Back up everyone...she's gonna blow!!!!

Ok, so last night I whipped up a batch of Cherry Wheat Ale, (while drinking my honey wheat ale I just made a few months ago) and moved it into my 5 gallon carboy. This afternoon I called my wife from work and asked her to check up on my baby to see she started fermenting. Oh I asked how the kids were doing too, hmmm now that I think about it, I should have asked how she was doing too . Anyway she said it was foaming up a little around the edges of the glass, and bubbling up in the airlock. NICE!! About an hour or 2 later, she calls me back to tell me that the carboy is foaming up a lot, and the airlock is going berzerk. As sad as this may sound..I was a little concerned, so I left the office and came home to see what was going on. When I oppened the door to the pantry, my carboy looked like it was ready to explode. foam is now into the airlock along with some beer, and a wild hissing noice is coming out from the vents on top of the airlock. I can see bubbles shooting up the side as if someone dropped an antacid. I cleaned it up a bit, but my concern is, can I do anything to releave any of the pressure building up? As I see it now, I'm looking at this as a good thing. It seems my little yeast warriors are on a feeding frenzy, but I'm worried that the carbon dixoid build up is going to be too much...it has only been frementing for less than a day. Am i wrong in my thinking? I'm thinking I should take the "wait and see" approach, but if there is something I could do in the mean time, please let me know. If this think blows up, my kids cherrois will not only now be Cherry Wheat flavored, but also 5% ABV

Blow-off Hose.

GreenwoodRover said:

Blow-off Hose.

Click to expand...

+1

Quick get that airlock out of there before it blows...like my last beer.

Also, you might want to stand back when you pull the airlock out.

GreenwoodRover said:

Blow-off Hose.

Click to expand...

hmm...is this something I can make or do I have to buy it? I have the plug that goes into the top of the carboy, and then u incert a top looking thing with another pieve that sits inside on top of the valve. Can I pull this off, but something tells me thats a bad idea...how do I get this blow off valve on? I used a 6 gallon bucket before, so I didnt have this issue. I wanted to see the process this time, which is why I used the carboy first.

you're fermenting 5 gal of wort in a 5 gal carboy?

You'll need a blow-off hose for sure!

Normally, you don't want to use a 5 gallon vessel as a primary fermentor without a blow off hose. There's just not enough room for the kreusen and such. Take a length of tubing (1" tubing will fit snuggly in the top of the carboy, 1/4" tubing will squeeze into your rubber stopper) and put the other end into a jar or small pot of sanitized water, vodka or star-san solution and that will act as your airlock.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I pulled off the tubing on my auto syphon, and removed the bung from the carboy. After soaking it real quick in sanitizing solution, I attached the tube into the bung and put it back on the carboy with the other end on a 1 gal water bottle 1/4 filled with the sanitizing solution. Looks like everything is still chucking along and no foamy mess anymore