So I started brewing my first IPA kit from AHS, everything went great, except it was missing an ounce of hops that the recipe called for.
I stirred in the yeast (Cooper's Ale) when the wort was cooled down, then closed up my Ale Pail. This morning when I went downstairs, the airlock had been blown out and the top had come off! I tried to put the top back on, only to have it blow off again. I laid paper towels over the top of the bucket, thinking that less resistance might calm it down, but when I just went to check on it again (I'm home for lunch), it has thrown the paper towels aside and has a frothy fermentation head about 5 inches above the top of the bucket.
I only had exactly 5 gallons in the fermenter, so I didn't fill it too high, but I'm wondering what I can do now to prevent this batch from going bad. Can I skim off the head and then try and close it back up? Is this a lost cause?
Thanks for ANY help you can offer.
Brian
I stirred in the yeast (Cooper's Ale) when the wort was cooled down, then closed up my Ale Pail. This morning when I went downstairs, the airlock had been blown out and the top had come off! I tried to put the top back on, only to have it blow off again. I laid paper towels over the top of the bucket, thinking that less resistance might calm it down, but when I just went to check on it again (I'm home for lunch), it has thrown the paper towels aside and has a frothy fermentation head about 5 inches above the top of the bucket.
I only had exactly 5 gallons in the fermenter, so I didn't fill it too high, but I'm wondering what I can do now to prevent this batch from going bad. Can I skim off the head and then try and close it back up? Is this a lost cause?
Thanks for ANY help you can offer.
Brian