Quick question about blow offs

I'm about to brew my third batch which will be a hef. Since I only have two 5 gallon glass carboys I've been wondering if i should buy some fermcap-s to keep down the initial fermentation. The yeast that i'll be using is wyeast 3068 (actually going to be growing it so i can pitch it into an apfelwein at the same time). Since this stuff is notorious for explosive fermentations I wanted to know what you thought about buying fermcap vs. buying a 6.5 gallon pail.

The pail is $15 while FermCap-S is like $5

I could just attach a blow off tube but I lost a whole gallon of beer in my APA due to blow off in my carboy.

 

I've used Fermcap to prevent boilovers and make starters in the microwave. It works well but it may freak you out during fermenation when you don't see a krausen... or maybe not. Regardless, it won't hurt head retention.

Just throwing out another option. You could make a Burton Union. It will cost about $25 but it is also a good way to collect and reuse yeast. Saving on the cost of a few vials of yeast is always nice

Anyway... here's a DIY link.

http://byo.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=351:build-a-burton-union-system-projects

 

Hmm that burton union system looks pretty cool! I have been washing my yeast so far and plan to do it with the wyeast 3068 because it's so damn expensive.

I i'm mostly wondering if fermcap is capable of taming 3068. Has anyone experienced this scenario?

When you say Microwave your starter... you're not nuking your yeast are you?

 

I haven't tried it with with 3068, but I suspect it will work fine. As for microwave, no yeast

I just boil dme in quart mason jars when I'm stepping up a starter over a week. I can do several at a time and no flask or pot required. Easy peasy.