airlock

I had two batches of beer take 2 to 5 days to start fermenting and when it starts it gets crazy and blows up through the airlock. Am i doing something wrong.

Yes, no, maybe, could be, F if I know...

Need to know what you've been brewing including recipe, method, OG, yeast used, how treated, any additions, etc. Also, how do you oxygenate the wort? Temperatures you chill to will also be good to know... Without actual information to work from it's impossible for us to say.

It was a pumpkin beer i used rahr 2 row 9lb, flaked wheat .25lb, crystal 120l. .50lb 120 boil time. Northern Brewers whole hops 2oz , and pumpkin at 60mins. And 1 oz of hallertau mittelfruh at 30 mins. 3 cups brown sugar. Cooled down to 70°f aerated with a fish tank pump. Octoberfest lager wyeast and fermented at 70°f

mortus0868 said:

IOctoberfest lager wyeast and fermented at 70°f

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Ouch. Hopefully, it's not lager yeast fermented at 70 degrees!

Fermentation can get very active, especially when warm, and a warmer fermentation usually gets warmer as the yeast get more active.

if you have the temperature in a good range for the yeast strain you're using (generally 62-68 beer temperature, not ambient, for ales) then it's fine.

For lagers, you want to ferment at 48-52.

A stick-on thermometer on the outside of the fermenter is handy. They are just temperature strips, like on fish tanks, so you can see the temperature at a glance.

I was going off what the package said for temp...

mortus0868 said:

I was going off what the package said for temp...

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Is this the yeast you used? http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=134

Temperature range is 48-58F. You need to look at the web site for liquid yeasts (especially) for the temperatures, and other info. Chances are the package is 100% generic and not to be used as a guide.

mortus0868 said:

I was going off what the package said for temp...

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Oh, that's only during pitching to compensate for them not giving you enough yeast in the first place. Once fermentation starts, they expect you to drop the temperature quickly to the correct temperature. (A practice I don't agree with, but that's for another time!)

A lager yeast should be fermented at 48-52 degrees or so.

Here's their website: http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain.cfm

Click on the yeast strain you used, and it'll give you the info. For example, their "oktoberfest lager blend":

YEAST STRAIN: 2633 | Octoberfest Lager Blend™

This blend of lager strains is designed to produce a rich, malty, complex and full bodied Octoberfest style beer. It attenuates well while leaving plenty of malt character and mouthfeel. This strain is low in sulfur production.

Origin:
Flocculation: medium-low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 48-58° F (9-14° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: approximately 9% ABV


One thing to keep in mind is that this is fermentation temperature, not room temperature. It's not unusual for a beer to be 8-10 degrees warmer than the actual ambient temperature so fermentation itself produces heat. Any room approaching 70 degrees is really too warm, even for ale yeast strains, without using a ice bath/swamp cooler/etc.

Ok. I didnt realise that... you think thats my problem is the temp being to hot. Ok with me being a new brewer and im only doing all grain batches. I tried a recipe off the internet and it wasnt what it was suppose to beer. Do you know a website that can help me form a beer recipe

mortus0868 said:

Ok. I didnt realise that... you think thats my problem is the temp being to hot. Ok with me being a new brewer and im only doing all grain batches. I tried a recipe off the internet and it wasnt what it was suppose to beer. Do you know a website that can help me form a beer recipe

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Well, sure, we even have a nice recipe database on our site. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/

You're doing all-grain 5 gallon batches?

If you want to order a kit, with the grains crushed and the recipe all typed out, my favorite site to order them from is austinhomebrew.com. They have hundreds and hundreds of good proven kits.

Temperature control will improve your beers immediately, as well using the correct amount of yeast (normally one package of liquid yeast isn't enough, in spite of what the package says). We can help with lots of suggestions on fermentation temperature, recipes, and techniques.

Ok what about reusing already mashed grains. I did it once and it seemed to turn out good. The only reason i reused them was i had to much wort after a boil. So i made a what i call a make shift batch. It wasn't calculated it was just thrown together. I added 1 cup brown sugar and a tablespoon of vanilla to the boil. I used 2oz of fuggle hops and so4 dry yeast. It was really good. I thought i saw somewhere you can or youll get like off or bad flavors from reusing already mashed grains.

mortus0868 said:

Ok what about reusing already mashed grains. I did it once and it seemed to turn out good. The only reason i reused them was i had to much wort after a boil. So i made a what i call a make shift batch. It wasn't calculated it was just thrown together. I added 1 cup brown sugar and a tablespoon of vanilla to the boil. I used 2oz of fuggle hops and so4 dry yeast. It was really good. I thought i saw somewhere you can or youll get like off or bad flavors from reusing already mashed grains.

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Did you re-mash the grain? Actually, if you sparged correctly, you won't be able to. You can take the second runnings from a mash and make another brew from that. Look into the partigyle brewing for that.

So is my beer not good

One way to find out. Finish the process and taste it. Some brews are just more vigorous than others.

Its in the keg for 5 days now. I tasted it when i got home from work today and it tasted a little??? Different like bubbly. something of that line

I was thinking about this not a little while ago and maybe someone can answer me this. Yeast goes through aerobic respiration when there is O2 present and they basically produce more yeast and store nutrients until you choke them off of O2 (thus the airtight seal). Once you choke off the little bastards they start producing alcohol until they use up the sugar or hit a certain level of alcohol and then flocculation back into a hibernative state. But if the process is interrupted like this when the cap pops off when they are at the fermentation stage, do they go back to aerobic respiration gobbling up sugars but not producing alcohol until you choke them off the second time? Or do they simply continue into flocculation or suspend their cycle completely?

fosgate said:

I was thinking about this not a little while ago and maybe someone can answer me this. Yeast goes through aerobic respiration when there is O2 present and they basically produce more yeast and store nutrients until you choke them off of O2 (thus the airtight seal). Once you choke off the little bastards they start producing alcohol until they use up the sugar or hit a certain level of alcohol and then flocculation back into a hibernative state. But if the process is interrupted like this when the cap pops off when they are at the fermentation stage, do they go back to aerobic respiration gobbling up sugars but not producing alcohol until you choke them off the second time? Or do they simply continue into flocculation or suspend their cycle completely?

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Yeast operate until they reach a limiting resource. An airlock coming off does not really change the make-up of the wort on a scale that will effect the yeast. There may be a little more O2 present at the surface but the amount that can dissolve into the solution will not be much, especially if the yeast are already producing CO2 which is going to create a positive pressure for anything trying to get in.

If there is not a protective CO2 layer, then the surface exposed to open air will start to oxidize, if bacteria are also present then you will have the beginnings of infection. For instance, Acetobacter convert alcohol to CO2 and acetic acid (vinegar). Lactobacillus convert sugars to lactic acid, most do not produce alcohol (homofermentative).

Bacteria have no means of transport on their own so an empty 3-piece airlock is not a big deal for bacterial infection.