Umm should I be worried

Ok so this is the third batch that I've started in my young brewing career. Here's what's happening. I brewed on Sunday. On Monday I saw the beginnings of fermentation. But now things are going a little crazy I think. The water in the airlock has turned a light brown and a foam is coming up out of the top of the airlock. I'm using a 6 gallon carboy for a 5.25 gallon batch. I think the problem may lay in the fact that I probably need a little bit bigger carboy, and that the recipe called for dryhops in the secondary, and by accident i put it in the primary. So all the dry hops have been pushed above the wort and are slowing the release of CO2. What should I do!!!!!

Install a blowoff tube STAT. Do a little search on the subject and you'll find exactly what you need to do.

3...2...1...liftoff!

Like Noldar said, remove airlock. Replace with blow-off hose (I use my siphoning hose). Place the other end in a pot half-filled with water, making sure the end is under the water.

Run to a safe distance then record the moment it blows and then post it so we can all learn from your mistake:rockin::rockin:

Only joking(would like to see it though ),do as the others say,i got really pee'd of with changing the airlock every 10 minutes because it was clogging up!!!

Thanks guys

oxford brewer said:

Run to a safe distance then record the moment it blows and then post it so we can all learn from your mistake:rockin::rockin: \

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Better yet, set up a video and record it on High Speed film so we all can watch it in Super Slow Motion!

oxford brewer said:

Run to a safe distance then record the moment it blows and then post it so we can all learn from your mistake:rockin::rockin:

Only joking(would like to see it though ),do as the others say,i got really pee'd of with changing the airlock every 10 minutes because it was clogging up!!!

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And take pictures! Oh and if it's near your wife's clothing, I'd consider moving it

Do everything these guys said with the blow off tube...ASAP! Wait for the action to die down almost completely, rack to another carboy, and then you can do another dry hop addition to make up for your previous loss.

a blow out with whole hops in the primary sounds pretty freaking dangerous to me. If the hops clog up that blow-off tube.... BOOM! Big-ass glass grenade.

Keep a close eye on they sucker. If you suspect the hops are clogging your blow-off tube, I would suggest racking that beer to another fermenter and let it do it's thing there.

-walker

Well the problem has been diverted. I removed the the airlock, not without incident. When I took it out, dry hops went spewing all over the walls, very messy, very funny. Definitely a good things that I got to it then, as Walker-san mentioned, the hops were starting to clog the airlock tube. I actually put in a new airlock, and noticed that more foam was getting pushed up into the airlock, and when I replaced that one I had another spout of dry hops. Things are going smoothly now though.

NOTE TO EVERYONE. NEVER PUT DRY HOPS INTO A PRIMARY. IT'S REALLY DUMB!!!!!

But just to let you know; a 6g primary is pushing it anyways. I used to use one and it was about 1-4 that would spew over. Then I switched to 6.5g...

Beer Snob said:

And take pictures! Oh and if it's near your wife's clothing, I'd consider moving it

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back to the blow-off and wife jokes...

I know, a 6.5g would be nice, that's what I used to have but I moved to another state and had to sell it. The homebrew store by me only sells 6g. So, I'm not sure if those carboys can be shipped or not

berkeleybrew said:

I know, a 6.5g would be nice, that's what I used to have but I moved to another state and had to sell it. The homebrew store by me only sells 6g. So, I'm not sure if those carboys can be shipped or not

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Lots of online brew supply places sell and ship carboys. The shipping might be a bit of $, but might be worth the avoided blow-outs.

There's nothing wrong with using a bucket for your primary, either. The carboy's a good size for a secondary fermenter.

berkeleybrew said:

NOTE TO EVERYONE. NEVER PUT DRY HOPS INTO A PRIMARY. IT'S REALLY DUMB!!!!!

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Hey I actually just did the same thing in my secondary a few days ago. Put dry pellets in it to dry hop. Put a blow off tube on that sucker quickly.

Would have been better with a pic or two.....

Skol!