My First Brewing Disaster.

New brewer here… I just finished up my second brew day this Saturday. It was an Amber Ale, and everything went pretty smoothly. I got it in the fermenter, sealed it up, and BOOM another brew day in the books. My starting gravity ended up at 1.046, which was in the expected range. I woke up Sunday morning to happily find that fermentation had begun. The 3-piece airlock on my carboy was starting to bubble and a small bit of movement could be seen in the fermenter. By mid-day, fermentation began to get very active. By the end of the day, the krausen had risen to the top of the carboy and was starting to get in the airlock. Here is where things start to go downhill. Firstly, I should have realized that the krausen overflowing in to the airlock was a bad thing and put a blow-off tube on the carboy right then and there. I did not do that. I went to sleep Sunday night, simply content that I had obviously done something right being that the fermentation was so active. I woke up early Monday for work, and headed in to the spare bathroom where I keep my carboy. Can you guess what I saw when I walked in? Krausen & wort, EVERYWHERE. I mean it looked like someone shot Marvin in the face while he was in the middle of taking a dump in my toilet. Overnight the pressure had built up so much that the bung and airlock were forced out of the carboy and hit my ceiling so hard that it left a dent. But the mess was not my primary concern. I had eyes only for my beer. I quickly grabbed a backup airlock and tossed it in a bowl of sanitizer. I removed the old airlock (which was full of gunk) and tossed the bung in to the sanitizer as well. I then replaced the bung and new airlock to seal the carboy. At this point fermentation was still very active, and krausen was pouring out of the open fermenter. As soon as I replaced the airlock, it began to immediately bubble again. I would have taken the blow-off tube route right here and then, but I did not have the proper tubing to do so (remember, newbie here). So I headed off to work, praying that I didn’t come home to yet another blowout. When I arrived home later that day, it seemed as though fermentation had stopped. It had obviously been going on during the day because the airlock was once again full of krausen and wort. But upon arriving home, it was no longer visibly fermenting and the krausen had dissipated. Now, with no fear of another blow out occurring, I sanitized the unused airlock and replaced the soiled one currently on the carboy. Although visible fermentation could no longer be seen, the airlock was still bubbling pretty regularly (maybe once every 5-10 seconds). My concern is this… First, is it normal for the active primary fermentation period to be so intense and short (less than 2 days)? And second, although a solid coat of krausen is stuck to the walls of the carboy, there is barely any on the top surface of the wort. Is it a bad sign that almost all of krausen has dissipated this early in fermentation? On the first batch I did, after fermenting for two weeks there was still about an inch thick layer of krausen on the top of the wort before I racked it for bottling. I’m concerned I may have contaminated the wort during the time period the bung had been blown-off and I replaced it, or when switching the airlocks. Is it normal to have little to no krausen (after having a ton) this early in fermentation? Should I be worried, or and I just being paranoid?

with a active fermentation, contamination is not likly. relax! of course after you clean your mess! what size batch and what size carboy did you use? maybe a bigger one next time or use a bucket!

5 Gallon batch, 6.5 Gallon carboy. I figured there was plenty of headspace, so I was pretty shocked by the blow-out.

Also, as a secondary question... How the hell do I get this **** off the walls and ceiling?

kkotwas said:

Also, as a secondary question... How the hell do I get this **** off the walls and ceiling?

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Leave it, adds character.

jimmarshall said:

Leave it, adds character.

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Ha. Not sure I want that sort of character in my guest bathroom. Kind of gives off an explosive-diarrhea paint job vibe. Not really the look I'm going for.

Oxiclean.

And next time use a blow-off tube!

Homercidal said:

Oxiclean.

And next time use a blow-off tube!

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This

Also would be a great time to talk the wife into a freezer for fermentation.

"Honey, if this happened in the ferm chamber we would only have it to clean"

Oh and RDWHAHB....your beer will be fine.

Homercidal said:

Oxiclean.

And next time use a blow-off tube!

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Thanks.

And I most definitely will. Already bought the equipment.

Plus one on the oxiclean, thats what I used over the weekend when I did the same thing.

I put up a 1.080 Trippel this weekend with Wyeast 3787 Trappist HG. Had similar issues.

When the wort temperature went 6F over ambient, I should have known the 3787 was partying. By Monday morning, it was crawling across the basement floor. Serious yeast ejection through and around the airlock.

I put the partiers in the coldest place in the house (a 59F bathroom), and it has finally settled down to a mere 3F over ambient.

Yeast just wanna have fun.

Different yeast, at different temperatures, will ferment at different speeds. I had a IIPA that I brewed with S-04 this weekend blow my airlock out when three months ago the same recipe didn't even touch the airlock.

This time, the krausen was gone and fermentation "done" after three days; three months ago it took a week for the krausen to drop and the fermentation to "stop."

So anyways my point is, no it is not uncommon for activity to happen fast and stop quick. It's a sign that you might need to look more into temperature control.

While a couple degrees difference might not feel like much to you and me, to the yeast it can be the difference between "ho-hum" and "BAZA KOWA BLOOEY!!"

Homercidal said:

Oxiclean.

And next time use a blow-off tube!

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....and some Fermcap.