HELP! Homebrew emergency happening RIGHT NOW!

Hi There,

I started a batch of beer yesterday and I must have overfilled the fermenting tank. I do not have a secondary fermenter to transfer everything into. I am not sure what to do.

Can I open the fermenter and pour some out? Should I try an salvage this or is it done? It is still coming out of the airlock as we speak. I just got home from work.

Thanks

you need to install a blow off tube. Get a gallon or smaller jar & fill it with starsan. Open up the bucket carefully & cleanly and attach a piece of hose into the stopper (I'd clean and sanitize everything). Place the other end of the hose into the jar filled with starsan. It'll be okay, just get it cleaned up and get a hose rigged to release pressure (and a hell of a lot of foam/krausen).

Do you have a tube that would fit onto the inside of your airlock? If so you can pull the airlock off clean it and sanitize it then replace it with the tubing connected and dip the other end into a jug or pitcher with star San this is called a blowoff tube. If not just clean and sanitize your airlock and put it back on but it will probably keep happening. How big is your fermenter? You need at least a gallon of head space to help combat this. Ie most 5 gallon fermenters will fit 6 gallons of wort but you never wanna fill it that much.

Cape_Town said:

Hi There,

I started a batch of beer yesterday and I must have overfilled the fermenting tank. I do not have a secondary fermenter to transfer everything into. I am not sure what to do.

Can I open the fermenter and pour some out? Should I try an salvage this or is it done? It is still coming out of the airlock as we speak. I just got home from work.

Thanks

Click to expand...

just krausen foam from vigorous fermentation. I would use blow-off tube. You could also open and pour some off (carefully). I would be most concerned with foam getting infected in air and making it back into the wort. But your fermentation is strong so risk is not very high at this point, I think. Still, need to clean this up!

If you don't have the tubing to make the blow off system, set the fermentor in a tub. Pull the air lock and set a plastic storage container, upside down, on the fermentor lid. This will keep flies out if any are around. Put a few ounces of weight on the container to hold it in place.

The bottom of an air lock is tapered and partially restricted. This should be cut off so it doesn't get plugged with hop debris when using the air lock with a blow off tube.

If you can't find a hose that will fit in the hole on the fermenter lid, put a clean air lock in WITHOUT the cap and float piece. Then you fit a piece of hose over the center tube of the air lock and put the other end of the hose into a container of sanitizer. Regular siphon hose should fit perfectly. Just be sure your sanitizer container is below the level of the top of your fermenter. You don't want to siphon sanitizer into your beer

No worries

Its just a blow off. It happens, your beer is probably fine. it can be caused by too hot a fermentation which is more likely to cause you flavor problems than the blow off itself.

if you overfill the fermentor there is nowhere for the krausen to go.

there is no rush to the following steps.

Take the lid off
Clean it
Sanitize it

If you don't have a blow off tube (looks like you need a big one 1" diameter sort of job) just put the lid back on losely to keep debris out.

If you have a blow off tube wide enough that it won't get blocked use it like so

Small gauge blowoff can be ineffective and prone to blockage.


or stick it onto the airlock. Either works. I would just put the lid back on loosely minus the airlock

When things calm down again, replace the clean and sanitized airlock.

edit: In the interim, get the FV cooled. Google swamp cooler, or use a wet towel and fan with the Fv sitting in a couple of inches of water in the bath tub, fermentation is exothermic and can be violent as you have seen.

All good advice. I'd work with the airlock only at this point. Pulling that bucket lid up now could create a real mess. You need to make sure internal pressure has a release though, so don't let that airlock clog with dried krausen.

Put a towel or something over the airlock and then gently remove it from the lid to relieve some pressure. If you don't have a towel over it, you'll end up with krausen in your face and on the ceiling. Ask me how I know...

If you have a the right sized tube, you can put that directly into the hole where the airlock goes. Then put the other end in a StarSan solution.

Or fit a tube over the post inside the airlock and put the airlock back in without the upside down piece.

Or put a sanitized light bowl upside down over the airlock hole until the active fermentation has subsided.

Make sure to sanitize everything.

All good advice above. No reason to panic. This is just foam and should be contained and cleaned up but simply for cleanliness reasons. The beer inside your fermenter is probably just fine.

I would advise against opening the fermenter. Leave the lid on it and pull the airlock out. Make sure it is clean and unobstructed then sanitize it and reinsert it into the bucket lid. You can add a blow-off tube as others have suggested or simply check it every 4-6 hours and clean it as needed being careful to sanitize it each time. Within a few days this initial burst of fermentation will cease and the blow-off you're experiencing will stop.

The real issue, as has been suggested above, is why is this happening? If this is just a very vigorous fermentation then it's all good and there's nothing to be concerned about. If you are fermenting the beer too warm then there is a completely different issue and that issue can and very well might affect the quality/flavor of your beer.

