POW Carboy howitzer - WLP570 (Belgian Golden Ale)

[tarmac]

3 days ago I brewed my first large batch (11 gal, into two 6.5 gal carboys) all-grain 1.069 OG IPA 92% 2-row pale, 8% crystal 20l, mashed at 149.

At 10pm I pitched hydrated S-04 into one carboy, and 1.8L chilled & decanted WLP570 starter into the 78°F wort. Shake the each carboy for 5 minutes to aerate. Put blowoff tubes on each using the 3 pc airlock, moved to my 60°F basement and went to bed. 12 hours later this is what I find! (See attached)

In the pictures I've already placed the airlock back in the carboy. The airlock fired out of the carboy due to the amount of krausen blockage in the tube and struck the florescent bulb above it breaking it. This left a shattered glass & sticky! krausen mixture over my entire workbench, tools, and basement floor. About 2.5 qts are missing. I'm extremely lucky this was not upstairs. My wife would've killed me!

Anybody else experience this before!? It look a lot of pressure to do this. Very impressed by this yeasts ability to start quick. 6" krausen and a clogged blowoff 12 hours post-pitch - wow. Compare it to the S-04 it's only just starting.

The ambient temp in the basement is ~62 now. I'm going to leave the batch with S-04 at this temp but raise the WLP570 batch via water bath to mid 70's slowly over the next 7 days. It's at about 65 beer temp at the moment ~55 hours post pitch. Does this sound like a good plan for my Belgian-IPA? Necessary...? or leave it at 60-62°?

Thanks for reading

 

[Brewrifle]

I had a fermenting explosion that occurred in our bedroom closet a few years ago. I still get flak for it from the wife =). The good news is that our clothes smelled like hops for weeks.

I ended up having to repair the whole ceiling to get the krausen stain completely removed.

 

[Brauer]

Ditch the airlock and put your blowoff tube directly into the bung. Those airlock are a choke point. I use a 1/2 inch hose in a bung for my blowoff.

 

[tarmac]

Ditch the airlock and put your blowoff tube directly into the bung. Those airlock are a choke point. I use a 1/2 inch hose in a bung for my blowoff.

That's my plan for the future. I'll drill one out and pass the 1/2 inch tubing through it.

 

[g-star]

You pitched way too hot for either yeast strain. Always chill 3-5F below your target ferm temp and let it rise naturally to the desired temp. If not, you risk excessive fusels and a solventy off-flavor, particularly with the Belgian strain at those kinds of temps.

 

[giraffe]

Ive had similar many, many, times, especially with high gravity worts. The last time was rather insulting. It was wlp802 pitched at 47F into a 1.085 doppelbock. Yeah, I overpitched a bit, cause I was worried, and I didnt think id need a blowoff cause it was a lager yeast with plenty of headspace...... Everything in the cold conditioner was covered in yeast. Everything. It was everywhere. The airlock was broken, and volcanic flows of yeast going down the sides of the carboy. It was horrifiying.

And while it can happen with any beer, high gravity (1.060+) belgians are notorious for exploding. Use a blowoff, and pitch near fermentation temp.

 

[tarmac]

Learned something new, I've always pitched warm for a quick start. From now on I'll pitch slightly below ferm temp. Thanks for the advice, should keep me from replacing light bulbs

 

[tarmac]

Ive had similar many, many, times, especially with high gravity worts. The last time was rather insulting. It was wlp802 pitched at 47F into a 1.085 doppelbock. Yeah, I overpitched a bit, cause I was worried, and I didnt think id need a blowoff cause it was a lager yeast with plenty of headspace...... Everything in the cold conditioner was covered in yeast. Everything. It was everywhere. The airlock was broken, and volcanic flows of yeast going down the sides of the carboy. It was horrifiying.

And while it can happen with any beer, high gravity (1.060+) belgians are notorious for exploding. Use a blowoff, and pitch near fermentation temp.

"Volcanic flows of yeast down the carboy"

Lol...yikes

 

[whoaru99]

That's my plan for the future. I'll drill one out and pass the 1/2 inch tubing through it.

Don't even need a stopper drilled out. 1/2" may not even be enough for a big blow off.

Just use 1.25" OD tubing directly into the opening of the carboy. It fits right into the neck with tension enough to seal it.

Sorta like this, but I wouldn't have my airlock bucket at that height. If you were to get any suck back going it'll siphon back into the fermenters big time.

 

[hottpeper13]

That's my plan for the future. I'll drill one out and pass the 1/2 inch tubing through it.

You don't need to drill the bung out. Use the silicone 1/2" hose ,heat the end and slip it around the part with the hole,it fits very snug and if done correctly you can harvest the blow off as the most pure yeast ever.