Blow Off Tube Vs. Foam Control/Airlock

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My last 2 batches I stated to use oxygen instead of shaking. Seems to me I get a lot more foam/ krausen coming out of the airlock. The last one was so bad I finally added a blow off tube to the airlock. Is it better to just continue using a airlock but add a foam control like Fermcap or just start off with a blow off tube and let the beer do its thing?
 
I used to just go with the airlock route and hope it would be okay, but now that I've done some more batches I ALWAYS start with a blow off tube.
 
I always use a blow-off tube for the first few days on ales and almost always get some blow-off. I've heard this can be a good thing -gets rid of some of the bitter brown gunk (not that I've been able to taste the difference with and without blow-off).
 
open ferment and avoid all of those issues :)

Uhhhh, OK?

I always start my fermentations with a blowoff tube in place. Ironically, doing this often prevents the fermentation from blowing off because it allows a larger volume of CO2 to off gas faster then an airlock would. Most of my fermentations end up blowing off any way.

The down side to allowing the blow off to happen is that you're losing some of you most active yeast cells right away when you need them most. No, it's not a huge percentage, but it's something to think about. I've never used a product like fermcap, but lots of people do (including many breweries) and it definitely allows you to ferment with less head space and avoid losing all that yeast.

Good Luck!
 
I've had to use a blowoff on Hefeweizen before.
I noticed the airlock getting clogged so i switched to blowoff Tube for almost 5 days. It was some crazy fermentation.

Never caused any problems for me and always relieved the pressure. I did clean the blowoff tube twice a day to eliminate any chance at a blocked tube.
 
Just saying - if you open ferment then there is no need for airlocks, blow off tubes nor will you have exploding beer in your closet. The CO2 released from the eating yeasties serve as my airlock...:ban:

I'm not too keen on open fermentaion. Even though its in a closet I still have pets and stuff running arourd and would hate to have anything get in there.
 
I've never used a product like fermcap, but lots of people do (including many breweries) and it definitely allows you to ferment with less head space and avoid losing all that yeast.

Good Luck!

I have only used Fermcap in the boil kettle to reduce the boil overs. Never tried in the fermentor.
 
beerspitnight said:
Just saying - if you open ferment then there is no need for airlocks, blow off tubes nor will you have exploding beer in your closet. The CO2 released from the eating yeasties serve as my airlock...:ban:

But if you need a blow off it's because the krausen reached the lid/airlock, so if you didn't have a lid it would foam over the sides.

I use 8 gallon buckets made by Brewcraft. They're perfect for me, they are a little shorter and wider than the typical buckets used for ferments and bottling. I've never needed a blow off since I've started using them about 50 batches ago so I've never needed fermcap
 
IMG_6267.jpg

That is a 15 gallon "bucket" with 10 gallons of wort in it - krausen doesn't even come close to the top...but if it does I will take a pic and post it as that would be one hell of a sight to see!
 
beerspitnight said:
That is a 15 gallon "bucket" with 10 gallons of wort in it - krausen doesn't even come close to the top...but if it does I will take a pic and post it as that would be one hell of a sight to see!

I think you missed my point. If you had a lid on that you wouldn't need a blow off because it's big enough. If you had a fermenter that needed a blowoff, simply getting rid of the lid isn't going to solve the issue of krausen reaching the limits of the fermenter's volume. Open fermentation doesn't solve the OP's problem.
 
I think you missed my point. If you had a lid on that you wouldn't need a blow off because it's big enough. If you had a fermenter that needed a blowoff, simply getting rid of the lid isn't going to solve the issue of krausen reaching the limits of the fermenter's volume. Open fermentation doesn't solve the OP's problem.

Gotcha...I don't know that much of anything, anyway! Sorry OP.
 
I think you missed my point. . . Open fermentation doesn't solve the OP's problem.

Let's not turn this into a flame war, but jmo's point, and mine with my comment, is that your reply, beerspitnight, didn't serve to answer the OP's question and didn't really further the knowledge that was being requested. Yes, if someone were to open ferment in the way you do then they probably wouldn't have those issues, but your reply is like telling someone who's having trouble with their chevy to go buy a ford.
 
I always use a blow off tube to begin with. If I count the times that I have had wort in my blow off.......I have saved days and days of cleaning up a mess....worth it to me!
 
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