What happened? Carboy lost all its beer

[beernut789]

This is my first time homebrewing, and everything seemed to be going ok. The wort was placed in a carboy with blowoff tube to ferment. After about 8-10 hours, a steady trickle starts coming through the blowoff tube. The container I was using to capture the blowoff quickly fills up, so I empty it and leave the house to go to work. I come home 9 hours later to find that the carboy is almost two-thirds empty, and all of my beer is on the floor. It had been trickling out the blowoff tube all day. Does anyone have any clue what could have caused this?

The carboy was a plastic 5-gallon one with a hood like this one - http://morebeer.com/view_product/16...er_Carboy_Blow_Off_Hood_w_White_Caps_5_Gallon - except it had a little air filter device on one of the ends. Was the air filter the cause? Everything was sealed pretty tight.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[TomSD]

Um your blow-off tube didn't extend into the carboy did it? Sounds to me like you used your cane and the CO2 build up pushed the wort right out.

 

[JeffB]

Did you take any pictures? Did you make friends with all the ants in your neighbohood?

does sound like you had the blowoff tube in the beer and it siphoned it all out.

 

[Skaggz]

Either you had an EXTREMELY vigorous fermentation, or, you somehow got the blow off tube below the liquid line.

If its the later, then excessive head pressure that had nowhere to go exerted a force on the beer that made it flow up and out through the blow off tube. This is how a keg works.

 

[DarkUncle]

Also, isn't a 5 gallon carboy too small to be used as a primary fermenter? I've always been told 6.5 gallons is the norm for a carboy. The 5 gallon is mainly used as a secondary after the fermentation process has all but ceased.

 

[beernut789]

Yeah, the blowoff tube extended into the wort. Doh. Hopefully i have better luck next tme.

 

[Strangebird]

You are correct that a 5-gallon carboy is generally too small for a 5 gallon batch. However, I use to 5-gallon carboys and split batches between them and it works great.

 

[paraordnance]

I find that these hoods leaking CO2 since I started using them (2) I never see bubles in airlock. It must be finds other way out I'm confused, anybody also have same problem?

 

[Ziggybrew]

I find that these hoods leaking CO2 since I started using them (2) I never see bubles in airlock. It must be finds other way out I'm confused, anybody also have same problem?

Hoods? You mean bucket lids? Some folks complain that they don't always seal. [That will only deprive you of the "bubble show". I love bubbles too, but it's not the true measurement of your fermentation progress.] I have a similar problem with some of my carboy caps. Heavy cord sinched around the neck works.
You can try some petroleum jelly on the seal, it helps sometimes.

 

[paraordnance]

Hoods? You mean bucket lids? Some folks complain that they don't always seal. [That will only deprive you of the "bubble show". I love bubbles too, but it's not the true measurement of your fermentation progress.] I have a similar problem with some of my carboy caps. Heavy cord sinched around the neck works.
You can try some petroleum jelly on the seal, it helps sometimes.

I'm talking about orange carboy hoods/caps, I dont use plastic buckets as fermentors

 

[TomSD]

I find that these hoods leaking CO2 since I started using them (2) I never see bubles in airlock. It must be finds other way out I'm confused, anybody also have same problem?

Never noticed a problem and I use them with CO2 to push my beer out when it is done. I guess your mileage may vary but mine have a nice tight fit.

 

[paraordnance]

Never noticed a problem and I use them with CO2 to push my beer out when it is done. I guess your mileage may vary but mine have a nice tight fit.

It probably depends on type of carboy also. Dont get me wrong they are tight fit but not seeing airlock activity bores me as a noob