I need help! What to do now?

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jimmarshall

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Just went to the basement to check on my beer that I put in the primary last night. It blew the lid off my bucket! Foam all over the basement. What should I do now? Just assume it will be ok, resanitize the lid, and put it back on?
 
Yes,just clean everything up & re-install. But rig a blow off tube in place of the airlock. It blew off so much krausen & co2 that the beer should be fine.
 
unionrdr said:
Yes,just clean everything up & re-install. But rig a blow off tube in place of the airlock. It blew off so much krausen & co2 that the beer should be fine.

What's a bow off tube? How do I rig one of those up?
 
A blow off tube takes the place of the airlock. Put a piece of 3/8" tubbing in the airlock grommet in the lid. The other end in a 1/2-1 gallon jug 1/3 full of water & a splash of starsan.
Or if you have some 1/2"ID tubing,take the cap & center piece out of a 3 piece airlock & push the 1/2" tubing over the center post of the airlock. Then into the jug of water/starsan. This is our version of the Burton union blow off method. It's just a huge airlock that can move more co2 & krausen.
 
jimmarshall said:
Blow off tube rather... Dang auto-correct

If you have a 3-piece airlock you can attach tube, reattach the airlock to your lid, and run it to a jug of sanitizer (must be submerged). Do a search on the forum and you will find plenty of examples.
 
brewguyver said:
If you have a 3-piece airlock you can attach tube, reattach the airlock to your lid, and run it to a jug of sanitizer (must be submerged). Do a search on the forum and you will find plenty of examples.

I don't have any tubing, and nowhere around here to buy it on a Sunday. Also, any suggestions on what to do with the 2-3 inches of krausen sticking above the top of the bucket?

This thing fermented rather violently.
 
Skim some off. And you can get the tubing at lowe's or home depot. That's where I get mine. Mycguyver that thing asap.
 
jimmarshall said:
What's a bow off tube? How do I rig one of those up?

It's a large diameter tube that you use instead of an airlock. One end plugs into your fermenter and the other end goes into a container of sanitizer. The larger diameter lets krausen blow off without clogging so that pressure doesn't build up and blow the lid off. One inch diameter tubing is most common.
 
1" is too big here. He's using a bucket,not a carboy. 3/8" or 1/2" depending on how he riggs it up for a bucket style FV.
 
Ok, gonna run to home depot, should I do anything with it until I get back? Going to be about an hour round trip.
 
Put the lid & airlock back in place to protect it while you're gone. then rig the blow off when you get back. And don't forget to re-sanitize!:mug:
 
Ok. Should i use the blow off tube for all my future brews? Or is there criteria for when that setup is needed
 
Many of us use a blow off rig the first few days of fermentation when it's at it's most vigorous stage. Then change to an airlock when it slows down.
 
unionrdr said:
Many of us use a blow off rig the first few days of fermentation when it's at it's most vigorous stage. Then change to an airlock when it slows down.

It was all stopped up again when I got back, I think I got there just in time.

Is it necessary to switch back to the airlock? Or can I leave the tube setup installed the whole time?
 
You can leave the blow off on if you want. But don't think your beer will get infected just because you change it out. No worries.
 
unionrdr said:
You can leave the blow off on if you want. But don't think your beer will get infected just because you change it out. No worries.

What is the thought process behind switching? Just a move to something more compact?
 
Well,it seems to take a lot more gas to move it out of the fermenter to the blow off jug when it slows down. I like the airlock at that point,since there's less resistence. I think there's less co2 staying dissolved in the beer this way.
 
unionrdr said:
Well,it seems to take a lot more gas to move it out of the fermenter to the blow off jug when it slows down. I like the airlock at that point,since there's less resistence. I think there's less co2 staying dissolved in the beer this way.

Ok, so give it a couple days? Say put the airlock back together on like tuesday?
 
When ever the blow off slows way down or seems to stop,switch to an airlock. You don't need the blow off past this point.
 
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