Carboy Overflow

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wgentzel

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So I went away to Philadelphia (real ale invitational, woohoo!) after putting my third ever batch of beer in the fermenter only to come back and see that it had apparently overflowed?

I guess the yeast was more active than I thought or something. Maybe I filled the carboy too much? Anyway, I saw it for a bit before I left, the beer was getting very foamy and stating to actually come up and go through the airlock. When I came back the water in the 3 piece air lock was replaced with beer.

I carefully removed the airlocked and cleaned it, sanitized it, and replaced it after knocking out a thin layer of hops and woodchips residue that formed just below the neck of the carboy (underneath the stopper).

I assume the beer is still good, smell fine, and I'll just keep in the carboy for 2 weeks and then bottle it, but I am just wondering if anyone has any thoughts.

Did I fill the carboy too high, should I just use less water next time? Or does this happen occasionally (I cannot imagine it is supposed to).
 
Happens all the time. It happens more often if you don't have enough headspace in the fermenter and when you brew high-gravity beers that have very active fermentation. The solution is a blowoff tube. You can run one from the stem of your 3-piece airlock, down into a container of sanitizer. When vigorous fermentation is over, replace it with the rest of the airlock.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I'm trying to work this out in my mind...

So I connect the tube to the stem/first part of the airlock then, I am assuming, I want to make sure that even when the blowoff is done, no air comes back down the tube? So i guess I can put the tube down lower below the carboy and submerge the other end in a bucket of water, so the blowoff can come out but nothing can go in?

Or is none of that necessary?
 
Yes you need to put the end of the blow off tube into something sanitary. I have used water befroe, but just to be sure use sanitizer or something. You don't want bugs and vermine getting up your tube.
 
I think i got the idea off this forum somewhere but i have a 3foot long piece of 1 in tube and it fits air tight right into the top of a glass carboy. I have the other end of the tube going into recycled fresh scoop container full of Iodaphor.
 
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