Bursting Carboy - What did I do?

I've seen many people post about exploding bottles, but has anyone had a problem with an "exploding" carboy? I just attempted my first brew, and am using a home kit that has a 6gal plastic bucket. I think this is pretty standard for a beginner kit. I was making a simple hefe, and everything seemed to be fine. I pitched the yeast, sealed up the carboy and within 8 hours saw bubbles in the airlock, which I had half filled with vodka, and sealed with the cap.

The next morning, I awoke to find beer in the airlock, and, worse, the lid of the carboy popped off and beer sprayed on the wall. The plug was still in the lid of the bucket and the cap was still on the airlock.

So, what did I do? Or is this just something that randomly happens?

Thanks!

Hefe's are known for this. Do a quick search for "blow off tube" it will help.

edit:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/need-help-better-bottle-explosion-77541/
Your beer is probably fine. Just re-cover and RDWHAHB.

I've seen posts on blow off tubes and I have extra tubing so this shouldn't be hard to do, but is it really that simple? Just something that happens with hefes?

Not that I doubt you!

Happy yeast = lots of CO2 production, it's got to go somewhere.

Yes, hefe's are known for violent fermentations.

Also use the largest diameter tubing that you can get a good seal with. The extra diameter will allow more volume to escape, lowering the pressure that builds up.

Makes sense to me! I'll be doing trying this within the next few days then.

Thanks!

HighPlainsDrifter said:

Hefe's are known for this. Do a quick search for "blow off tube" it will help.

edit:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/need-help-better-bottle-explosion-77541/
Your beer is probably fine. Just re-cover and RDWHAHB.

Click to expand...

Nice, was just going to post a link to that thread I started. I find with a 6 gallon better bottle, I pretty much always need a blow off tube during the first few days of primary.

When it goes like crazy, the bubbles are forced to the top where they reach the bottom of the airlock. Once that gets plugged up with stuff, the CO2 builds up pressure and starts pressing on the lid until it pops off.

I always use a blow-off tube for the first few days or until the krausen drops a bit. My last brew, a belgian wit made a mess in the closet.

Welcome to the sometimes explosive world of homebrewing...You're cherry is popped now

Your beer will be fine.

Bopper359 said:

Nice, was just going to post a link to that thread I started. I find with a 6 gallon better bottle, I pretty much always need a blow off tube during the first few days of primary.

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i'm glad i read this before starting my next brew. i have a 6 gal carboy and wasn't sure if i should use a blow off tube. i'm going to do a pumpkin ale that has an OG around 1.060. glad i bought some tubing just in case

Out of curiosity, do plastic buckets ever do this? Or is it mostly carboys? Thanks!

Read the first post carefully - it appears that it is a bucket (though it's occasionally being called a carboy - sloppy use of terminology, but not a big deal), so your answer would be yes.

Ah thanks, after reading it again, I see. Thought OP was referring to a better bottle after a quick read.

My wife just called to tell me that my Hefe exploded. It is in a 6 gallon carboy. There isn't a lhbs anywhere near me, so I'll try an aquarium store to get tubing. If they don't have I don't know what I'll do. In the meantime I told her to cover it with foil.

zacster said:

My wife just called to tell me that my Hefe exploded. It is in a 6 gallon carboy. There isn't a lhbs anywhere near me, so I'll try an aquarium store to get tubing. If they don't have I don't know what I'll do. In the meantime I told her to cover it with foil.

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Home Depot and hardware stores have all kinds of vinyl tubing. That's where I got mine.

Just stop by a home repair store, they'll have tubing you can use.

We need pics please.

Welcome to the club, The Homebrew Blowoff Club....

YooperBrew said:

Home Depot and hardware stores have all kinds of vinyl tubing. That's where I got mine.

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Same here. I go to the local HD for tubing used for Home Brewing, Aquariums, Halloween projects, etc...

-Tripod

speaking to the topic of blowoffs. Has anyone every tried open fermentation? I have read about it and how there is a brewery in Europe that does it in a large stone fermentor. I think I may try it for my next explosively fermenting beer, such as a Saison or Hefe. This is, in a nut shell of what your supposed to do, Please provide feedback if you can!

Pitch yeast as usual, wait for airlock to bubble and Krausen begins to form. Remove the lid and let fermentation run its course till krausen begins to subside then cover and put in airlock. Let the batch finish fermenting, check via hydrometer.

Bob, the owner of Saint Somwhere brewery in Tarpon Springs, FL says that he uses an open fermentation style for his commercial Saison.

Thoughts?

greenleaf said:

speaking to the topic of blowoffs. Has anyone every tried open fermentation? I have read about it and how there is a brewery in Europe that does it in a large stone fermentor. I think I may try it for my next explosively fermenting beer, such as a Saison or Hefe. This is, in a nut shell of what your supposed to do, Please provide feedback if you can!

