Did I overfill my carboy? And a couple other things

[Superstorm]

Hey everyone, so I just finished brewing my second 3 gallon batch last night (I had to do it this way because I learned the hard way when I tried a 5 gallon carboy in my mini fridge and it wouldn't fit so I had to throw the whole wort away) But I'm wondering if I filled this carboy too full because as you can see by the pic below, the wort is almost up to the neck of the carboy. When I first pitched the yeast, I noticed that it was getting stuck to the blowoff tube and that the carboy was so full that the blowoff tube was actually in the wort. So I was able to get some off, but there was still some more stuck to the glass in the mouth of the carboy, so I used a sanitized butter knife to scrape it off and put it in the wort. But I was still wondering if the carboy this full is going to cause any problems or not because I haven't seen the blowoff tube bubbling into the bucket at all. And that brings me to my next issue, when I was trying to fit everything into the mini fridge, the blowoff bucket spilled all over my A419 temperature controller and it started freaking out and going from 100 degrees all the way down to 80 degrees and it eventually started working better again, but I noticed that it is now 10 degrees off and it was keeping my beer at about 51 degrees when it was supposed to be at 62 degrees. Will this hurt the beer at all? It was kept like that for maybe about 12 hours and I was wondering if that will hurt the fermentation process or mess up the flavor of the beer. It is at 62 degrees now, but the carboys still feel colder than that, I'll post what their temperature is when the temperature strips are on. And my last question is that I didn't realize that the flash was turned on when I took this picture, would that hurt the beer at all if it was exposed to that? Do you think that these batches will be ok, or do I need to toss them and start over again?

 

[ChelisHubby]

Well the blow off tube can't be in the wort. I would imagine if you can get the tempature right the blow off will be used quite a bit. Most ale yeast shuts down and sleeps when below 60 degrees. Your beer should be fine if you can get it to ferment at a decent temp I would shoot for 65. Oh we don't have any of your photos! Ps the camera flash won't bother it but Sunlight will.

 

[Superstorm]

Well the blow off tube can't be in the wort. I would imagine if you can get the tempature right the blow off will be used quite a bit. Most ale yeast shuts down and sleeps when below 60 degrees. Your beer should be fine if you can get it to ferment at a decent temp I would shoot for 65. Oh we don't have any of your photos! Ps the camera flash won't bother it but Sunlight will.

Yeah its not in the wort and never was, I just noticed that the carboy was so full that the tube was in the wort, but I fixed it right away. This was Safbrew S-33, so I'm guessing that might be what happened but I'm not sure. I couldn't get the pic to upload at first, but I'm gonna upload it right now.

 

[Superstorm]

Here's the pic

 

[ThatVideoKid]

I wouldn't have thrown out that first batch, I mean temp control is ideal but not necessary. Unless you are in a climate that is very very hot right now. Either way you could have just put it in a bucket of cold water. I just wouldn't have tossed wort I paid for without giving it a chance.

 

[ThatVideoKid]

Also yeah that's way overfilled. I wouldn't even full wine that high for primary, and that often doesn't have a krausen

 

[RM-MN]

Can I suggest that you quit brewing beer and just buy it. I don't think you are cut out to be a brewer.

 

[fnbrew]

Holy Crap! Yeah, that's too high. Rack/siphon that off till the wort is down to the shoulder of the carboy. Also if that tube is not "sealed" in the neck of the carboy you are gonna have a mess to clean up.

 

[ThatVideoKid]

Can I suggest that you quit brewing beer and just buy it. I don't think you are cut out to be a brewer.

I wouldn't be that harsh, just needs some direction

 

[str1p3s]

Can I suggest that you quit brewing beer and just buy it. I don't think you are cut out to be a brewer.

Don't listen to him, learning from your mistakes and improving is the fun part! And I agree with whoever said don't throw out your wort/beer. Unless you taste it after fermentation and it's undrinkable, give it a chance with whatever means you can come up with.

 

[Redlantern]

We are a bit if a kindred spirit here. We worry too much about small things.

Slow down

If your carboy does not have the room - don't put all the wort in the carboy. Better to pour out a little then choke up the blow-off and risk infection when you have to clean it. Also makes a lot less mess.

If you are using dry yeast, re-hydrate per instructions and add to wort before putting in the carboy. Easier to do.

No bubbles? With a glass carboy, see if there is any action in the wort at all. If it is bubbling and the airlock is not, there is a leak.

Temp control? I am getting my chest freezer and inkbird in a bit, but have yet to use temp control. Had no problems. 51 degrees will put the yeast to sleep or slow it down a lot, but will not hurt it. 100 may have caused a problem, but if that was ambient and you caught it before the wort made it there, you are probably fine.

Camera flash? not an issue. A constant photostrobe for hours on end maybe, but that - no.

Pitch the batch? Nope. not allowed. You have to see a batch through unless there is an obvious beer ruining problem. If it is fermenting and nothing is growing that shouldn't, give it a chance. May not be great, but may still be drinkable. Finish the batch. If you get twitchy and throw it out every time you get nervous, you will stay in the loop of wondering about every little detail and making simple mistakes. Don't sweat it, relax, keep moving forward.

 

[moors]

Remember that beer has been brewed for millennia. You can consider Martin Luther (1483 AD) a "modern" beer brewer compared to the Sumerians (3900 BC). None of these people had temperature controllers and carboys. They brewed open-fermentation in whatever conditions they could manage.

