On Sunday I brewed my second batch ever--an American Wheat. I fudged the recipe a bit by adding a bit more DME than I should have, and ended up with an SG of 1.062. Measured it again to be sure, and it was still 1.062. Fine.
I siphoned 5.2 gallons into a 6 gallon Better Bottle (first mistake--probably should have not filled it so high), and attached a carboy cap (the maroon kind with the two tubes off the top). To that I attached a three piece airlock with a 1/2 inch tube running down to a jug with some sanitizer (second mistake?). Did I mention I also used a starter for the yeast (Wyeast 1010)?
I was nervous about the batch because it was a fairly high gravity wheat beer (not to mention the starter), so I had my SWMBO keep an eye on it during the day yesterday. The blow off tube was apparently in action by hour 20, with no problems. But, by hour 24, the other unused tube on the carboy cap gave way, resulting in wort/beer all over my basement.
Ala CSI, I deconstructed the crime scene and found that the 3-piece airlock I used for the blow off was all full of crud down at the tip from when the krausen reached it. When the krausen fell back down, it left the tip all junked up, which dried out, then the pressure started to build before the cap finally blew.
I thought I had the correct blow off tube system in place, but apparently not. So, how are you guys that use BB's doing your blow off tubes again? I'd like to avoid a repeat of this. My first thought was to use a dremel to cut off the tip of the airlock and shape it into a point for easy insertion into the carboy cap. Not sure whether that's enough though... Any help?
I siphoned 5.2 gallons into a 6 gallon Better Bottle (first mistake--probably should have not filled it so high), and attached a carboy cap (the maroon kind with the two tubes off the top). To that I attached a three piece airlock with a 1/2 inch tube running down to a jug with some sanitizer (second mistake?). Did I mention I also used a starter for the yeast (Wyeast 1010)?
I was nervous about the batch because it was a fairly high gravity wheat beer (not to mention the starter), so I had my SWMBO keep an eye on it during the day yesterday. The blow off tube was apparently in action by hour 20, with no problems. But, by hour 24, the other unused tube on the carboy cap gave way, resulting in wort/beer all over my basement.
Ala CSI, I deconstructed the crime scene and found that the 3-piece airlock I used for the blow off was all full of crud down at the tip from when the krausen reached it. When the krausen fell back down, it left the tip all junked up, which dried out, then the pressure started to build before the cap finally blew.
I thought I had the correct blow off tube system in place, but apparently not. So, how are you guys that use BB's doing your blow off tubes again? I'd like to avoid a repeat of this. My first thought was to use a dremel to cut off the tip of the airlock and shape it into a point for easy insertion into the carboy cap. Not sure whether that's enough though... Any help?