Overactive Fermentation

Hey everyone

I have a crazy fermentation going on and dont really know what to do. This is my third batch I've ever done but havent had to deal with this. The beer im making is a dogfish head 90 min clone recipe. Starting og was at 1.089

The batch started it fermentation today. to my surprise when I got home, the lid had blown open and the airlock was filled with the foam. I then took the airlock off and placed the siphon hose in the fermenter hole to create a blow off. Well this worked for about 5 mins and the lid popped again. i repeated this several time, with each time the lid popping again. So I took the hose off and now the foam is just coming out through the bucket hole. Dont know what else to do since each thing i tried, the lid just blows open.

Any ideas? Would like to save this batch if i can.

Ferment temps are between 67-70. Using white labs british yeast.

Thanks in advance

Hefner

let it spew its load and put the blowoff tube back on in 24 hours or whenever ferm settles down.
I thinks your blow off tube isn't big enough.

It's not over active it's healthy fermentation. Your little yeasties are tearing through the sugars. This is a good thing. Just maintain sanitization and you will be fine. If you are really concerned look for some threads on here about "open fermentation." Lots of people don't use lids and it was actually preferred for top cropping yeast (mainly in Britain I believe).

kapbrew13 said:

let it spew its load and put the blowoff tube back on in 24 hours or whenever ferm settles down.
I thinks your blow off tube isn't big enough.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Its the standard siphon hose that came with my kit. Little larger than the air lock hole. But yea was my plan and let it spew. Does this not effect the wort sice it is exposed?

-Hef

dbreienrk1 said:

It's not over active it's healthy fermentation. Your little yeasties are tearing through the sugars. This is a good thing. Just maintain sanitization and you will be fine. If you are really concerned look for some threads on here about "open fermentation." Lots of people don't use lids and it was actually preferred for top cropping yeast (mainly in Britain I believe).

Click to expand...

Thanks. Good to hear its a "good thing". I will check out the open fermentation although it sounds like it goes against brewing laws I was shown to follow. Im wondering though why the blow off tube cant absorb the co2 pressure. Any tips so i can avoid in the future?

-hef

Blow off tubes don't absorb the pressure, they just redirect the excess gas. If there is more gas/kraussen coming through the hose than it can handle it will be released elsewhere. Basically, it's the path of least resistance...

EDIT: In the future get a bigger blowoff tube or a larger fermenter with more headspace. That's about all you can do.

ahefner33 said:

Thanks. Its the standard siphon hose that came with my kit. Little larger than the air lock hole. But yea was my plan and let it spew. Does this not effect the wort sice it is exposed?

-Hef

Click to expand...

Your really not exposing the wort to the air much. Not much to worry.

Woke this morning and still gushing a way!

Took a couple snapshots. will post little later

kapbrew13 said:

Your really not exposing the wort to the air much. Not much to worry.

Click to expand...

gotcha. So does the kraussen back off eventually or does it go only once the ferm. is done?

Thanks

dbreienrk1 said:

EDIT: In the future get a bigger blowoff tube or a larger fermenter with more headspace. That's about all you can do.

Click to expand...

Sadly, the fermenters I received have the small air hole that just fits the air lock and the small tubing I've already used. I did just put a order in for a larger fermenter though.

Image. yay

ahefner33 said:

Image. yay

Click to expand...

Cool

ahefner33 said:

Image. yay

Click to expand...

Holy wow lol. A bigger fermenter would definitely help, or a larger blow-off tube. With all that activity, it shouldn't be an issue to leave it open. I usually just cover my bucket with a garbage bag during fermentation. Granted, I use a much larger bucket so the beer never reaches to touch the bag.

Eckythump said:

Holy wow lol. A bigger fermenter would definitely help, or a larger blow-off tube. With all that activity, it shouldn't be an issue to leave it open. I usually just cover my bucket with a garbage bag during fermentation. Granted, I use a much larger bucket so the beer never reaches to touch the bag.

Click to expand...

Yeah. Ordering a larger bucket was the first thing I done after trying to get all this controlled. What size do you use for 5 gal batches?

I use 6.5 gallon bucket for primary and a 5.5 gallon better bottle for secondary. That looks to be a 5.5 gallon but I might be wrong. If it is a 5.5 gallon you can still use that bucket for secondary. ( for 5 gallon batch's )
Im new to brewing also but this is a big beer it seems so that might be reason for so much overflow. Ive though to myself when I do a big brew im going to find a 7.5 gallon bucket or larger for primary so I don't have to worry about it. I haven't actually looked up if such a bucket even exist.

