First blow off tube

[BigBlueBrad]

This is my first blow off tube. I’m using a 1 inch version that fits nicely into the top of the carboy. From everything I have read, that should work.

Does everything look correct?

 

[flars]

Looks good. As long as the blow off bucket contains less than half the volume of your blow off tube you shouldn't need to worry about suck back by siphoning if the temperature in the fermentor drops. It would be better if the blow off bucket was on the floor of your fermentation chamber. This would nearly eliminate the risk of suck back.

 

[day_trippr]

Agreed, that looks a bit dicey as is. Definitely do not forget to remove the blow-off in favor of an S-lock if you intend to cold-crash else the suck-back will be epic...

Cheers!

 

[Morrey]

Many a beer has been tainted (or ruined) with StarSan resulting from suck back during crashing as Flars and day_trippr have pointed out. Even real small temp adjustments (ex - lowering from 68 to 62) can create a draw that leads into a siphon effect...then the whole container gets sucked in.

I learned my lesson on this phenomenon more than once. The lower your BO bucket sits in relation to your fermenter, the more difficult the draw will be making your system somewhat less prone to suck back.

 

[BigBlueBrad]

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[Gary G]

Looks good. As long as the blow off bucket contains less than half the volume of your blow off tube you shouldn't need to worry about suck back by siphoning if the temperature in the fermentor drops. It would be better if the blow off bucket was on the floor of your fermentation chamber. This would nearly eliminate the risk of suck back.

This is super helpful information! Thanks!

 

[hotbeer]

Just FYI, you can put that vinyl tube in not quite boiling water and then shape it to give more bend without collapsing the tube. I tied mine down to the racks from my oven to hold them in the desired shape. Then I put them near the sink so I could run cold water through them and cool them down quickly. With some encouragement and extra effort you can get a real tight bend without collapsing the tube. A flat surface on either side of the bend helps while shaping and cooling it.

As for the suck back issue, I wrap a piece of 14 gauge electrical wire around them at the bottle and adjust the tube so just a ¼ to ½ inch of tube is under the liquid. Regardless of what I have in the bubbler bottles, I'd rather air go into the fermenter in the event of severe suck back than the stuff in my bottles that may or may not be sanitary after a week or two...or three.

I also try to run the tube straight up from the fermenter for six or more inches so that any kreausen that might get up that far will just run back down the sides of the tube returning to the fermenter instead of draining to the bubbler bottles.