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BadgerBrewer

BadgerBrewer

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...explosion that is. I made this Pitch Dark IPA on Memorial Day and placed it on my fermentation freezer at 63 degrees, only using a 3 piece airlock like I always do. I used Nottingham yeast, one packet only. Checked tonight and whoops! The fermentation had not only blown the airlock out of the lid, it blew the lid completely off! Exploded like a volcano! When I was cleaning it I had memories of my little 2-year old's dirty diapers...but it smelled a heck of alot better! :D

I guess I should count my blessings I have a fermentation tank to keep temps cool and contain the explosive matter, unlike others who have to use swamp buckets in their 1 year old's closet (MeanGreen). :tank:

Well, hopefully all is well that ends well as once I cleaned it up, sanitized the lid and new airlock, and added a sanitized blow off tube the thing was blowing like a machine gun. Guess time will tell!

Anyone else have pics of massive fermentation bombs?

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Wow! i have yet to see anything like this!

PS-What size tubing do you use for your blowoff? It looks like it goes around the opening for the airlock. i need something like that.
 
I think it is 1/2" tubing, which fits on the post in the airlock tight, but not too tight. The bigger diameter should be able to take any additional trub through it on the way to the sanitizer jug on the other end. If it gets plugged.... kaboom!
 
Man! It has only been a little more than 2 hours since I cleaned up the lid, put on the airlock/blow off tube and left it alone in the chamber. Just checked it again... lid half blown off...tube full...sanitizer jug is all brown...

So, I just loosely placed the lid back on the bucket and will let it violently ferment for another day or 2 and re-tighten the lid/blowoff tube.

Is this what I can expect from a high gravity brew? Need to figure out another method! :D
 
BadgerBrewer said:
I think it is 1/2" tubing, which fits on the post in the airlock tight, but not too tight. The bigger diameter should be able to take any additional trub through it on the way to the sanitizer jug on the other end. If it gets plugged.... kaboom!
Click to expand...

Looks like my one year old dropped off something in there..

Impressive to say the least.


Much easier to clean that then the ceiling of your 1 year old son's closet/fermentation room. No ceiling pics since i frantically cleaned it before they woke up. you can sort of see it on the walls.

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I don't have pics of this but back in the 90's when I first brewed, I tried to make a raspberry stout with the berries in the primary. I knew it would need a blow off tube but I had lost my tube and I hadn't gotten around to buying a new one. There was plenty of room in the carboy so I decided to just use a regular airlock until the next morning when the homebrew shop opened. Well, fermentation apparently took off during the night and the next morning my wife and I heard a "POP!" from the next room. It looked like someone had painted a tree on the wall and ceiling with little red pieces of raspberry as decorations. It took me forever to clean that!
 
I'll have to post some pics later, but my last three batches have gone wild.
The first one was a Cooper's IPA, and I think the carboy was just filled a little too much. It got foam in the airlock, and then created quite the interesting foam sculpture for about three days. I constantly was cleaning it off and wiping up the floor.
The second was an American Wheat with Wyeast 1010, and it also blew the lid all the way off. It lodged about two feet above the bucket on a carboy. Covered the wall with foam.
The last one was an IPA I put together with 6 lbs of DME and Nottingham yeast. I am glad my wife noticed the lid bulging. I let out the pressure and took the 3 piece airlock off and replaced it with another sanitized one. After about 20 minutes I checked it again, and it looked like it was about to burst once more, so I just took the airlock out and let the krausen come out the top.
That particular bucket had all the locking tabs still on it, so if it would have burst, it would have been like Krakatoa.
 
Nothing as bad as the last ones posted, but I brewed a RIS the day before I left on vacation. Returned home to find the blowoff tube ejected and my ferm chamber covered in great smelling stout...
 
