Why does this keep happening?

OK, so I have 5 gallons of wort in a 6 gallon glass carboy. I have an orange cap on it with both a carblock and a blowoff hose (3/8th inch) going into a growler full of star san solution.

Why do I keep getting Monster Krausens? I checked earlier and there was foam coming out the airlock and all over the carboy and floor. The temp is in the low 70's, so what the deuce?

How are you starting/pitching your yeast?

I put 5.5 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy but use a 1" blowoff tube. I don't think a 3/8 tube is going to cut it with a big ferment. My tube fills but does not clog.

Is this the Hefe that I see in your signature? The reason I ask is that I just brewed my Ginger Peach Hefeweizen, racked it into my 6.5 gallon carboy and I too got foaming out the airlock. I had to pull the airlock and attach a blowoff tube. I'd never gotten that much Krausen in my fermentation before. This is the beer that I added the Ginger Peach tea to and I thought that might have something to do with it. I used too the 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen Yeast. Maybe that's it.

Yeah, it's 3068 Hefeweissen. I used an Activator pack (no starter).

It's just damn messy.

We use wheat to improve head retention. What is a krausen except a really big head? Try pitching your hefes at the low end of the temperature range and then, if you want, warm them up a day after the ferment has started.

I suspect you saw the same problem with your oatmeal stout.

Cheesefood said:

Yeah, it's 3068 Hefeweissen. I used an Activator pack (no starter).

It's just damn messy.

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I had blow-off with my Weizen I just did with a Wyeast 3068 Smack Pack (no starter as well). I hook up 1" blow-off for my batches and that doesn't clog like
Blender said. I'd say about 1/3 of my brews blow-off, I still wonder if it has anything to do with the amount of break that gets in my fermenter........more yeast nutrients the more crazy they go? I suppose pitching at the low end of the yeast would help too.

I use 1" tubing for my blowoff in the primary. It works great. The bucket of starsan I put the end in gets pretty mucky though.

I just used my 6gal better bottle for the first time since using bucket fermenters. I had a ridiculous mess on the floor in the morning as well. I was using an orange carboy cap with 3/8" tubing shoved inside the larger hole as well. It was fermenting in the low 70's all night as well. Once I cooled it down to 68 and used a 5/8" hose on the outside of the carboy cap nipple, I didn't have a problem. Oh, and I also increased the blowoff container to a one gallon jug instead of a 22oz bottle.

Most hefe strains are true top-cropping yeasts too. This means that they make big huge krausens that you could probalby actually crop yeast off the top. This is supposed to be the strongest, most healty yeast in your batch too!

3/8 tubing is pretty small for a blowoff. I use the 1" variety because I would think you get too much back-pressure and potential for clogging with the smaller tube.

I use foam control and primary in a 30 litre bucket or a 23 litre carboy most of the time and seldom get my airlock dirty.