There are ridiculously few procedures that must followed to brew beer, and most of these can be broken. The only strict rules are to clean your kettle, carboy, and other pieces with sanitizer. I have long since gone to open fermentation (no airlock, no blowoff tube). Fermentation is in my basement, which stays roughly at a constant temperature. If I'm concerned with temperature, I put the carboy in a cardboard refrigerator box, which keeps it a bit warmer. I also have a 100 watt light bulb (while still legal) wrapped in aluminum foil, which can warm the box up to 85°F or more.

Visible light will not damage your beer. The problem is extended exposure to ultraviolet light, which is abundant in sunlight. If you can get sunburned, then it's probably bad for your beer, too.

My recommendation is to make brewing as easy as possible. Yeast is an amazing organism. It can generally clean up poor sanitation, compensate for bad temperature management, and generally fix your mistakes. Find the most simple brewing rules and ignore the following: blowoff tubes, regulated temperature chambers, complicated equipment, etc. until you get a few batches under your belt.

 

[kombat]

Remember that beer has been brewed for millennia. None of these people had temperature controllers and carboys. They brewed open-fermentation in whatever conditions they could manage.

With all due respect, beer brewed 1,000 years ago didn't taste anything like beer brewed today. It was almost all sour.

 

[jakeasaur]

Don't listen to him, learning from your mistakes and improving is the fun part! And I agree with whoever said don't throw out your wort/beer. Unless you taste it after fermentation and it's undrinkable, give it a chance with whatever means you can come up with.

Agreed 100%.

 

[moors]

With all due respect, beer brewed 1,000 years ago didn't taste anything like beer brewed today. It was almost all sour.

Mostly because of poor sanitation, presumably, allowed souring bacteria contamination:

The only strict rules are to clean your kettle, carboy, and other pieces with sanitizer.

 

[Aristotelian]

My recommendation is to make brewing as easy as possible. Yeast is an amazing organism. It can generally clean up poor sanitation, compensate for bad temperature management, and generally fix your mistakes. Find the most simple brewing rules and ignore the following: blowoff tubes, regulated temperature chambers, complicated equipment, etc. until you get a few batches under your belt.

I agree with the general point, but I would not consider blowoff tubes to be optional or overly complicated. If anything, you could do a blowoff tube and ditch a traditional airlock. You can have a real mess on your hands in addition to a sanitation problem if your airlock gets clogged during peak fermentation.

Basically the two things you absolutely must avoid are 1) explosions and 2) infection. Although you don't always need them, blowoff tubes are pretty key to avoiding #1.

 

[kombat]

Mostly because of poor sanitation, presumably, allowed souring bacteria contamination:

Of course. Also, they didn't know there was such thing as "yeast," so the souring contamination is what they relied on to ferment the beer. Also the beer was heavily oxidized, as they didn't have the ability to purge with CO2 (or know what CO2 was). But it got them drunk, and that's all that mattered back then.

 

[user 141939]

Holy Crap! Yeah, that's too high. Rack/siphon that off till the wort is down to the shoulder of the carboy. Also if that tube is not "sealed" in the neck of the carboy you are gonna have a mess to clean up.

Back to the point of the thread, just make sure what this person said happens.

 

[jbb3]

Boy this thread went off the rails in a hurry...

Your carboy is too small for the amount of wort that was added. You need some head-space to allow for the krausen to rise and fall. A general rule of thumb; For the amount of wort you want to ferment, you need a primary vessel with a capacity of at least 15-20% greater than the volume you're going to ferment (i.e.; 2.5gal wort - need 3gal carboy, 5.25 gal wort - 6 gal carboy, 5.5 gal wort - need 6.5gal carboy). So ether buy the right size carboy for the batch size you'd like to ferment or adjust your post boil volume.

You need a bung that fits the mouth of your carboy. The bung needs a hole big enough to hold a 3 piece airlock. For a blow off tube, take some tubing that is 1/2" ID so it fits the center tube of your airlock. Place the other end of the tubing in a container of startsan. Then when your past the krausen phase, you just pull the tubing off the airlock, insert the little floater cap over the center tube, add a little starsan and snap on the cap.

As for fermentation temp; First, keep your controller out of the blast/spill zone... Obviously, consistent temp control is the goal. Not sure what yeast strain you're using but if you warn up the wort to the optimal range of the yeast strain you're using, the activity will pick back up again.

Don't give up on the batch you're have fermenting. Most beer recipes are very forgiving. Regardless, you'll still end up with beer.

Make notes about everything you do. Everything. Then before staring the next batch, read through your notes to help eliminate mistakes and improve your process.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I have filled carboys that high before and the beer turned out fine, but yes there was considerable blow off. I would let it ride once you have the temp close. You will have beer when you are done.

 

[Superstorm]

Can I suggest that you quit brewing beer and just buy it. I don't think you are cut out to be a brewer.

And can I suggest that you take a racking cane and go f**k yourself with it? No one here agrees with what you said, but maybe your brewing skills aren't up to par so you feel better putting other people down for their mistakes? No judgement.

 

[Superstorm]

Hey everyone, I kinda forgot about this thread so I thought that I'd update it. As a result of the carboy being too full, there was some overflow into the blowoff bucket as you can see in the pic below. Other than that, it appears to be in good shape and I have changed the airlocks since fermentation has settled down. Carboy pic t follow soon!