almost passed out

So i was going to take a reading on my porter because i was cleaning the airlock..all the foam and sediment was settled. it still had little bubbles poppin..so i decided id stick my head in to smell the joy im creating only to have my breath taken away and my nose burned..the smell was not a pleasant one..not sour...i cant even describe it it burned my nose so bad..i pulled my head up and..things got a tad fuzzy...i was like damn..it took a bit to get my senses back and wondered what the hell happened..i was like any more time in there and i could have took a nap...funny image comes to mind of me paasing out spilling my fermenter and waking up in a flood of beer soaked carpet..is this normal or is my beer turning into something bad?

That's the smell of concentrated co2, you're fine

Totally normal and bet you don't do that again!

All that accumulated concentrated gas knocked you for a loop, next time give it a few minutes to dissipate.

Please tell me you have your beer in a bucket, not a carboy (imagine that picture)

I too have partaken of the CO2 and agree that it is not fun!

duboman said:

Totally normal and bet you don't do that again!

All that accumulated concentrated gas knocked you for a loop, next time give it a few minutes to dissipate.

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I dont even want to open the lid again lol..i think i will leave it be until the beast is soothed

KevinW said:

Please tell me you have your beer in a bucket, not a carboy (imagine that picture)

I too have partaken of the CO2 and agree that it is not fun!

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Yes its in a bucket lol...ya i can see the headlines "man bled out from mutiple gashes from his beloved beer"...

Be careful next time, you could've passed out, fell face first into the bucket, drowned and ruined a good batch of porter. Its all fun and games until somebody has to throw out a batch of beer.

Thanks for the replies and that this is in some sick way normal...and for some new people out there....keep your head out of the bucket...your beer could kill you..and you dont want to land a spot on that show A 1,000 Ways to DIE

I remember the first time I did that. it wasn't fun

Concentrated carbonic acid is acidic. I suspect most homebrewers have pulled this one.

Just do what I do when I want to smell my beer, tap the top of the bucket and sniff the bubble that passes through the airlock. It satisfies the curiosity without the CO2 poisoning

Pee in it first,oh,oops bad advice.

david_42 said:

Concentrated carbonic acid is acidic. I suspect most homebrewers have pulled this one.

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It was very potent to say the least. Im going to let this one sit for a long while in secondary and even longer in the bottles and hopefully tame this brew

lol, yea.... did it my 1st time too.

Do it again every time if you're into that sort of thing

AdamPag said:

lol, yea.... did it my 1st time too.

Do it again every time if you're into that sort of thing

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It's a natural High.

that would be the great smell of c02. The burning sensation and dizziness was the co2, the other smell you noticed was most likely your beer. If you think that was bad try sticking your head into a 14bbl fermenter to clean it out only to hit a wall of co2.

A while back I was brewing a stout and had to attach a blowoff tube for the first time. I had a very vigourous fermentation going and was concerned that my blowoff tube was going to get clogged. I decided that the "smart" thing would be to try and suck the sludge from the tube. Needless to say the sludge stayed put and way too much headspace and the line was not clogged. All I did was to directly inhale CO2. Talk about getting high!

Just had this experience tonight! My airlock wasn't bubbling (poor seal on the bucket as it turns out) and decided to open it up. Huge krausen going and since I love the smells of fermentation I dropped my face right down in there. Whoo wee! Not a mistake you make twice!

red96jeep said:

that would be the great smell of c02. The burning sensation and dizziness was the co2, the other smell you noticed was most likely your beer. If you think that was bad try sticking your head into a 14bbl fermenter to clean it out only to hit a wall of co2.

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I don't think I can handle a wall of it lol.