She's about to blow!

[patd]

Brewed up a stout yesterday with a starter, I probably didn't need that but wanted to run through the process. I just checked on it, and the lid is bowing up and the top has wort on it which is pushing through the airlock.

So my question is, do I pull of the airlock and let out the pressure, or let things be and see how it goes and clean up the mess if the top pops?

 

[mrk305]

You need to rig a blow off hose. If the airlock becomes stopped up you can blow the lid to the ceiling. Just take a piece of hose maybe two feet long and put it in place of the airlock and submerge it about a half of an inch into a beer bottle filled with water.

 

[Jimmies]

Yup, get some 1/2" hose, and put it on the center post of your airlock like mine, and put the other end in a container full of StarSan:

And it'll help control violent blowoff like this:

 

[HI_SALENITY]

I vote you camcord the lid blowing off
Then you can add the blow off hose

 

[mordantly]

and clean up the entire 50' radius.

 

[patd]

I vote you camcord the lid blowing off
Then you can add the blow off hose

Haha too late, I already put it on

A few seconds after the airlock came off foam starting crawling out, that thing is going nuts.

 

[mordantly]

these lively ferments are the reason to consider larger vessels. like a sanke.

 

[mixmasterob]

5 gallon batch? How big is fermenter?

 

[coryforsenate]

Always use a blowoff tube. It's the same amount of work.

 

[cheesecake]

My first time using blowoff i just used the hose for my racking cane and stuffed it in the hole of the lid on the bucket . it works great

 

[mordantly]

My first time blowingoff i just stuffed it in the hole of the lid on the bucket . it works great

there we go.. now um, how was it? :cross:

 

[cheesecake]

LOL was great except cleaning up the beer off the ceiling and walls......


heres a picture of what i did

 

[patd]

5 gallon batch? How big is fermenter?

5.25 gallon batch in a 7 gallon bucket.

 

[mixmasterob]

5.25 gallon batch in a 7 gallon bucket.

Christ. This worries me. I left a little over 5 gallon batch of a Simcoe IPA in a 6.5 gallon fermenter alone for the last 3 weeks. Hope I don't come home to a mess...

 

[RyanPDX]

I made a Belgian Dubbel on Christmas eve, and used a starter for the first time. 2 days into fermentation my airlock was full of wort. It was 5.25 gallons in my 8 gallon bucket. I rigged up a blow off tube with the airlock like the above pic. It was pretty crazy. A week later and the airlock is still bubbling along like mad, so I hope its ok.

 

[patd]

Christ. This worries me. I left a little over 5 gallon batch of a Simcoe IPA in a 6.5 gallon fermenter alone for the last 3 weeks. Hope I don't come home to a mess...

My previous 2 brews didn't have a problem, they were higher gravity beers that I didn't use a starter on. I'm assuming this was caused by the combination of a healthy starter and a lower gravity beer.

I checked on it this morning, there is a constant stream of bubbles like someone is blowing on the other end with at least 6 ounces of wort that has blown down the tube into the sanitizer.

Is there anything I need to do to try and slow it down? I'm assuming this is going to result in some off flavors.

 

[mordantly]

LOL was great except cleaning up the beer off the ceiling and walls......


heres a picture of what i did

nice and tight... mmmm.

 

[Octang]

My first stout was brewed a few days prior to me going out of town for a week. I used a 3/8" blow off tube that got clogged the night before I left and I was woken up to the sound of a gunshot. I checked my brew-closet and there was beer splattered on the ceiling and krausen foaming out the top of the carboy. (by the way, i let the krausen ooze out for a few minutes to relieve pressure before i recapped it)

This all happened 30 minutes before I was supposed to walk out the door for a week. Luckily it happened when it did or I would have ruined what possibly was my best beer yet.

I have now purchased a bigger blow off tube.

 

[Morbeer]

Good Info People! I'm in the midst of brewing for the first time and after 2 days in the carboy, I woke up this morning to our three cats watching the foam bubble out of the airlock! I took it out and cleaned it up but I think I'll head to the hardware store and get some hose to rig up a blow off tube. This site rocks! Thanks!

 

[tincob]

I had violent fermentation on my first stout also.

I now have a nice quarter inch of yeast sitting on the bottom of the blow-off bucket (which is filled with star san).

I've heard of people top-harvesting yeast from the krausen. Would the yeast sitting on the bottom of the blow-off bucket still viable for a yeast washing process? Would the star san kill the yeast?

I already harvested some yeast from the starter so I don't have any plans to do anything with the blow-off bucket other than to throw it out but I was just curious...

 

[motobrewer]

i always use blow-offs, but i never needed it.

i dont know why, i've never had big krausens. i make starters, aerate well with a drill whip, keep temps in check. i stuffed 5 gallons of esb (1.054) into a 5 gallon carboy and I still didn't need one!

oh, no fermcap, either.

 

[goose1873]

I just made a 5.5 gal 2H clone in a 6.5 gallon carboy with us-05 yeast...All I can say is thank God for a blow-off...what a mess it would have been. Fermented in the lower range 60-65 too...would have been a lot worse if it was warmer.

 

[Hang Glider]

I usually use a blow off for the first two or three days, just to be safe, but when I was not paying attention to my fermentation temps (a few years back), they were fairly violent. Much better at 62-65F. A 1/2" hose provides plenty of room at the lower temps.