Air Lock vs. Blow Off Tube

[darkstar145]

I got in the habit of using a blow-off tube every time for primaries, then switching to the fermentation locks for secondaries. I recall reading many years ago (like 15-20 yrs) that by letting the krausen blow off, it would take with it some nasty bits that could create off flavors. I can't though really think of what those nasty bits might be. Hop bits, cold or hot break? I don't really see them as potential off flavor creators. Maybe this was suggested because the quality of ingredients was suspect back then.

Anyway, now I highly recomend the use of Fermcap-S to reduce foaming. I can fill my 5 gal carboys quite full and now just use an airlock, no more blow off. I might get 1" of krausen but that's it. I'm just now drinking the 1st beer where I used Fermcap and it is quite tasty! I just transferred my Marzen to secondary and it tasted quite delightful.

Im not quite sure I want to put any chemicals in my beer....but its my first batch and I am learning.


FYI if you didnt know or would like to, here is info on the chemical that is in Fermcap-S Dimethylpolysiloxane

http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v06je42.htm

you can also read about it in wiki, just google it.

Thanks for the advice though

 

[pjj2ba]

Im not quite sure I want to put any chemicals in my beer....but its my first batch and I am learning.


FYI if you didnt know or would like to, here is info on the chemical that is in Fermcap-S Dimethylpolysiloxane

http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v06je42.htm

you can also read about it in wiki, just google it.

Thanks for the advice though

I don't have any problem with using it. It is non-soluble and settles out and does not end up in the final product. Even if there was some that made it into the beer, according to the information in the link you provided, 90% is going to go right through me, and not in my urine although a small percentage might leave that way too.

 

[darkstar145]

please look at the pictures on the bottom of page three of this thread and let me know if you suggest I change anything.

It will give you a better idea of what happend, and maybe....other than chemicals you can give some advice.

Thanks

 

[Ridge Runner]

to help with airlock clogging, I dremeled off the little strainer piece on the bottom of my 3 piece ones.

Me too on my blowoff airlock. I just put a piece of tubing (maybe 1"diam) over the post on the 3 piece airlock. The thing I like about this setup is I can use it on any kind of fermenter-carboy, bucket, BB. My last porter converted me. Blowoff tube till krausen falls then airlock.

 

[TexLaw]

I've been using Fermcap-S for many years, and all I have is praise for it.


TL

 

[capcrnch]

It seems redundant, although the guy at the homebrew store said that it was more or less a back up just in case the airlock became clogged.

Well, why not just skip the airlock and just go with the blow off tube?

x2 for cutting off the strainer.

 

[Olive Drab]

would you suggest I remove and clean the airlock and cap it off, and just leave the blow off tube, but replace the water with sanatizer?

with that picture I would plug one hole and use the blow off on the other. no need in my opinion to have two and the path of least resistance will cause the airlock to keep getting filled with krausen. Either or, but not both. Plus, one less thing to clean and sterilize.
I dont believe my carboy caps came with a plug for the large hole so maybe you can take some food grade tubing and attach it to the post in the airlock and leave off the other two pieces for a smaller diameter blow off tube as was suggested above.
I have 3 airlocks so that if it gets filled with "stuff" from below, I just swap a clean one on for the duration. I havent had a blow off yet. I also dont use water or sanitizer in the airlock but cheap vodka or little airline liquor bottles I get while traveling.

 

[pjj2ba]

+1 on skipping the airlock.

With the airlock in place, the blow-off won't funtion as well, as in reallity, you have two blow-offs, the second one being your airlock. Take the tubing off of the port it is on and replace it with the little white cap that should have come with the carboy cap (if the cap is gone just plug it up somehow). Put as large a tube as will fit on the port where the airlock was and you are good to go. When it is done blowing off, replace the tubing with your airlock. That's what I used to do.

The smaller port is there to assist in starting a siphon (if you've got a racking tube through the top port)

 

[postman]

I had a ceiling staining explosion this year. It was probably due to high temp pitching more than anything else. To alleviate this and the overflow of foam (which now makes me nervous...potential clog), I bought some foam control fermcap plus. In addition I also purchased a wort chiller as I was getting impatient with the ice bath. I also plan on straining the wort to prevent large chunks from clogging the airlock. So hopefully, foam control drops plus a wort chiller plus filtration will shape this noob into a better and more relaxed brewer. Just purchased a 6 gal better bottle and carboy thermometers as well. I'll be keeping a better eye on temperature control during initial fermentation and the later phases as well. Even still, homebrew has made me some incredible ales! I'm hooked!

 

[GloHoppa]

I just posted this in the Extract portion but it fits here as well. I just bought some 3/8" outer 1/4" inner tubing (clear plastic) and was wondering how safe it was to use this as a blowoff tube. I know its a little small for a diameter but it fits directly into the grommeted opening of my ale pail and the bunghole of my carboy. I am brewing a german hefe with wyeast 3068 smack pack. thanks!

