Always use a blow off

[psymonkey]

hmmm i chose to not use the blow off as good yeast can get 'blown off' no? Instead I upgraded from my 5 gallon glass carboy and bought a 6 gallon better bottle used to make 5 gallon batch. It rises...doesnt hit my air lock...and then drops. I use the glass carboys for secondary

I think you'll find at some point that your 6-gallon better bottle was about two gallons too small to contain the mess you just cleaned off the ceiling. I had my 6.5 blow for days recently on an Oatmeal Stout that was already short 1/2 gallon from the start.

 

[theNOOB]

Listening to blow off tube bubble farts is a lot more fun than watching an airlock

my favorite HBT quote of all time.

It is indeed the little things that make the home brewing experience most extraordinary.

 

[user 103238]

I used this method just the other day, and even with a smaller diameter blowoff hose it didn't blow off the other cap.

[QUOTE="Here's my question. I have a carboy cap. You know, one of those nifty platic caps with two stems coming off the top and removable caps. Can I put my airlock and a blowoff tube on or does the krausen just come out both holes?[/QUOTE]

 

[zeg]

What size was your fermenter? My 6.5 gal carboy worked great until this weekend.

This was in a 5 gal Better Bottle with something like 4.75 gallons in it to start, so it's true that there wasn't much room for expansion. Still, it blew pretty hard for a couple days.

I am fermenting 5 gals of 1.058 OG stout in my 6.5 gal bottling bucket right now. This one put just a touch of gunk into the blowoff, so it probably would have been ok with an airlock.

But really, I don't see much reason to take a chance. The slight inconvenience of the blow-off tube seems like pretty cheap insurance against a pretty horrid mess in the event that your fermentation goes crazy.

 

[Trokair]

Trokair- you have a dubbel in the FV right now and havent had a blow out? impressive.

Edit: and that nice fluffy towel will only soak up what comes out nicely down the side, not what blasts to the ceiling.

Yeah, I think it may be a stuck fermentation though. I got about 2 inches of krausen then it all dropped back in around day 5. Been quiet ever since. I do have it in a 6.5 gallon carboy so there is some room.

I just really like the three piece airlocks for some reason. The hose coming off the top into a bucket/jar of starsan just doesn't look good to me. Not going to matter for much longer anyway. I have a dual zone temperature controller coming in the mail to set up my spare refridgerator in the garage as a fermentation chamber.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

My imperial black rye ipa had a 2-3 inch krausen for a few days and then it dropped. It isn't stuck, just fermented out rather quickly

 

[NRF]

Yeah, I think it may be a stuck fermentation though. I got about 2 inches of krausen then it all dropped back in around day 5. Been quiet ever since. I do have it in a 6.5 gallon carboy so there is some room.

I just really like the three piece airlocks for some reason. The hose coming off the top into a bucket/jar of starsan just doesn't look good to me. Not going to matter for much longer anyway. I have a dual zone temperature controller coming in the mail to set up my spare refridgerator in the garage as a fermentation chamber.

Cleaning the fridge would still suck, no?

 

[1Q84]

I'm definitely using tubing for my next brews. After having a hefe absolutely cause a huge mess and a belgian strong ale constantly blow it's top off, I think it's time to try something new to make me not clean as much.

 

[glenn514]

Since Brew #2...back a few years ago...I, too, always, ALWAYS, A-L-W-A-Y-S use a blow-off tube. Mine goes into a 64 ounce V-8 bottle half-filled with water and a tad of bleach. Sure is fun to watch it bubble! I usually switch to a regular airlock after 3-4 days of fermentation.

However, there are always exceptions! I brewed up a Bourbon Barrel Porter last August, and it fermented viciously! When I went to add the bourbon and oak chips, it started fermenting all over again...and I had foam all over the place! So, the blow-off went back on!

Anyway, I'm a firm believer in the blow-off for the first 2-3 days of fermentation.

glenn514

 

[LiquidLunch5211]

I always use one its just easier then cleaning up a mess

 

[Trokair]

Cleaning the fridge would still suck, no?

