Blow out

I have never personaly had a yeast blow out like some of the pic I've seen on here, not even a small blow out. I use yeast starters santatize basically everything the same as everyone here. SO what makes that happen? did I miss something?

the only blowout Ive had where the krausen went up and out of hte airlock was from a hefe I did. maybe it was the wheat DME combined with the hefe yeast I used.

The only blowoff I've ever experienced was when I pitched a dubbel directly on the yeast cake from a saison I'd just racked. That was a massive blowoff--I probably lost a half gallon of the dubbel.

I get them regularly. I use 6gal primaries vs. 6.5gal, but I don't know that it is the reason. Some of my blow-offs have been very vigorous. Ones that didn't blow-off were the Winter Ale and now the Wee Heavy. Every other of my recipes has blown off.

And all of the ferments that have blown off have been after using Wyeast activator packs pitched directly...maybe the yeasties are having a wake-up party?

So I'm curious as well. I'd suspect the yeast-types to be the culprit. 1056 and 1007 have been had best blow-offs.

I got real tired of cleaning up **** stains from my walls and ceiling after my german chocolate stout exploded the air lock right off the top of the primary. I use a 7.9 gallon fermenter now... for 5.5 gallon batches.

Could it be the plastic buckets? I only ferment in my glass carboy I use my bottling bucket to hold the beer while I clean the carboy for secondary fermentation.

I've never used plastic.

I use a 6.5 gallon carboy and the last batch (pitched on top of previous cake) decided to completely fill four feet of 1" I.D. blow off tube and the container used to hold Iodophor/water mix (2 gallon spring water bottle). By the time I noticed it there was 6 inches of foam on top of the water bottle and it had started to make what would have been a very nice ant farm in the carpet, had I waited to check things out. Glad I had that blow off tube or I would definately become a member of "The mop the ceiling (walls, windows and floor) club".

So yesterday I repitched on to a yeast cake from last weeks batch,1 hour later I had severe blow off going. I think maybe that is what causes blow offs.

There are a ton of factors affecting whether or not you will get a "blow off." The health of your starter and the fermentation temperature (the higher, the more active, to a point) are probably the biggest of these factors.

Some things that could prevent such an active start:

• Yeast strain - some just aren't as lively
• Underpitching yeast (including a large starter that is a bit old or tired)
• Pitching temperature (above 80 degrees may "shock" or even kill some yeast depending on how hot your wort is)
• A bit of sanitizer in the wort (especially bleach or a "rinse required" type)
• Preservatives in your ingredients
• Chlorinated water or water over-softened by a salt type softener
• Excessively high or low pH (as in very fruity brews, especially hard lemonade, though it'd be hard to kill the yeast completely with an acidic brew)
• Lack of fermentables - incomplete starch conversion

Those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head. I bet you could start a whole new thread (or find an old one) on factors that influence yeast activity.

Just had a massive blow out myself. Celebration ale and dry yeast in plastic bucket. Any chances of infection?

postman said:

Just had a massive blow out myself. Celebration ale and dry yeast in plastic bucket. Any chances of infection?

Click to expand...

Always a "chance" but most likely you won't.

Closest I came to a blow out was pitching on top of a yeast cake as well. Be very careful when you do this. Luckily SWMBO was home and was able to keep an eye on the brew for me.

Add a whole bunch of fruit to your beer, it'll go nuts. Only time I have ever needed a blow off tube.

I do 5.5 in a 6 gallon carboy, Stop and Shop Spring Water, and Nottingham dry yeast (re-hydrated beforehand). Every time I get a massive blow-off. Even the last batch, which used the supposedly milder Windsor yeast blew-off.

It's good stuff, but it's not without it's worries. I think the blow-off tube is becoming a liability. Even after a good soak in oxy-clean and then sanitized, it still is stained and smells like beer.

Next time try rehydrating your yeast and using store-bought spring water. Also make sure your wort is ~65F.

Mike

Help!!!

I posted a few hours ago. My family was eating dinner when I heard a pop from our bedroom where the fer mentors are located. The whole plastic top launched off, sending trub everywhere. The lid even landed on top of my dresser. I'm cleaning up the mess, but where do I go from there! Help!

Any advice is truly appreciated.

1. Take a picture
2. Put the lid back on with a blow off tube.
3. Move the bucket to a room without carpet.
4. Go get a carpet cleaner and commence cleaning.

Unless it just launched trub then just clean it up and see step two.

My wife one upped the picture, she videoed me cleaning the initial mess. I'll wait to put the lid on as I tried and more foam is ejecting. What the hell happened?

You had active fermentation, your airlock got plugged, extreme pressure built up, and then the fun began. I have heard stories of people losing as much as a couple gallons of brew do to blow off.

I think Yuri has the correct approach. Look at all of the factors that do effect the initial rate of fermentation.

After having a couple minor episodes myself mostly related to temperature, I've taken a new tack. I try to do everything possible to ensure a fast, healthy, vigorous fermentation. Then I drop the temperature to the low end or even below the low end of the reccomended temperature for the yeast strain. I still get a quick start of activity (within a few hours) but they never go ballisitic. The low temps will slow the rate of fermentation. I've been leaving my beers in primary for 2 to 3 weeks, warming for a 3 day or so diacetyl rest and going cool again for a 2 to 3 week secondary. The beers are coming out great.

I posted some pics of my first bomb. It was the first time I used Wyeast. I think on ths one it was a few factors. I made a 2 qt starter (largest I have done so far) and a aerated the S@%! out of the wort. I used an aquerium pump and a diffusion stone. I let it go 10 min and it had a huge pile of foam on top. Relatively high population of yeast, plenty of oxygen for growth, and a somewhat high OG.

All of my blowouts have been when I've pitched on a yeast cake.

Consider using Foam Control. It usually works great, and it certainly minimizes the problem. At least, go for a blowoff tube.

Also consider putting the fermenter in the bathtub until the initial fermentation calms down.


TL