These are awesome, keep them coming. I've never had anything close in real life, but I did dream of it once, thanks to HBT!! After hearing about such blowoffs, I will never leave a wort in a room with carpet. A spare shower stall would probably be ideal. I dream of having fermentation that powerful to get such a blowoff, although I will probably use Fermcap-S generously to prevent it! I'm glad this has never happened inside my wooden fermentation chamber with a heater inside. I'm in the process of switching to a water bath with a lid. Maybe I'll put some bricks on top for good measure!

On a serious note, I've heard on HBT its a good idea to cut off the little star on the end of the airlock otherwise it can clog easily.
 
BadgerBrewer said:
Man! It has only been a little more than 2 hours since I cleaned up the lid, put on the airlock/blow off tube and left it alone in the chamber. Just checked it again... lid half blown off...tube full...sanitizer jug is all brown...

So, I just loosely placed the lid back on the bucket and will let it violently ferment for another day or 2 and re-tighten the lid/blowoff tube.

Is this what I can expect from a high gravity brew? Need to figure out another method! :D
Click to expand...

I have an 8g pail I use for 6g wine recipes. I also use it for high gravity beers for the extra room - I still use a blow-off though. Just in case...

GT
 
Been there done that and had a very calm ferment on the next batch with the same recipe. That crud is really hard to get off the walls. I put my fermenter in a large plastic storage bin (cheap at your local discounter) to catch the droppings and drape a towel over the top until I get an idea what is going to happen.
 
My last brew tried to blow up as well. Fortunately I caught it and rigged a blowoff in time! SWMBO would have killed me if one of my brews left a mess like that!
 
I keep my carboys in the bathtub of our 1st floor bathroom, mainly because its the most temperature-stable room in the house. But after seeing these great/horrible pictures, I guess it serves double-duty just in case it does erupt on me!
 
I don't have a pic, but this past Christmas I had a porter fermenting in an ale pail with a 3 piece airlock. I came home from work the day after I pitched, and the lid on the bucket was bulging up like a balloon. Not wanting to screw up my 2nd batch of beer ever, I just left it alone. An hour later, kabooom!!! The lid flew clear across the laundry room, leaving a nice trail of trub behind. Been using a blowoff tube ever since.
 
This thread is awesome... I would flip if something like that happened.... especially cause I'm fermenting in a huge cooler in the living room of my apartment.
 
Couple drops of Fermcap S would have saved you fellas a lot of work and grief.

Stuff is a god send in not only the brew kettle but I add a few drops to the fermenters that I think have the potential of blowing off.
 
I had one that exploded very violently, but it was 1.108 SG beer fermenting in the upper 70s... I would never have thought something like that could happen at 63 degrees :drunk:
 
I could've sworn I had a pic of my blowout but I can't find it now. It wasn't that big of a deal, though. It just covered the airlock, carboy cap and top half of the carboy in foam.
 
Ehh I just realized I didnt get the pick of this one actually blowing off, but shortly after this pick it did. I would keep shaking the fermenter, and the krausen would fall, and then rise up and blow off again...this was a 3 gallon belgian dubbel in a 6.5 gallon carboy.

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BTW how much beer was in that bucket that blew BadgerBrewer?
 
Whoa that is a ton of krausen. Love it!

Mine was a 5.5 gallon batch in a 7 gallon bucket. It was an 8% ABV brew, and when I put the airlock on the bucket with the 1/2" blowtube I forgot to cut off the cross to allow more of the trub/stuff to come through. I am sure it plugged and the pressure just went 'boom'! Amazing what a little yeast can acomplish
 
jwatkins56550 said:
Ehh I just realized I didnt get the pick of this one actually blowing off, but shortly after this pick it did. I would keep shaking the fermenter, and the krausen would fall, and then rise up and blow off again...this was a 3 gallon belgian dubbel in a 6.5 gallon carboy.

BTW how much beer was in that bucket that blew BadgerBrewer?
Click to expand...
That's a hella krausen. WTG!!!!!
I know I could use Fermcap. Fermcap is for wussies. Blowups are for MEN who BREW!!!!!
 

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