What yeast are you using? What was the OG of the wort? What temperature are you holding the fermentation at? How are you controlling that temperature?

The answers to the above will tell most of those who can help you if you have a normal, nothing to worry about situation, or if it is something else that you most likely will learn from.

Cheers!

Ok, I didnt have a tube. Ive cleaned off the top of the lid using sanitied water then ive carefully removed the airlock. I then put a sanitixed glass upside down over the whole so nothing went in.

Sanitized the airlock and replaced?

I feel the issue has to do with temperature. Today was a really hot day in Vancouver B.C. and when I left for work I did nothing to keep the temperature down.

I have a few 2l bottles in the freezer so when I go to work I can position those around the tank, should I set up a cold towel now?

Thanks for all the help, do u think Im gonna be alright?

Ok the Airlock is flooding with Krausen again. I may need to try and drain this a bit. It didnt last 5 minutes. Gonna put the glass back on the top I think and leave like that for a while

Cape_Town said:

Ok, I didnt have a tube. Ive cleaned off the top of the lid using sanitied water then ive carefully removed the airlock. I then put a sanitixed glass upside down over the whole so nothing went in.

Sanitized the airlock and replaced?

I feel the issue has to do with temperature. Today was a really hot day in Vancouver B.C. and when I left for work I did nothing to keep the temperature down.

I have a few 2l bottles in the freezer so when I go to work I can position those around the tank, should I set up a cold towel now?

Thanks for all the help, do u think Im gonna be alright?

Click to expand...

You should be good to go....I recently had a pretty bad blowoff myself last month, I was super sanitary and the beer came out great! As many a brewer will tell you here: RDWHAHB ( Relax Don't Worry Have A Home Brew)

Last year when I started getting serious about brewing, I brewed a raspberry wheat and this is what I woke up to the next morning. It woke my girlfriend and I up, so I opened the closet to check on it and right after I snapped with the picture the lid blew off in my face and I was covered in beer. So keep an eye on it so that doesn't happen. It still turned out fantastic!

But now I use a blowoff tube and control fermentation in a bag with frozen 2 liters and I can easily keep it under 70 degrees. RDWHAHB

Cape_Town said:

Ok, I didnt have a tube. Ive cleaned off the top of the lid using sanitied water then ive carefully removed the airlock. I then put a sanitixed glass upside down over the whole so nothing went in.

Sanitized the airlock and replaced?

I feel the issue has to do with temperature. Today was a really hot day in Vancouver B.C. and when I left for work I did nothing to keep the temperature down.

I have a few 2l bottles in the freezer so when I go to work I can position those around the tank, should I set up a cold towel now?

Thanks for all the help, do u think Im gonna be alright?

Click to expand...

Do you have a tub or other large container for creating a swamp cooler?

This is a picture of my swamp cooler set up.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/photo/swamp-cooler-61314.html

At an ambient temperature of 72°F, i can get a temp drop of 8°, with the fan on high, for an average gravity beer. Ice bottles in the water will reduce the fermentors temperature even further.

edit: The bath tub can also be used, if no one objects. Ice bottles around the fermentor, and wrapped in a heavy coat will work also. Coat may smell of beer if blow off continues.

I just poured a bunch out. I removed the airlock in the bath tub and let a whole bunch out without actually removing the lid. I think this should stop it from blowing and I am working on bringing the temperature down with a fan and some wet towles. Busy freezing up some waterbottles for tomorow whilst im at work.

An

I would still advise loosening that lid. It won't blow up and the beer will be fine breathing freely so to speak. All that pressure's gotta go somewhere. You don't want an explosion of sticky wort in the middle of the night. Open fermentation for a few hours with a massively active fermentation will not result in problems.

Sleep easy knowing there is no risk.

When you say loosen the lid, do you mean remove it from being completely sealed and then just have it rest on top of the bucket loosely?

Krausen started going up the airlock again so I think I am going to have to do this. When should I reconnect the lid?

Cape_Town said:

When you say loosen the lid, do you mean remove it from being completely sealed and then just have it rest on top of the bucket loosely?

Krausen started going up the airlock again so I think I am going to have to do this. When should I reconnect the lid?

Click to expand...

Yeah just un snap and set the lid on top. Just until fermentation slows down. The active fermentation (aka pushing the co2 out of the bucket) will keep the bad stuff out.

Ok lid has been disconnected and is resting ontop of the bucket. should I leave the airlock in its place?

Clean it up. Cool it down. Learn about temperature control. Get a bigger fermenter bucket and learn how to use a blow-off hose in case it happens again.

Ok the beer has cooled down considerably today. I wrapped it in a cold towel and put a fan on it.

Can i reseal the lid now?

Thanks

Yes. I think so. If there is now enough headspace you're likely in good shape from an exploding fermentor standpoint.