Explosive fermentation

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

claphamsa

Professional Jezter PWNZR
HBT Supporter
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
5,012
Reaction score
43
Location
TK PK
What causes it? id say a sold 50% of my beers blow their top..... its not a big deal as long as you look! but its annoying and messy, how do i stop this? is that why people make starters?
 
Starters still result in vigorous fermentation, depending on the yeast type. A blowoff tube will prevent blowing the top and the mess that follows.
 
i have only 6.5 gallons carboys. and Ive never made a starter, never saw the need..... and I have a blowoff tube for if (when) they blow... just kinda wierd! do other peoples beers not explode a lot?
 
i have only 6.5 gallons carboys. and Ive never made a starter, never saw the need..... and I have a blowoff tube for if (when) they blow... just kinda wierd! do other peoples beers not explode a lot?

I have this Blue Moon clone that will have very vigorous fermentations whereas wheats and stouts don't. I made a Kolsch last month and it went crazy.
 
I ferment at 65° in 6 gallon better bottles...I've never had any krausen getting into the airlock, and I've never needed a blow-off tube. Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe the carefully controlled temperature keeps things under control.
 
i have only 6.5 gallons carboys. and Ive never made a starter, never saw the need..... and I have a blowoff tube for if (when) they blow... just kinda wierd! do other peoples beers not explode a lot?

I just got done cleaning up a slight mess. I brew 8 gallons in a wine tun that holds about 9.5 to 10 gal. I have a blowoff hose made from the bottom part of a 3 piece with the little X clipped off the bottom. This is the first time it's popped the top using a blowoff tube. I brewed a stout using S-04 dry yeast but just 1 pkg. Every fermentation just seems to be a little different. Well anyway, thanks to the people on this forum, I knew just what to do. Clean and sanitize everything and not panic. I'm just a little leary of leaving this bad boy alone! But I think he'll be good now.:D:D
 
I ferment at 65° in 6 gallon better bottles...I've never had any krausen getting into the airlock, and I've never needed a blow-off tube. Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe the carefully controlled temperature keeps things under control.


crap i was just at home depot and was gonna get a thermometer, to see how cold is was in my basement (im thinking its about 65.... but im not sure)
 
I ferment at 65° in 6 gallon better bottles...I've never had any krausen getting into the airlock, and I've never needed a blow-off tube. Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe the carefully controlled temperature keeps things under control.

Never say never. :) It's a sure fire way of guaranteeing that you will get one. :D
Like I've never broken a carboy (until last week), and I've never had a blow off in a 6.5g carboy (until a couple of months ago, when I got two back to back). I also always get 85% efficiency, until today, when it suddenly dropped to 72%. Time to check the refractometer and thermometer. :(

-a.
 
I recently started using Fermcap-S and blow-off is now a thing of the past. Fermented a hefe in a 5 gallon carboy with no problem at all.
 
you know, I just had a second one blow.... too bad i only have one blow tube :(


grrr. also realized now that im up to 8 fermenter i need to start labeling them...
 
Never say never. :) It's a sure fire way of guaranteeing that you will get one. :D

Yeah, I'm probably tempting fate! Of course I've never broken a hydrometer either, so maybe I lead a charmed life. :D

It helps that I generally don't make really big beers. My highest OG ever was 1.065, and they are usually no higher than 1.050. I'm not a big fan of hefe or other wheat beers either, so that is a factor too.

I've also used ferm-cap in the boil with my last five batches. I don't add it to the fermenter, but maybe the benefits carry over from the boil. I definitely get a nice healthy krausen, just nothing out of control.
 
I've also used ferm-cap in the boil with my last five batches. I don't add it to the fermenter, but maybe the benefits carry over from the boil. I definitely get a nice healthy krausen, just nothing out of control.

I tried adding it just to the boil and still got blow-off. Now I add it to both and problems are gone. Stuff is magical.
 
I tried adding it just to the boil and still got blow-off. Now I add it to both and problems are gone. Stuff is magical.

I love that I can get my kettle boiling full tilt, and not worry a bit about boil-overs. Leaves me free to take care of other brewing tasks...cleaning, sanitizing, kegging previous batches, etc.

The correct dosage is a little hard to determine. It's impossible to count "drops" since the stuff is so thick and goopy. I'm just kind of guesstimating, but everything seems to turn out OK.
 
perfect, I just went to check on the beer, just in time to see my 3rd batch of the weekend blow. i put the blowoff in that one, cuz I figure it will be the biggest,......
 
I was brewing a Hobgoblin (English ale) clone and I had a blow-up. I cleared up the mess and continued fermenting for a total of 3 weeks.

I tasted the beer when I bottled it and it tasted a bit sweet. I am guessing
it's incomplete fermentation.

Any other ideas ?
 
Hey Clap: Man you make a lot of brews!! How much head space are you leaving? A blow-off should only last 1-2 days. I just want to add that blow-off tubes can become stuck if hops(pellets or whole) are not removed. These can clog up your hose. Back in the day I had a clogged blow-off and what a mess. Wife was pissed, cleanup took hours. Just like you it hit the ceilings, walls, curtains, whatever was in its path. If you don't remove the hops use a large blow-off that is the size of your carboy opening(~1"). Charlie
 
Charlie, yeah , I moved and didnt brew for about a month and half, mixed with parties and all I have left now is my wit which isnt carbonating, so im restocking :)

Ive never had a blow off tube get stuck, I usualy make 5 gallons in a 6.5/ and yeah ive had some messes :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top