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Radar

Radar

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Hey Everyone,

I am a 1st time brewer out of SoCal and tried my hand a brewing a wheat just this past Saturday night. Here is the recipe I used:

Yellow Brick Road Wheat Beer
Malt Extract:


Wheat 6 lbs.
Hopping Schedule:
#1 Willamette (4.5%) 1.0 oz 60 min
Starting Gravity:
1.044
Fermentation Temp:
65-75 degrees F.

Yeast for a German Hefeweizen:
Whitelabs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale

Description:

This is 3 recipes in one. Ferment it with an ale yeast to get an American-style wheat beer. For a Hefeweizen, use one of the German wheat beer yeasts. Add some fruit extract and you've got a fruit beer!

Directions:

1. Fill the large brew pot half full with water and apply heat.
2. When bubbles start to rise from the large pot, turn off the heat and stir in the extract.
3. After the grains have steeped for 20-30 minutes, pour them through a strainer into the large brew pot.
4. Add some hot water to the small pot and rinse the grains in the strainer.
5. Bring what is now called ‘wort’ to a full, roiling boil. Watch for boilovers!
6. Once the foaming stops, add the contents of the first hop package.
7. Sanitize your fermenter, strainer, airlock & stopper.
8. Maintain the boil for one hour, adding hops as per recipe.
9. When the boil is done, cool the pot in a sink until sides are cool to the touch.
10. Pour the wort into your sanitized fermenter, add pre-chilled water to bring it up to 5 gallons at about 75 degrees and pitch the yeast.
11. Ferment in the temperature range recommended above.
Click to expand...

Everything went... ok... took forever to cool... almost 1.5hrs. I used sanitizer to be sure all my gear was germ-free and once the temp reached 74F, I added the yeast, sealed the bucket and filled my airlock.

My buddy and I made the same batch w/his gear on Friday.. and on Saturday morning, he had an "explosion" as his airlock clogged w/foam and the bucket lit went airborne. We have made other recipes before with great success, but this is a new recipe for us...

This morning, I checked mine.. and prevented the same "explosion" as I saw the foam squeezing out the sides and the airlock no longer bubbling. Sure enough, my airlock was clogged too...

I don't know the right questions to be asking as I am fairly new... so thoughts/opinions as to what we could have done wrong?

Thanks in advance,
- Radar
 
Radar said:
I don't know the right questions to be asking as I am fairly new... so thoughts/opinions as to what we could have done wrong?
Click to expand...

Nothing. Do a search for a blow-off tube- that is what you need. Hefeweizen yeast can be especially violent. This is just a sign of a healthy fermentation. Clean and sanitize the lid and the rim of the bucket if you took it off and everything will be fine.

:mug:
 
You did nothing wrong you just had a vigorous fermentation. That happens to all of us on occasion... One thing to do is to add a blowoff tube.

If you are fermenting in the bucket, you can do this.

You do a modified 3 piece airlock blowoff tube with what you have already. If you are using a 3 piece airlock...Do this.

blowoff2.jpg


You have to find a piece of long hose that will fit in the center pipe of your airlock...I had to do it in a pinch and found the the hose I had for my bottling wand almost fit....I put a small slit in it, then I soaked it in hot water for a few minutes to Soften and slid it around the tube...

I also found it is a good idea to cut, saw or break off the little criss crossing piece of plastic at the bottom of the airlock. It works great!

If you are using a carboy, make sure you are using a 6.5 gallon carboy for your 5 gallon batches, and you should affix a blowoff tube like this;

7451-RIS_992.jpg

(I stole this pic from yooper who stole it from biermuncher)

The other end of the tube goes into a bucket, jar or small pail to which you added sanitizer or vodka.
 
+1 about blow off tubes. I learned about them for the first time on my first heff as well:D
 
Oh, re-reading, look up "ice bath" to speed up your cooling process. You should be able to cool your batch in ~30 minutes with a good ice bath.
 
Revvy said:
You did nothing wrong you just had a vigorous fermentation. That happens to all of us on occasion... One thing to do is to add a blowoff tube.

If you are fermenting in the bucket, you can do this.

You do a modified 3 piece airlock blowoff tube with what you have already. If you are using a 3 piece airlock...Do this.

blowoff2.jpg


You have to find a piece of long hose that will fit in the center pipe of your airlock...I had to do it in a pinch and found the the hose I had for my bottling wand almost fit....I put a small slit in it, then I soaked it in hot water for a few minutes to Soften and slid it around the tube...

I also found it is a good idea to cut, saw or break off the little criss crossing piece of plastic at the bottom of the airlock. It works great!

The other end of the tube goes into a bucket, jar or small pail to which you added sanitizer or vodka.
Click to expand...
The only thing I would add is that you can remove the airlock completely and stick the flexible tube in the hole where the airlock fits. This is how I usually fit a blowoff tube. It removes on source of restriction.
However using the small tubing on a bucket still has a small probability of plugging. The big tube on the carboy should have no problems.
Craig
 
Thanks for the quick replies, most appreciated.

