Blowoff hose problem

[beersdeep]

I'm a noob. Last night I brewed a Strawberry Wheat which is already exploding. This is the first experiment with fruit for me. The bucket with the blowoff hose is filled with a bit of gunk and chugging along well, but the real problem is that I have some beer leaking out from under the lid, just a few drips due to the pressure. Should I wait to switch the lid or should I change it now?

I'm afraid of contamination both ways. I'm also afraid I might not get the lid back on gracefully ( or at all).

 

[PhillyMike]

Let it go. On a day or two, fermentation will slow to a crawl.

 

[beersdeep]

Thanks.

 

[Kahless]

You could wipe down the sides of the fermenter with a new cloth or sponge soaked in a sanitising solution, but this has happened to me before and the yuck on the outside dried hard before I (or anything else) could get to it. I used some tape these days to hold the lid on firm, but only as it makes cleaning easier! (still some solid chunks of would-be-dark-ale decorating the outside of my bucket )

With the blow off hose bucket - I've heard it mentioned here a few times that bacteria can't crawl it's way back up, and once the fermentation slows down you can always swap out the buckets contents with some fresh water/sanitiser.

If the blow off hose has some fruit stuck in it then it may be good to swap it out with a clean one, but with such a strong fermentation there will be lots of CO2, which will inhibit mould growth. I just had my first experiment with fruit, and quite a few raspberries sat on top of the beer for 3 weeks in the primary and nothing bad happened to them or the beer.

 

[beersdeep]

I did swap out the hose this morning because it was clogged. Everything has slowed dramatically compared to yesterday, but it's bubbling along well.

Thanks for the help.

 

[wakeuphicks]

You could wipe down the sides of the fermenter with a new cloth or sponge soaked in a sanitising solution, but this has happened to me before and the yuck on the outside dried hard before I (or anything else) could get to it. I used some tape these days to hold the lid on firm, but only as it makes cleaning easier! (still some solid chunks of would-be-dark-ale decorating the outside of my bucket )

With the blow off hose bucket - I've heard it mentioned here a few times that bacteria can't crawl it's way back up, and once the fermentation slows down you can always swap out the buckets contents with some fresh water/sanitiser.

If the blow off hose has some fruit stuck in it then it may be good to swap it out with a clean one, but with such a strong fermentation there will be lots of CO2, which will inhibit mould growth. I just had my first experiment with fruit, and quite a few raspberries sat on top of the beer for 3 weeks in the primary and nothing bad happened to them or the beer.

Is it a good idea to change out the sanitizer water in the bucket once or twice during fermentation regardless of if something goes wrong?

 

[PhillyMike]

Short answer - no, unless the krausen has blocked the airlock.