toast now anyways. all your doing now is just having the yeast ferment and the beer start aging.

hiphopaim5 said:

Thanks! The blow off tube is going nuts. Should Io shake it up a little to wash some of the trub or krausen that is sticking to the top of the inside of the carboy?

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No, you want that material to stay stuck to the carboy and not re-enter the beer as much as possible. Sounds like you'll be fine. What is the temperature?

Worrying won't change a thing. Put a blow-off tube on it, and change back to an airlock when fermentation settles down.

Sometimes I ferment outside (80~100 degrees) *
Airlock blow off is the norm, I spray star san and replace the top and air lock and all is fine.

repeat as necessary

* good beer makes a nap an "anytime moment"

pete

certaut said:

Sometimes I ferment outside (80~100 degrees) *

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Don't do this, unless you're brewing a style that requires high temps with the appropriate yeast. Otherwise, you'll get off-flavors for sure.

my temp is 71-74. I am using us-04 dry yeast

hiphopaim5 said:

my temp is 71-74. I am using us-04 dry yeast

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Too high! Good temperature control is one of the key factors in making great beer.

LovesIPA said:

Too high! Good temperature control is one of the key factors in making great beer.

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Indeed, the ideal range for S-04 is 59-68F (Per the Fermentis .pdf on S-04).

If you don't have a fancy fermentation chamber, you can do what I do and put your fermenters in a water bath and add ice packs/frozen water bottles 2-3 times per day to keep the temps in the mid-60's. It really does make a difference in quality.

If you want a more forgiving yeast strain for next time, I can recommend US-05. However, it still prefers to be below 71F.

briz34 said:

i doubt you'll have any problems. As mentioned above as long as there was enough positive pressure it'll keep the dust from entering and its a layer of co2 even if you lost pressure so no oxidation worries there either. This is the reason most people use a blow off tube instead of the small air locks.

Also a big negative on shaking the container just to get the hops, yeast, and the rest of the trub off the sides. Whatever was cooked with the wort is basically toast now anyways. All your doing now is just having the yeast ferment and the beer start aging.

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1+

With regard to fermentation temperature, it's also important to note that you are interested in the temperature of the beer, not the ambient temperature of the room the fermentor is in. Fermentation is exothermic and it can raise the temperature of the beer by as much as 6-8 degrees. So if you didn't know this, and you think you're fermenting at 71 - 74, the beer is probably closer to 78 - 80, which is WAY too warm.

If you can score a chest freezer off craigslist and add a $20 temp controller, it's worth it. Constantly changing frozen water bottles is a lot of hassle.

I will look into that.