Big beers, blowoff tubes, ale pales, oh my...

[Javaslinger]

Ok, I've justy made my first 5 gal batch of a big beer. 1.085 Double IPA. As I'm shooting for a bottled volume of 5 gal, I stuffed about 6 gallons into the fermenter, hooked up a blow off tube, and prayed...

We'll as you might expect, quite a lot of yeast, hop residue, etc is making it's way through the tube into my blowoff jar. I've had to empty it twice already and I've rinsed the tube with StarSan to clean it out.

A few questions...

Am I never really going to get 5 gallon bottled when making a big beer in a 6.5 gallon ale pale? Safely anyway...

Am I losing enough yeast out of the tube that it might impact my final attenuation?

Is the tube going to clog/dry up and make a hell of a mess while I"m a work today?

Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks!

 

[Upthewazzu]

You're fine.

 

[daspooper]

i've not done any big beers yet, but i want to build a burton union for when i do. byo did an article on it a while back; the point of the device is for the blowoff to go to a second vessel where the liquid is allowed to flow back to the fermentor while the gas escapes through an airlock. this should help with retaining as much liquid as possible, so you can get as close to 5 gallons bottled as possible.

i'm not sure why, but burton unions don't get a lot of attention; i guess its another project, and blow off tubes work well enough for most people.

link to byo's article: https://byo.com/stout/item/351-build-a-burton-union-system-projects

 

[Javaslinger]

i've not done any big beers yet, but i want to build a burton union for when i do. byo did an article on it a while back; the point of the device is for the blowoff to go to a second vessel where the liquid is allowed to flow back to the fermentor while the gas escapes through an airlock. this should help with retaining as much liquid as possible, so you can get as close to 5 gallons bottled as possible.

i'm not sure why, but burton unions don't get a lot of attention; i guess its another project, and blow off tubes work well enough for most people.

link to byo's article: https://byo.com/stout/item/351-build-a-burton-union-system-projects

Burton union seems like a great idea. Though I guess if this all works out without one, I can see why it would be necessary. I'm curious to see what kind of mess I go home too....

 

[user 246304]

i've not done any big beers yet, but i want to build a burton union for when i do. byo did an article on it a while back; the point of the device is for the blowoff to go to a second vessel where the liquid is allowed to flow back to the fermentor while the gas escapes through an airlock. this should help with retaining as much liquid as possible, so you can get as close to 5 gallons bottled as possible.

i'm not sure why, but burton unions don't get a lot of attention; i guess its another project, and blow off tubes work well enough for most people.

link to byo's article: https://byo.com/stout/item/351-build-a-burton-union-system-projects

Pretty cool. I'm musing on building a Yorkshire Square, and love seeing these (now) arcane practices put to home use.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Get yourself some fermcap S and add 3 drops/gallon before pitching your yeast. Should tame the yeast eruption and keep more active yeast cells in contact with your wort.

 

[timcook]

I made the same "mistake" before. Recently, when I made a 14% barleywine, I aimed to end with 7 gallons of wort. I transferred 5 gallons into a 6 gallon better bottle & the rest into a 2 gallon gallon bucket. Obviously pitched yeast into both. After 72 hours, when it was time to remove the blowout tube, I combined both together. It appears that going into the secondary will be just over 5 gallons.

 

[kh54s10]

A few questions...

Am I never really going to get 5 gallon bottled when making a big beer in a 6.5 gallon ale pale? Safely anyway...

Am I losing enough yeast out of the tube that it might impact my final attenuation?

Is the tube going to clog/dry up and make a hell of a mess while I"m a work today?

Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks!

I use 6 gallon Better bottles for 5 gallon batches. I get some blow off. I haven't noticed that any particular style of beer blows off more than others. Some blow some don't, even when similar recipes and the same yeast is used. I almost always get my full 5 gallons.

There will be plenty of yeast. It you lose enough they will reproduce until the is enough to ferment the beer.

It is possible that the tube could clog. I have never had it happen. I use 1/2 inch ID tubing.

Better way: Bigger bucket for less/no blow off. Bigger tubing if you see any clogging.
Fermcap S for foam control. Though I stopped using it years ago.

 

[Javaslinger]

Fermcap S for foam control. Though I stopped using it years ago.

Any particular reason or just didn't feel it was necessary with good practices?

 

[kh54s10]

Any particular reason or just didn't feel it was necessary with good practices?

Found that I don't care about a little blow off. Or even a lot of blow off. Plus I think it is silicone. The FDA recommends that you filter it all out. It is said it will all sink to the bottom. It is also said it is the same as baby de-gas medicine. I don't know. But I decided it was unnecessary for all the above.

 

[Calder]

1) FermcapS; a couple of drops per gallon works wonders. It keeps activity down, but does not always prevent blow-offs. I use it all the time and rarely lose any beer. It seems to have little effect on some Belgian yeasts.

2) Make volume up to 5.5 gallons initially, and add any simple sugars in the recipe as the fermentation is slowing down in an additional 0.5 gallons of water.

3) Run wort thru a paint straining bag when going into the fermenter to minimize trub and maximize beer volume.

4) Plan to get 4 gallons into the bottle, and use a smaller volume, until you can get yourself a 7+ gallon fermenter.