Pitch yeast as usual, wait for airlock to bubble and Krausen begins to form. Remove the lid and let fermentation run its course till krausen begins to subside then cover and put in airlock. Let the batch finish fermenting, check via hydrometer.

Bob, the owner of Saint Somwhere brewery in Tarpon Springs, FL says that he uses an open fermentation style for his commercial Saison.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Here is a really good thread on the subject:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/ambient-spontaneous-fermentation-43888/

Spontaneous fermentation and open fermentation with pitched yeast are very different things, really.

One major user of open fermenters (non-spontaneous) are the various folks (mostly in Yorkshire, fancy that) using the "Yorkshire square", which is a slate fermenter of particular shape/proportions. Samuel Smith's in Tadcaster is one, as far as I know.

A link to a description from the US importer:

Samuel Smith - Yorkshire Squares

Whoops, you are of course, right. I should have read the question more carefully. Sorry.

I am going to brew a Hefe this weekend and ferment it in a 6.5 gal plastic bucket. Since hefeweizens are know for being very active can I just put a tube into the groment on the lid that the Airlock normally goes into?

Has anybody done this and does it work well? If so what size tubing is the best to get to provide the tightest fit.

Thanks for the help!!

HighPlainsDrifter said:

Whoops, you are of course, right. I should have read the question more carefully. Sorry.

Click to expand...

Don't be too sorry, it's an interesting thread in itself, and timely in much of the northern hemisphere. I suppose if I think about it I even have a bag of homegrown VERY aged/oxidized hops from a few years ago (which got yanked out of the freezer and by the time I noticed they were out, I gave up on them, but have not bothered to throw them out, thinking perhaps hop pillow or the like).

bahumutx said:

I am going to brew a Hefe this weekend and ferment it in a 6.5 gal plastic bucket. Since hefeweizens are know for being very active can I just put a tube into the groment on the lid that the Airlock normally goes into?

Has anybody done this and does it work well? If so what size tubing is the best to get to provide the tightest fit.
!

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Well, you could get a blowoff tube - since I don't use buckets I can't help with the tubing size - if you have a three-piece airlock, you can take off two pieces and get a hose that fits over the center piece - bring it with you to the hardware store to find the right fit. For that matter do the same thing if you want a tube to fit in the grommet - just take the lid with grommet to the hardware store and head for the tubing section.

You could also just put in the airlock as usual but not actually snap the lid on tight until after it settles down. It should burp uneventfully if it gets too excited.

I have a brown splatter on the ceiling in the spare room that I need to paint over, from a very nice porter, several years ago.

If you put the tube into the airlock, you'll still have the same problem. The airlock doesn't allow the crud through, so it clogs. That's when it explodes. Put the tube directly into the grommet.

I found a 1" blowoff tube in the aquarium store but then decided to put the airlock back in since the activity has subsided to some degree.

Just get some fermcap defoamer and put that in the boil and the fermenter, your krausen will be much smaller and it will settle out after fermentation is done so it won't affect the head retention (I've read that it may even help since you don't blow off the proteins you would otherwise)

greenleaf said:

speaking to the topic of blowoffs. Has anyone every tried open fermentation? I have read about it and how there is a brewery in Europe that does it in a large stone fermentor. I think I may try it for my next explosively fermenting beer, such as a Saison or Hefe. This is, in a nut shell of what your supposed to do, Please provide feedback if you can!

Pitch yeast as usual, wait for airlock to bubble and Krausen begins to form. Remove the lid and let fermentation run its course till krausen begins to subside then cover and put in airlock. Let the batch finish fermenting, check via hydrometer.

Bob, the owner of Saint Somwhere brewery in Tarpon Springs, FL says that he uses an open fermentation style for his commercial Saison.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Stone fermenter eh? I wonder how that works or how many infections they get. Stone is porous...

beerthirty said:

If you have a 3 piece airlock, push a screwdriver down the gas tube and the tip will break cleanly off. I think they are designed this way. then take 1/2" ID hose and slip over the top of the gas tube. Drop the other end of the hose into a jar of water or dilute sanitizer. Instant blow off tube. when you want to use it as an airlock just reassemble it. The missing tip will just help prevent clogs.

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This was a tip BeerThirty posted in another thread when my stopper/airlock kept popping off. I removed the tip of the airlock and that released enough pressure that I didn't need the blowoff tube.

Mirage said:

Stone fermenter eh? I wonder how that works or how many infections they get. Stone is porous...

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I expect very few, if any. I don't know what they do (they did not have any sort of tour available when I visited) but I expect they use good old-fashioned steam and clean up very well indeed. They've been at it since 1758. Slate is actually not very porous - one reason it works well as a roofing material. It's certainly far less porous than wood, which a great many fermenters and beer barrels were (and some still are) made from.

both do it, what was the OG on that heff