What should I do about beer blowing out the airlock

[miner33]

This is my 3rd batch and this time I'm brewing a Brewers Best Imperial Pale Ale kit. It had 8.3 lbs of extract and I brewed 5 full gallons. I put the beer in the 6.5 gallon fermenter last night around 6pm. I came home just now and when I checked on it, there was beer everywhere and the bucket looks like its gonna blow. The airlock is full of krausen. What do I do now? Should I remove the airlock and the lid. Is my beer gonna get contaminated now?

 

[miner33]

Oh.....Th lid looks like it gonna blow and I'm pretty sure the airlock is clogged, but I'm nervous about pulling either of them off. Is this baby gonna go "old faithful" on me?

 

[yournotpeter]

If you can, quickly sanitize your tubing....then remove the airlock as carefully as possible, although be prepared for a bit of a mess upon removal. Once removed, place the sanitized tubing into the grommet and place the other end of the tube in a pitcher/bowl filled with sanitized water. This is called the blow-off method and will allow the krausen to move through the tube and ensure your bucket doesn't blow. Hope this helps!

 

[Nurmey]

It's going to blow beer on your ceiling and walls unless you let the pressure out. Rig up a blow off or if you can't do that put the bucket in your bath tub and take off the lid. Clean and sanitize the lid and lay it on the top without snapping it down. Krausen may run down the sides but it will prevent an explosive situation.

Your beer will be fine after its had its little party.

 

[miner33]

Wow! That was exciting. I got the bucket outside and pulled the lid off and it scaredthe crap outta my Wife! Pretty funny, not too messy. I sanitized my siphon tubing and stuffed it into the hole in the lid and then stuck the other end in a bucket of sanitizing solution. Thanks for the quick replies.

When the fermentation slows, should I put the airlock back on?

 

[yournotpeter]

Glad to hear it worked out!

It doesn't hurt to just leave the blow-off tube in until you either rack to secondary or bottle (whichever you're doing). A lot of folks just use a blow-off from day one of fermentation and just leave it that way until they rack. But if for some reason having the blow-off tube there is an inconvenience, there is no harm of replacing it with the airlock. Just make sure its sanitized again....

 

[CrazyBrew]

I use a blowoff tube everytime. I use a 1 1/4" OD x 1" ID tubing. The picture shows a 5 gallon bucket but now I use an Ozarka 3L water bottle with really cheap vodka in it and duct tape the blowoff tube at the ozarka bottle to make a closed system. In 4-5 days after the plethora of Krausen has lowered just replace with an airlock.

 

[greencoat]

In 4-5 days after the plethora of Krausen has lowered just replace with an airlock.

El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?

 

[CrazyBrew]

El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?

A Plethora!