A Russian Volcano in my closet

[muenchk]

As i type here I'm trying to RDWDetc, etc...but I'm actually not succeeding. Maybe you guys can help put my mind to rest (or tell me I'm screwed).

I'm brewing a PM Stone clone, Russian Imperial Ale. The thing is pretty massive, with an OG of 1.096, which i hit dead on. That's where the good news ends though.

I had a robust 4 pint starter going for a day or so and chucked it at 7am before going to work (once my wort had gotten down to about 75).

I put it all into a 6.5 gal carboy and had about 8 inches of head space. No prob, right?

Well, got home from work and the lid off the airlock had blown off and a little gas was HISSING (first sign I should've been more careful), but I just pulled off the whole airlock and...yes, BAM...wort and yeast everywhere (in my clothes closet/brewery). And then just wild gushing, constant, non-stop, powerful POURING of foam out of the carboy. And it wouldn't stop. 10 minutes or so...it sounded like a train wooshing by with all the CO2 escaping. Nuts!

Anyway, I ended up sterlizing my siphon and siphoned some wort out to leave about 10 inches of headspace...the krauzen receeded and about 45 minutes later, the cleaned airlock was bubbling madly away without the foaming.

First, I wanted to share this experience...I'm guessing it was the massive starter and the high OG that caused such crazy fermentation. Note to self: more headspace in the future.

Second, do you think having the airlock lid blown off for several hours could've allowed some bacteria in? The small piece in the airlock was several feet away from the carboy. Or the foam pouring out? Or the airlock fizzing brown?

I tried to use iostar on everything i touched and let the airlock pieces sit in it a minute or two... but it all seemed quite messy and disastrous.

I'll be really bummed to see this beer lost if it is. It was about $70 in grain/DME.

Also, the temp of fermentation was 78 for about 10 hours, finally got a mini-fridge and left it in the closet with the door open. Hopefully it brings it down.

 

[carnevoodoo]

well, you're going to get some definite esters/fusels on this one. 75 is too high to pitch at. 78 is too high to ferment a styical yeast strain at as well.

As for sanitation, you'll be fine. That co2 was pushing out anything that might try to get near it.

 

[BreckBastion]

You should be fine as long as the lesson was learned. I still have wort on the celing of a room (textured ceiling) from 2 years ago. A blowoff tube is invaluable and easy.
Yea, didn't see that about temp. pretty high.

 

[beerkrump]

+1 blow off tube on every batch during the first week at least.

Don't worry about infection. With that vigorous of a fermentation, any bacteria in there would have gotten it's ass kicked.

Give the yeast a good amount of time to clean up any off flavors generated during the high temp fermentation.

 

[homebrewflyfish]

I think this is a rite of passage, so welcome to homebrewing. This happened to me on a 90 minute clone and the beer turned out totally fine. Beer's pretty hardy, and remember that your beer is already well into fermentation and those yeasties can out-compete bacteria.

I never use airlocks anymore for anything over 1.050...just go to home depot, buy some vinyl tubing that fits the grommet or stopper, and put one end in the fermenter lid and one in a bucket of sanitizer water. I also found that cutting the end of the tubing on a slant makes it easier to put it in the stopper or grommet.

I just hope you didn't get rid of that tasty beer you siphoned out...

 

[Hang Glider]

+1 to BeerKrump's wisdom.
First several days - BLOW OFF TUBE!!! Don't leave home without it.

congrats on the volcano, we've all been there! Now clean up, slap yourself on the back for the vigorous start, and have a beer.

(+1 on appropriate temps for your yeast style, too)

 

[Parker36]

Been there, cleaned up that mess.
Pics or didn't happen:rockin:

 

[muenchk]

Roger on all the above. I hear you on the blow off tube. I had no idea it was such a big deal. Lesson learned. Especially after it took me 45 minutes to clean up all the goop on the clothes/walls/glasses/face/shirt/pants and even mother in law who was standing next to me (can't say I was sad about that one, though ).

Now I guess my only concern is the temp. I had the wet t-shirt trick going, but it didn't do much...or rather it only brought it down to 77--i guess it could've been worse without it.

Esters I'm not too worried about. A bit of fruitiness might be off-style for a RIS, but won't kill it in my eyes. At least with my uncultured palate. But the fusels carnevoodoo mentions are what's not letting me RDWHA#@#$ now.

I'm guessing the first 24 hours of fermentation will average out about 75. I wonder if it's enough to cause fusels?

I've read it's over 80 that does it. Does anybody have any suggested reading/advice on this topic?

Also, White Labs says to pitch over 70, and keep it there until fermentation starts, then bring it down to 68. Now...I screwed the pooch, clearly. Nowhere near the temp control I should've had.

now I know... and will look into a fridge setup of sorts that I can keep in the garage (although I'll miss drenching my mother in law with yeast/wort).