 

[dragonlor20]

It all depends on your primary fermentation vessel.
If I ferment in a carboy I tend to use a blow off tube.
If I ferment in my Stainless stell conical, I use an airlock
If I ferment in my 17.5 gallon bucket, I don't use either, and go with the open fermentation method.

It really depends on your setup.

That's a really big bucket.

 

[Glibbidy]

It' large and in charge. Note it's vessel under the two six gallon pails.

 

[lodgeskins]

Papazian writes, (a blowoff tube) "will expel excess yeast, excessively bitter hop resins, and a small amount of fermenting beer; a small price to pay for a smooth, clean-tasting homebrew". He also states that the blowoff method allows "other things that may contribute to hangovers when consumed" to be expelled.
What do some of the experienced brewers here think? I've only used an airlock but I'm wondering if there's a better brew to be had through using a blowoff. Or, is this notion dated (as a previous poster wondered)?

 

[Surfrider]

Sorry to bump a semi-old thread, but I am very interested in this topic, and would love to hear answers to Lodgeskins' question (the reply immediately above this one) from some of the more experienced members, if they'd be so kind.

Thanks.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Blow-off for the first few days and then the airlock, I am not going to chance having to mop the ceiling, it looks like a real pain in the ass!

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Papazian writes, (a blowoff tube) "will expel excess yeast, excessively bitter hop resins, and a small amount of fermenting beer; a small price to pay for a smooth, clean-tasting homebrew". He also states that the blowoff method allows "other things that may contribute to hangovers when consumed" to be expelled.
What do some of the experienced brewers here think? I've only used an airlock but I'm wondering if there's a better brew to be had through using a blowoff. Or, is this notion dated (as a previous poster wondered)?

I read that very early in my brewing 'career' and so that's what I always thought. Every one of my early beers had a blowoff...by design. Then I came here and was told that I was losing head-positive compounds and that blowoffs were 'bad'...which I still doubt to some degree but this advice was coming from experienced brewers so I stopped 'designing in' blowoffs.

I need to do some experimenting...some of my blowoffs beers have the best head evar and some of my non-blowoff beers don't...I see no correlation between head retention and blowoffs but I haven't really 'tested' it.

EDIT: Oh and FWIW, I use a blowoff tube in the beginning 'just in case' and then switch to an airlock after the 3rd-4th day or so. That way I can indeed do the 'relax' part of Relax, Don't Worry...

 

[ClaudiusB]

I read that very early in my brewing 'career' and so that's what I always thought. Every one of my early beers had a blowoff...by design.

Same here.

Then I came here and was told that I was losing head-positive compounds and that blowoffs were 'bad'...which I still doubt to some degree but this advice was coming from experienced brewers so I stopped 'designing in' blowoffs.

My brewing practices are copied from the commercial brewers, no airlocks.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[grape-soda]

I have a couple of questions:

1) Do you always need to use sanitized solution in the water where the blow tube blows into?

2) I just had an airlock disaster overnight. It blew off and sprayed yeast vomit everywhere. This beer has a 1.074 OG. Should I have used a blow off tube from the start?

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Every beer I make I start with a blowoff tube, and I use idophor or starstan sanitizer in a 2 qt bottle filled around 1/3 of the way. Always!
I just reuse what I used to sanitize the primary.
Once the krausen has fallen I throw on an air lock just to make it easier to deal with. And after too much time the sanitizer in blowoff container will go inert.
Moving a 6.5 gal carboy with an blowoff tube and 2 qt container is a pain, so air locks are best for longer term ageing.

 

[SugarBear]

I had an explosion earlier tonight, while using a blow-off. It wasn't disastrous because I keep my carboy in a large rubber-maid container. There was some cascade on the ceiling though. I had a fantastic cold break, and was at around 80F within 5 mins, so I know pitching temp was not an issue. The temp in here is just under 70F, so I doubt that was a major contributor either. I've never had anything like this happen, and I've made a lot of beer over the years.

This time however, I used a different yeast (Safbrew S-33) and spring water.
I'm wondering if the yeast was able to start the party early due to the lack of tap water baddies this time around. ie: very little resistance in the fermentor.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that they dremeled off the plastic strainer on the bottom of the lock. This move probably would have saved me a bit of a mess, since the foam flow was just too much for the lock to handle. Consequently this all happened within 3 hrs from pitching. It normally takes at least 24 hrs for my brews to take off.

For now, I'm letting the carboy vent all it needs to. I'll cap it up later....

 

[milltyl]

I'm a first time brewer, I was glad to find this thread.

I have a Caribou Slobber (Northern Brewer) in my primary fermenter which is a 6.5 gal glass carboy. 10 hrs after putting it in the fermenter my airlock is bubbling like crazy.

I'm worried about blowing the bung out of the carboy and making a mess. Should I preemptively put a blow-off tube on it?

Also, what makes a more fast/active fermentation?

Thanks!

