Beer lose during fermentation

[Morecowbell1]

Less than 24 hours ago I started fermenting an American Cream Ale in my 5.5 gallon glass carboy. Since my batch is 5 gallons, I'm using a blow-off tube. Already I have lost at least .5 gallons of beer in the form of foam that has run through the tube and into an old milk bottle that I have partially filled with a Star san solution.
How can I prevent so much beer lose? Should I be using a larger carboy with and air-lock instead?

Thanks!

 

[kh54s10]

Are you measuring the amount of foam in the bottle or the level of wort in the carboy. .5 gallons of foam may contain less than a cup of beer.

I have never lost that much wort even in my most violent blow offs.

Bigger fermenter. Controlled (cooler) fermentation temperature. Fermcap-S or other anti foaming agent will all control the amount lost.

Just foam? Don't fret it too much, you are not losing a lot.

Added: I just noticed the 5.5 gallon carboy. You should be using a 6 gallon Better Bottle or 6.5 gallon glass carboy for primary fermentation of a 5 gallon batch. Use the 5 gallon one if you do a secondary. You don't need to do a secondary, but that is another thread.

 

[okiedog]

Yes to larger carboy! You definitely need more head space. If you fill a 5.5 gallon carboy with 5 gallons of wort, that only gives you 10% headspace. I always use a 6 or 6.5 gal fermenter for primary. Some ale yeasts require up to 30% headspace. You could probably get away with 4.5 gallons in your 5.5 gallon carboy, but not much more, unless it's a lager.

 

[helibrewer]

It is very easy to solve this with a small union (Burton Union). The union captures yeast (which you can harvest) and returns the liquid to the fermenter.

Head space is no longer an issue.

The airlock is used on the union vice the carboy. Here's an article about how to make one: Burton Union DIY

 

[LandoLincoln]

.5 gallons of beer is about 5 bottles worth of beer. That sounds pretty dubious.

It's "loss" by the way, not "lose."

 

[jethro55]

Less than 24 hours ago I started fermenting an American Cream Ale in my 5.5 gallon glass carboy. Since my batch is 5 gallons, I'm using a blow-off tube. Already I have lost at least .5 gallons of beer in the form of foam that has run through the tube and into an old milk bottle that I have partially filled with a Star san solution.
How can I prevent so much beer lose? Should I be using a larger carboy with and air-lock instead?

Thanks!

I would recommend the 6.5 gallon carboy - it lets me make allowances for the blow-off losses, plus a couple of other losses. I try to brew so that I can get 6+ gallons of wort into the fermenter. For me, there are trub losses after fermentation that approach 1 gallon, and since I use secondary vessel; I can make sure to fill the 5.5 gallon carboy up near the neck with almost clear beer.

It is kind of silly that a lot of recipes don't account for that.

The blow-off tube is a very good thing during the initial vigorous days of fermentation. If you had an airlock on that one - it would have blown sky high. You can always change to air-lock after the "storm" is over.

 

[wardens355]

FermCap works well. I ferment ales at 5.5 gallons in a 6 gallon Better Bottle and have very little blow off when using FermCap. For lagers, I recently filled to about 5.75 gallons in a 6 gallon Better Bottle and also have very little blow off. Cheaper than buying a new fermenter and also helps prevent blow off in starters and boilovers in kettle.