Anything I can do to fix the fusels?

 

[beerkrump]

Let it sit in the primary for at least 4 weeks. I know that may seem like a long time, but big beers need a long time for the yeasts to clean. My Yule Log Porter sits in the primary for 6 weeks, secondary for 6 weeks, and then 12 to 18 weeks in the bottle before I even open one. Big beers just take more time, but man is that extra time worth it when you can open something special.

 

[homebrewflyfish]

Big beers just take more time, but man is that extra time worth it when you can open something special.

And that's also what makes Imperial IPAs both amazing and frustrating to make. You want those hops before they go away, but you gotta wait for the rest of the beer to catch up...

Why is it that everything that is so good must have a maddening trade-off. Good thing we have previous batches of beer to help us wait.

 

[Munsoned]

I hate to say it, but even with the massive blowoff, etc., I still question if the starter was big enough. For a 1.096 beer, I'd go with a one-two liter starter minimum... Yes the yeast will take off big time in such a big beer, at such a high temp. But will they finish the job without over-stressing themselves?

A few months ago I brewed a wheat beer that blew my airlock across the room. Beer still turned out fine (although my basement ceiling still looks a little gnarly). I wouldn't sweat the infection angle.

 

[muenchk]

Munsoned...you know this whole quart/pint/gallon thing cofuses the heck out of me. I went back and looked at my notes. I actually did a 4pint starter. 9.5 cups of water, 2 cups DME. that's 2.2 liter.

too much?

 

[weirdboy]

I don't use a blow-off tube. I just put saran wrap or foil on top of the fermenter and set the lid loosely on top if it's a bucket, or just leave it like that if it's a carboy. I will never, ever, ever again use a blow off tube with a glass carboy since I had one explode on me.

too much?

2 quarts should be fine for a high gravity brew like that. RIS are just notorious for vigorous fermentation.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I don't use a blow-off tube. I just put saran wrap or foil on top of the fermenter and set the lid loosely on top if it's a bucket, or just leave it like that if it's a carboy. I will never, ever, ever again use a blow off tube with a glass carboy since I had one explode on me.




2 quarts should be fine for a high gravity brew like that. RIS are just notorious for vigorous fermentation.

What diameter blowoff tube were you using? I use a 1 inch tube that fits inside the neck of the carboy and it is wide enough to handle anything. I don't trust the small diameter blow off tube with the airlock trick. It just seems like a bad idea.

 

[weirdboy]

We were using a similar setup as you describe. No stopper, just a blow-off that fit into the neck of the carboy.

I don't use an airlock for primary fermentation, either. I have been doing plastic wrap/foil for primary on many batches and have never experienced a problem with contamination, oxidation, etc.

 

[lowlife]

screw a blowoff tube use a bigger bucket for big beers so its not an issue at all. just my 2 cents

 

[bjzelectric]

I had this happen to me once with a bavarian hefe so I rigged up a blow off tube and that blew off too which I guess the suction created an even bigger volcano. Messy! I bought a 20 gal Rubbermaid trash can w/ lid and drilled a 2" hole in the center of the lid. The lid fits with the airlock sticking thru which allows me to put a box over it to collect/contain an explosion. I also fill the trash can w/ water to keep temps normal and add ice if needed.

 

[muenchk]

bjzelectric...great idea. I've been struggling in my mind with the whole temp control issue and the volcano's potential for ruining all my clothes (given that the "brewery" is in my closet). A used fridge with an external controller would be good, but A trash can would be perfect. Fill it with water, add ice bottles, put a lid on it and done.

 

[Yooper]

well, you're going to get some definite esters/fusels on this one. 75 is too high to pitch at. 78 is too high to ferment a styical yeast strain at as well.

As for sanitation, you'll be fine. That co2 was pushing out anything that might try to get near it.

Yeah, pitching at that high temperature is probably why you got such a big blow off. Yeast will ferment vigorously and fast at a high temperature like that.

Keeping it in a cooler with a water bath and a few frozen water bottles will go a long way to help keep the fermenter cool, but if you would have pitched it at 62 degrees (instead of 75), that would have helped tremendously.

 

[muenchk]

YooperBrew, I keep on reading about pitching above 70 to ensure you get a strong start to the fermentation. Then to lower.

From the White Labs website, FAQ's:

"For fermentation, make sure you pitch the yeast between 70-75F, then drop to a different temperature if you like after fermentation begins."

 

[beerkrump]

Some of the off flavors that yeast creates are generated before any visible fermentation. It is best to pitch at the correct rate for your beer's gravity and control the temperature. Sure you won't get that fast start, but then again making good beer is not about speed.