 

[ThreeTaps]

A blowoff tube is great for when you have a really active fermentation, and the krausen (foamy build-up on top of the beer) builds up to a volume that surpasses the empty space in your carboy. Having a tube attached to your airlock stem then allows the excess krausen to travel into a bucket that is filled with sanitized water (make sure it's sanitized so nothing bad can travel back up through the tube). In most cases that I've found, an airlock is fine, however in my most recent all grain batches I've needed a blow off tube. If your airlock is only bubbling, and no krausen is rising into the airlock stem, then that itself is not going to blow your bung off.

Active and fast fermentation is a result of proper pitching temperature, as well as pitching rate, as well as an overall good environment for the yeast to divide. If you pitch your yeast in wort that's too hot, it will reproduce much quicker and create off tastes and stuff. Also, the viability of your yeast (basically the health of it) will make a big difference. Yeast is a HUGE part of good beer, so it's important to treat it as such. I always re-hydrate my dry yeast, and make starters with liquid yeast. Just make sure you pitch your yeast at the proper temperature, aerate the wort well (yeast can live and grow with OR without air, however it's better when the wort is well aerated) and keep the fermenting wort in a nice cool environment. Try to keep the temperature of the wort no higher than 74F at all times, especially during the first few days. If it gets up higher than that during active fermentation (which usually lasts 2-3 days, depending on your yeast and fermentable sugars in the wort) it can produce esters that give off flavors (such as banana...I've done that before) in your beer.

If you need advice or tips on any process or step, or just overall stuff, let me know. I've put just under 450 posts on this forum in exactly 2 months today, the majority of which were extracting information from the pros here

 

[MBasile]

I learned the hard way to do a blow off for higher gravity brews (learned with a 1.06x stout). My IPA was in the 1.05's so I did a blow off tube and was glad I did. My latest stout (1.050) I threw it on and once again was glad I did. Once the krausen went down then I swapped it out for an airlock because I don't like transporting the carboy with the tube hanging off, it's too awkward.

 

[Hodor_Baggins]

Wow a six page thread about air locks and blow off tubes and no one has mentioned aluminum foil yet???
For the most part that's what I use when I use carboys, just sanitize some aluminum foil and form it over the opening of the carboy. It lets blowoff escape without an explosion (but it can still create a bit of a mess) and no worries about suckback!

 

[milltyl]

Thanks for the information! and fast too! The Krausen is not up to the airlock, although it's "grown" to about 2 inches. I'll keep a good eye on it and add the blow off tube if necessary. My O.G. was 1.052 and I'm using a satellite bottle to take additional hydrometer readings.

 

[ThreeTaps]

Thanks for the information! and fast too! The Krausen is not up to the airlock, although it's "grown" to about 2 inches. I'll keep a good eye on it and add the blow off tube if necessary. My O.G. was 1.052 and I'm using a satellite bottle to take additional hydrometer readings.

Did you get that satellite bottle advice from homebrewers.com? Well, don't do it. The wort/beer in your satellite bottle needs to have -exactly- the same amount of fermentable sugars in it as your filled carboy, and chances are it's not going to ferment at the same rate, even though they say it "does". My first brew I used one too, just to see how accurate it was, and it wasn't. My satellite was a good few points off from the real beer when taking the FG reading.

Remember, your beer is much more resilient than you may think. Opening the top and taking a sample out via turkey baster or wine thief (sanitized, of course) isn't bad. You have a big pocket of C02 at the top, which no bacteria will be able to live through for such a short amount of time.

Always take your readings from your real beer.

 

[milltyl]

No I actually got the tip for satellite hydro readings from a website with videos (http://www.homebrewingvideo.com/category/how-to-brew/). My kit came with a beer thief so I'll probably do what you mentioned. Take readings from both and see how they compare.

I have another question too. My kit did not come with a priming sugar for bottling. Do all beers require the primer sugar or just beers that need bottle conditioning?

Thanks again.

 

[ThreeTaps]

No I actually got the tip for satellite hydro readings from a website with videos (http://www.homebrewingvideo.com/category/how-to-brew/). My kit came with a beer thief so I'll probably do what you mentioned. Take readings from both and see how they compare.

I have another question too. My kit did not come with a priming sugar for bottling. Do all beers require the primer sugar or just beers that need bottle conditioning?

Thanks again.

That site is the instructional video site for homebrewers.com.

Yes, you will need dextrose (corn sugar) for every batch at bottling stage. Are you sure you didn't put it in the boil? You will need 1/2lb for every 5 gallons of beer. The sugar is what creates carbonation.

 

[milltyl]

That site is the instructional video site for homebrewers.com.

Yes, you will need dextrose (corn sugar) for every batch at bottling stage. Are you sure you didn't put it in the boil? You will need 1/2lb for every 5 gallons of beer. The sugar is what creates carbonation.

Hmm... I hope I didn't put it in the boil. Would it matter though? Just more for the yeasty boys to munch on...

I'm ordering some sugar now. Do the expenses ever stop?

 

[MBasile]

Hmm... I hope I didn't put it in the boil. Would it matter though? Just more for the yeasty boys to munch on...

I'm ordering some sugar now. Do the expenses ever stop?

Only if you stop brewing! But why would anyone do that?