I think the batch is tainted as I had to leave the lid off the bucket... had to go to work and couldn't leave the heff-bucket-bomb expanding while at the office. The plan is to start the process from scratch again in the upcoming days... this time w/a blow off tube.

Thanks again!
- Radar

Ps. Yes, I did get my nickname from MASH!
 
Radar said:
Thanks for the quick replies, most appreciated.

I think the batch is tainted as I had to leave the lid off the bucket... had to go to work and couldn't leave the heff-bucket-bomb expanding while at the office. The plan is to start the process from scratch again in the upcoming days... this time w/a blow off tube.

Thanks again!
- Radar

Ps. Yes, I did get my nickname from MASH!
Click to expand...


Most likely your batch is fine....since it's out gassing co2 it is protecting your beer from anything bad, there's a co2 bed right on the surface...I wouldn't scrap the batch, just finish the process...
 
Revvy said:
Most likely your batch is fine....since it's out gassing co2 it is protecting your beer from anything bad, there's a co2 bed right on the surface...I wouldn't scrap the batch, just finish the process...
Click to expand...

+1 on the let it finish.

Also welcome to the explosive fermentation club! I did the same thing with my first hefewizen batch, though I thought it was finished, and switched to the airlock early then I had a gusher, didn't paint the ceiling, but made a nice mess at any rate.
 
Yup, let it finish. Have you ever seen pics of open fermentation at commercial breweries?

openferment.JPG


fermentation_Full.jpg


When it's going full blast like that, contamination is not as big of an issue.
 
Instead of staring a new thread, I thought I would pose this question...

- If you have a 6.5gal carboy and a 3 piece airlock for primary, does that really cut down on fermentation explosions... using a Hefe as the topic as it seems that Hefe's are firey when it comes to initial fermentation?

I planned on doing a Hefe next when I get my IPA into the secondary and I plan on getting the large blowoff hose but wanted to ask anyways...

Cheers.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
No, he was from Ottumwa, IA...same place Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold lived after they got married...I think...:confused:
Click to expand...


Yep, Radar is from Ottumwa, but Gary Burghoff is a cheesehead from Appleton, WI.:mug:
 
DJCalico said:
Instead of staring a new thread, I thought I would pose this question...

- If you have a 6.5gal carboy and a 3 piece airlock for primary, does that really cut down on fermentation explosions... using a Hefe as the topic as it seems that Hefe's are firey when it comes to initial fermentation?

I planned on doing a Hefe next when I get my IPA into the secondary and I plan on getting the large blowoff hose but wanted to ask anyways...

Cheers.
Click to expand...

The 6.5 gallon primary will help. I am not sure if the 3 piece airlock helps that much but it is much easier to clean. You can actually attach a piece of tubing to the bottom piece of the 3-piece airlock and use that as a blow-off tube. Someone has a picture, mabe they will post.

If you are worried about, you can attach the blow-off tube from the begging. I have always needed one for hefes.
 
Thank you Beer... I saw that pic and will more than likely be getting the larger tube as I really want to do a hefe next.
 
BierMuncher said:
That'll be one dollar please. You know...royalties and all... :D
Click to expand...

Hey, Bier, what's the OD on that tubing in your picture? I've got some standard 1 inch ID/1 1/2" OD tubing for my 5 gallon carboy, but it doesn't fit the 6.5 gallon threaded-top acid carboys like the one you show. I can't seem to find anything that fits well.

Thanks!
 
I'm at the point where I use a blow-off tube for everything...don't even bother with an air lock anymore. I cut about 3 inches off an old racking cane, attached 3 feet of 3/8" tubing and stick it in a milk jug of water...works everytine.
 
bald eagle said:
I'm at the point where I use a blow-off tube for everything...don't even bother with an air lock anymore. I cut about 3 inches off an old racking cane, attached 3 feet of 3/8" tubing and stick it in a milk jug of water...works everytine.
Click to expand...


As I do the math, I'm guessing the 3" of old cane goes into your airlock as you are using the same size tubing as a siphon?
 
My first hefeweizen (MW's Lemon Coriander Weiss) foamed out of the airlock, although the lid stayed on the bucket. After coping with this, I did a little research, and decided to control my fermentation temperatures down a bit. That beer had gone over 70 degrees; as long as I make sure my ales stay in the mid-60s, they get a healthy krausen, but no more eruptions.....
 
I had a hefe blow up on my with an airlock. I put 6lbs of strawberries in it and it went crazy. The top blew every couple of hours for the first day. I ended up taking some masking tape and taping the lid down. That delayed the explosions for a little while. Thankfully after the first day it stopped.
 
Radar has gone...off the radar! I'd like to hear how this turned out if you are checking the forums still. :mug:
 

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