Overactive yeasties!?!?

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MoRoToRiUm

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This is a first for me...

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It just keeps coming! Ambient temperature is good and has been fairly constant... I just put this into the fermentor a little over 24 hours ago. Is this normal?
 
Sure, it can be normal. It can also be normal to not happen. It tends to happen more when you ferment 5 gallons of beer in a less-than-7-gallon fermenter.
 
5 gallons in a 6 gallon fermentor.. Now I know why I normally do smaller batches :) Dry Irish Stout using Safale S-04 white bread yeast
 
Very normal. I pitch smack packs into a 6.5 gallon glass carboy, with 1-1.5 gallons of headroom. If I bypass the blow-off tube and just attach an airlock, krausen still comes spilling out roughly 24 hours after pitching.

It's no big deal. Just lay a crap towel around the airlock for a day or so to contain most of the muck. After it settles down, wipe up the mess, and then rinse/refill the airlock with vodka or whatever. Make sure you're sanitary, and everything will be fine. Don't worry if you don't get all the crust out of the airlock. I just wait until bottling time to soak it in oxi-clean free. Works like a charm.
 
I appreciate all the feedback! I already have a towel around the top and resorted to placing my fermentor in a plastic barrel (alot easier then dealing with the spill over; glad I didn't start a batch of wine in it like I was going to!)
 
And thus - they invented blow off tubes.

Had one like that just this week. About 22% of the time I need a blow off tube.
 
Forgive me, I am still new- I have heard of these as an alternative, and am fairly certain what they are (and if I am right I've used these with my buddy in his wine brewing), but have not SEEN one here, just mention there of... Mind enlightening me/confirming this for me? Thanks!
 
I am having this exact thing right now with my dubble. I have never seen it this active, smells great though.
 
Cleaned out my airlock before I went to work this morning... Soo disappointed when I came home today. There is another thread on it, but yes, I sniff mine.. and watch it; so does my cat.
 
Now there is no activity in my airlock... Re-pitch? (Dry Irish Stout, Safale S-04 yeast)
 
Now there is no activity in my airlock... Re-pitch? (Dry Irish Stout, Safale S-04 yeast)

No. It was very, very active while fermenting. Now, it's finished with the major fermentation, and the yeast are busy cleaning up their own waste products, like diacetyl. It'll probably drop a few more gravity points, but you won't see any obvious activity.

If you're dying to know, you can check the SG. Otherwise, just leave it alone!
 
In anaerobic condition ethanol and co2 are the main products of the yeast metabolism, so during the growth of the yeast population they will be produced with a very high rate.
Insofar when the first stages of the fermentation are gone and the population has reached a stationary value you will see less activity, but the yeast's cells are still alive and continue to perform their metabolic activities, yet in a quiet way, still consuming fermentable saccharides, and performing secondary metabolism duties, that are very important for the flavour and the body of the beer.
Alongside they will flocculate and sedimentate, forming the cake in the bottom of the vessel.
 
The CO2 pressure probably dropped when you took the airlock off the fermenter. After replacing the airlock, the CO2 pressure should rise, and you should get bubbles.

I agree with Yooper and Giovanni. If you're not seeing action in the airlock, you're probably pretty close to the end of the fermentation, or at least the most active part. I would check the SG to see if you're close to FG.

Also, I've seen people attach a blow off hose to a bell-type airlock without any problem. Can't find the HBT example of this but ...

The All-Grain Evangelist: A Beer Brewer's Blog: MacGyvering a Blow-off Tube in a Pinch

I love this idea for the buckets ...
Blow Off Tube:rockin:
 
Thanks again for all the replies- I do miss staring at it and smelling it (guilty).
 
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