Fermentation overload! What is going on?

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Newbie question - I've seen others ask similar questions, but nobody seems to have *quite* the same problem I've got.

I just put my first homebrew in the fermentor last night, and today it's going nuts! I came home to find the lid had blown off with foam leaking out of it, and the airlock was filled with head. I've read that this can happen, so I put the lid back on and cleaned the airlock.

But it just won't stop! CO2 bubbles are pouring out of the airlock, and every 5 minutes or so the lid blows again. Is this a problem? Obviously next time I'll start with a blow-off rig, but at present, is there anything I can do to keep it from constantly blowing up?

 

[unionrdr]

You have a really healthy fermentation! But the blow off is about the only remedy.

 

[Walking_Target]

What he said, just add a blowoff tube.

Now, some people are big fans of using a couple drops of ferm-cap, but i prefer to just use the blowoff, try to avoid extra stuff in the beer.

 

[chickypad]

May just be healthy fermentation as mentioned. You might want to check your temps though, make sure you're not fermenting too hot (beer temp, not ambient).

 

[Calder]

For now, leave the top of the airlock off. There is a lot of CO2 escaping, nothing is going to get back in. If you are really worried, put a foil tent over the top of the airlock.

This way you will still make a mess, but the lid will not come off again. Drape a towl around the top, and it limit the mess.

When it settles down, clean and sanitize everything and put the airlock in correctly.

If the airlock has an 'X' at the bottom, break this out (it is only causing a restriction).

 

[PseudoChef]

What temperature is the fermentor?

 

[revco]

I've been using fermcap in my boil, but that's because I'm pushing 12-13 gallon boils in a 15 gallon vessel. It does help with fermentation, a lot, but I would only add it if your other processes require it.

You've experienced high krausen and the reason most of us have implemented some sort of blow off mechanism. The easiest is to use a piece of tube connected to the airlock with the other end in container of sanitizer, but there's more than one way to skin that cat.