Hopefully if that happens I can just unplug it and hose it out

 

[travis87]

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

 

[psymonkey]

I used to use water and never had any problems. It would be quite a journey for nasties to reach the carboy, especially with the amount of outward CO2. Now I just dump the starsan I use to sanitize my carboy into a waiting vessel, typically a 1/2 gallon carboy which I use for the blowoff. I don't know that it's necessary, but previously I was just dumping the san-solution down the drain...might as well repurpose it

 

[jonmohno]

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

I had an assumtion my idophor needed replaced when i had some funk develope a few times,so now i replace my idophor-airlock or i leave it low and put new in with my spray bottle every week.I dont exactly have an airtight seal all the time sometimes, with my widemouth jars so i have since bottled earlier or kept replacing the solution weekly.
I think clean water would be ok for a while but why not put some sanitizer in it-its a small amount and cheap enough.Maybe even some non-cholorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide if i was desperate. I just use what i would throw out or clean with and have extra i save in a jug just in case or i use for my next batch usually adding a little more to it. I think the risk is lower with less time ideally besides co2 is trapped inbetween anyway.

 

[travis87]

Good to know, I was just curious more than anything. It's not at all an inconvenience to use sanitizer, not to mention the piece of mind that comes with it. Just something that had crossed my mind as a first-time brewer.

Thanks guys!

 

[Pezman1]

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it's only a slight deviation (and I'm not sure where it truly should go)...

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

I just use plain old tap water. If you start to notice suck-back in your blow off tube due to temp change, cold crash, etc.., just lift the end of the tube out of the water and it will drain back to the blow off container.

I don't really think there is a wrong answer for this, just whatever is convenient and works for you.

Pez.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

I've done 9 or 10 batches now and all but one have required a blow off regardless of gravity. Is that normal?

 

[Nightstalker]

I started using blow-off tubes for primary and 3 piece airlocks for secondary and after the initial rush of fementation in the primary.

 

[Hauntedyards]

Is it really necessary to fill the blow off container with sanitizer or can you just use clean water?

I use Everclear in all my air locks.

 

[kh54s10]

I've done 9 or 10 batches now and all but one have required a blow off regardless of gravity. Is that normal?

I would say that it depends.. What size batch in what size of a vessel? If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy there is almost no extra space for the krausen.

I have a bucket that holds almost 7 gallons to the brim. I did an average brew and it blew a lot. I have 6 gallon better bottles and sometimes they never get close to blowing. I usually use Fermcap-s to control the krausen but have even gotten blow off with it.

Someone else:
Saying you don't need a blow off for low gravity beers is like playing Russian Roulette. Good luck.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

I would say that it depends.. What size batch in what size of a vessel? If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy there is almost no extra space for the krausen.

I have a bucket that holds almost 7 gallons to the brim. I did an average brew and it blew a lot. I have 6 gallon better bottles and sometimes they never get close to blowing. I usually use Fermcap-s to control the krausen but have even gotten blow off with it.

Someone else:
Saying you don't need a blow off for low gravity beers is like playing Russian Roulette. Good luck.

5g in a 6.5g better bottle. I guess it's the 1056? I usually make a starter and get a crazy churning fermentation. Not complaining, just fascinated that all my beers want to escape

 

[saxman1036]

I've got about 50 brews under my belt so far, and I've always been stubborn about using a blow-off hose, until this morning (see pic).

I checked my beer before bed - no bubbling yet - and woke up 7 hours later to find my carboy about ready to blow funk all over my ceiling. If I had brewed a day later and been working today, I'm pretty sure I would have returned home from work to find that my precious hobby had been banned from the house for a couple years and that my arms would be sore for a week from cleaning the basement.

Not only does this tell me that you never know if a blow-off hose is needed, but it also says that it can happen slowly or just over a matter of hours.

No airlock on primary - EVER AGAIN - for this guy.

 

[rob211]

My local air quality guys want me to sign up for cap and trade I'm generating so much CO2...is there a way to sequester all that carbon that's coming out of the fermenter?? Should I start an enclosed MJ grow?

 

[bobot]

OK, so I'm about 30 hrs. into the fermentation of a 1.07 OG IPA, and I pulled the plug on the airlock, and hooked up a blowoff tube.
Now, instead of going: "blu-bloop...blu-bloop", it's going: "bloop-bloop-bloop-bloop".