krausen explosion?!

Hello,

This is my 4th batch overall (partial grain). I pitched the yeast on Friday around 6pm, so it has been a few days. I have never seen the krausen get so high up in my 5 gallon carboy. I'm worried about an explosion! Should I be? What should I do?

Thanx,

Jeremy

Use a blow off tube or a larger fermenter (6.5 gal carboy or a 6+ gal bucket) next time.

For now, you can still attach a blow off tube to the carboy/airlock if you want.

Ace_Club said:

Use a blow off tube or a larger fermenter (6.5 gal carboy or a 6+ gal bucket) next time.

For now, you can still attach a blow off tube to the carboy/airlock if you want.

Click to expand...

What he said! I always use a blowoff tube for the first few days and I primary in 6 or 6.5 gal carboys to avoid just that scenario.

The way it appears that the wort is pusing up into the air lock I would suggest you hurry getting the blow off tube.

Can I take the airlock off and leave it off while I run to the LHBS (5 min away) or is that a no-no?

Nevermind the 2 LHBS near me are both closed on Monday...ha...is there anything else i can do?

jjphillybrew said:

Nevermind the 2 LHBS near me are both closed on Monday...ha...is there anything else i can do?

Click to expand...

A hardware store or better yet home depot/lowes should have the tubing you need for a blowoff tube.

jjphillybrew said:

Can I take the airlock off and leave it off while I run to the LHBS (5 min away) or is that a no-no?

Click to expand...

To err on the side of caution, put a clean airlock on while ya run to the store

All I have is some narrow tubing, not the wider ones I see used as blow off tube...can I use this or does it need to be wider?

Go to the hardware store. Take a measurement of the internal diameter of the mouth of the carboy, and pick up some tubing at the hardware store that has an outer diameter slightly larger than your carboy measurement. Then sanitize it and shove the end in the mouth of the carboy, and put the other end in your bucket/milkjug/whatever. When I get a sec I'll post the tubing diameter that worked for me.

At home I have some of the narrow tubing I use when I bottle. Can I use this or does it need to be a wider diameter?

I live near Lowe's and Home Depot...what diameter do I need?

TheDom said:

Go to the hardware store. Take a measurement of the internal diameter of the mouth of the carboy, and pick up some tubing at the hardware store that has an outer diameter slightly larger than your carboy measurement. Then sanitize it and shove the end in the mouth of the carboy, and put the other end in your bucket/milkjug/whatever. When I get a sec I'll post the tubing diameter that worked for me.

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Do that JJPhilly!

1) It looks like, from the picture, that the krausen is already starting to fall back. I really wouldn't worry so much at this point. You'd be fine leaving the airlock on or just replacing the airlock with a clean one.

2) You can use thin tubing and attach it to the middle post of the airlock, it will work fine.

3) You can also go get 1-1/4" OD tubing and jam it into the mouth of the carboy.

Gas-X. Get some Gas-X (get liquid if you can) it is made from simethicone that is the same stuff they use in the fermcap-s anti foam drops. I think the stuff made for babies comes with a convenient eye dropper. A couple drops of that will knock the foam right down and it will never rise again.

Also, look into getting some fermcap-s anti-foam drops. They are 100% safe and work wonders.

Make sure you get the simethicone based anti-gas medication and not the enzyme based!

unionrdr said:

The problem with that is the lift tube in the center of the airlock is the same diameter as the 3/8" hose I bought. And no one sells 7/16" that I could find. But the 3/8" should fit the airlock hole in the bung. Close enough there...

Click to expand...

I've done it before with tubing from Home Depot, but that was long ago and I can't for the life of me remember what diameter the tubing was.

Nowadays I don't use a blow-off at all. I use buckets and cool fermentation temps and haven't had any issues.

I have 1 3/8 OD tubing. It took some real work to get that tube in the bung. 1 1/4 may work better, but I've never used it.