I use a primary bucket as a fermenter. Not sure how big it is.. Maybe 8 gallons? Lately I've been making smaller batches (3-4 gallons) and use a 5 gallon carboy so I can watch the fermentation intently

BrutalBrew said:

I use 6.5 gallon bucket for primary and a 5.5 gallon better bottle for secondary. That looks to be a 5.5 gallon but I might be wrong. If it is a 5.5 gallon you can still use that bucket for secondary. ( for 5 gallon batch's )
Im new to brewing also but this is a big beer it seems so that might be reason for so much overflow. Ive though to myself when I do a big brew im going to find a 7.5 gallon bucket or larger for primary so I don't have to worry about it. I haven't actually looked up if such a bucket even exist.

Click to expand...

It's a 6.5 gallon. I have a 6 gallon carboy for secondary. I went and bought a 7.9 gal bucket with a lid that has a vent hole thats plugged with a stopper so in case I want to use a larger blow off tube. Its a HG recipe so I messed when I didnt realize I would need a larger fermenter.

lol holy funking eruption!

Nice. Looks like a beer Frosty.

I might recant my earlier statement...did you use a yeast starter? And what was your final volume prior to pitching and about how much headspace was there? How much did you aerate and how? I've had plenty of instances where a blowoff tube was needed, but I've never seen anything this bad before...

Yep; You need an big fermentor for a big beer.
Lesson Learned Right!
It will be really hard for any nasties to get in there with all that coming out; I would just sit the lid on top (open fermentation). And even if some nasties do get in, they won't like the high alcohol level that the yeasties are producing.

How much volume do you think you lost due to this eruption?

PS
Read a little about Fermcap, it is a great preventive measure for this.

dbreienrk1 said:

I might recant my earlier statement...did you use a yeast starter? And what was your final volume prior to pitching and about how much headspace was there? How much did you aerate and how? I've had plenty of instances where a blowoff tube was needed, but I've never seen anything this bad before...

Click to expand...

lol

No. I pitched straight from the yeast tubes since I followed what the recipe instructions said. Final volume was a little above 5 gallons. So 6.5 bucket, 5 gal volume, 1.5 gallon space give or take a little. I aerated by stirring like a mad man for about 2-3 mins.

mredge73 said:

Yep; You need an big fermentor for a big beer.
Lesson Learned Right!
How much volume do you think you lost due to this eruption?
PS
Read a little about Fermcap, it is a great preventive measure for this.

Click to expand...

Yup.

Im not sure really. Wanted to wait for all the activity to go down so I could actually see how much has foamed out. It's slowed down a little but still pushing out little by little. You think opening the lid would better serve keeping all the rausen from blowing out?

edit: thanks for the tip on fermcap. Do you still think necessary if I larger fermenter is used?

Fermcap is only really necessary on small fermentors with little head space (I ferment in corny kegs with 1"-2" of head space) but it is cheap insurance in any case ($6 for 10-20 batches).

The foaming slowed down so I cleaned and sanitized the lid and placed the blow tube back into the fermenter. Still pumping co2 rapidly but the lid hasn't blew in over a HOUR so far! And no krausen has made its way through the tubing yet.

ahefner33 said:

The foaming slowed down so I cleaned and sanitized the lid and placed the blow tube back into the fermenter. Still pumping co2 rapidly but the lid hasn't blew in over a HOUR so far! And no krausen has made its way through the tubing yet.

Click to expand...

Looks like my 6th grade volcano project. :rockin:

Nice!! I never use airlocks until after the first 7 days, I just blow it off into a 1 gallon Cider jar with some StarSan, I love the hops smell that fills the house for the first few days!

Is there any reason to not use a blow-off tube. Ever? I'm sure it's not always necessary, but the peace of mind alone is worth the no extra time it takes to pour some sanitizer in a bucket and shove in an adequately sized tube.

ahefner33 said:

Image. yay

Click to expand...

30 minutes before I had to leave for work, my airlock became a bubbly mess from all of the fermentation going on. I had to make a blowout tube, but reading through the posts, I'm terrified I'm going to come home in 2.5 hours to exactly this. Yikes.

It seemed like it was doing a good job of relieving the pressure when it would get too full, though the lid did look like it was bulging a bit. Should I be worried?

FutureJack said:

Is there any reason to not use a blow-off tube. Ever? I'm sure it's not always necessary, but the peace of mind alone is worth the no extra time it takes to pour some sanitizer in a bucket and shove in an adequately sized tube.

Click to expand...

Blow off tube always for me. Better safe then sorry.

After my first volcano I always use a blow off tube until active fermentation starts to subside and then I switch over to an airlock.

Heres how much was left after my eruption. Not as bad as I thought it would be considering how much came out. Just a few points from my FG 1.021 (per recipe) so I'm happy bout that.

and finally the enjoyment of my exploded 90 min ipa clone....yay

Ok thats a winner. I had a belgian that climbed out my S-Lock and kept going straight up, Like a Krausen Sculpture lol

AdamPag said:

Ok thats a winner. I had a belgian that climbed out my S-Lock and kept going straight up, Like a Krausen Sculpture lol

Click to expand...

haha cool. take pics!