Blow off receptacle?

[chezhed]

I have been using wine bottles for years with the blow off hose going into a sterile solution. But occasionally the fermentation goes nuts and creates a big mess....blowing crap out of the bottle all over the inside of my fermentation chamber and running out the drain hole.....I got tired of cleaning this mess up, especially the ones where it doesn't drain and I open the chamber 2 weeks later to find a dried up wort mess

So I cut the necks off the bottles and tried that....didn't seem to be enough volume and I still got some messes, though not quite as bad.

I was recently in a Dollar Tree and found some vases, purely cylindrical and about 4 inches in diameter and about 8 inches high. Easy to clip the hose to the side and so far, no messes...

I was curious what containers are used by others for blow-off.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I was recently in a Dollar Tree and found some vases, purely cylindrical and about 4 inches in diameter and about 8 inches high. Easy to clip the hose to the side and so far, no messes...

Heck, this idea sounds great to me - I'm currently just using a bowl with the tubing stuck into some sanitiser...and hoping that it stays there.

I'll give it a shot next time - thanks for the idea!

 

[Snicklefritz]

2 liter bottle filled about 1/2 way

 

[Newsman]

I have a 3 quart apple juice jug about half-filled with sanitizer. I just stick the end of the blowoff tube in there and let it ride.

 

[jammin]

ferm cap

add a couple drops to your blow off container.. you can thank me later

 

[grainbill]

I use a 1/2 milk jug for 2 (5 gal) carboys, the blo-off tubes extend to about 3" off the bottom. Typically only my porters and especially stouts have eruptions....If I think I'm going to have excessive blo, I'll put the jug in one of those cheap aluminum baking pans to contain the crud...
Salute!

 

[kh54s10]

I use a one quart plastic ice cream container and put about an inch of sanitizer in the bottom. That goes into an old stew pot ~1.5 gallon? Sometimes the quart cup over flows but the pot catches it.

I also only use a cup or so of sanitizer. You don't need more than to keep the tube submerged and if you do get a suck back it is not a gallon or more of sanitizer that you hear about in the "is my beer ruined threads"!

 

[wardens355]

My LHBS in college gave out liquid extract in cheap plastic containers with screw on caps. Kept em and use them as blow off containers. I would imagine you could get an extra large bottle of pop (the 3 L variety), rinse, and fill with Star San solution.

 

[Singletrack]

Typically I use a 1 gallon glass jug. Last brew this wasn't big enough, and I had to leave for a few days, so I started looking around for something larger. Ended up using a 5 gal carboy. Next batch, fermcap.

 

[philipCT]

I've been using a 3 gallon bucket (yeah - a full on "pail" with a handle) that I had around with 6" of starsan in it. it has weathered some pretty fantastic blow-offs. it fits in my ferm chamber so I wasn't worried about it's size.

I'm bringing on line another ferm chamber that will have less footprint (even though it's bigger, it'll have a 1/2 bbl conical in it) so I bought a couple of cheap small plastic paint buckets at the depot (2 qts or so) that should work there. I was planning again to put about 6" of starsan in that.

 

[chezhed]

Fermcap is not something I have considered.....what's in it? I don't use anything "chemical" other than to clean. But that looks like a good idea because cleaning my fermentation chambers and spraying them down with sterilizer is a pain.
My chambers aren't big enough for much else, so I am limited to what can be used and these "vases" are about the limit.

 

[Spartan1979]

I use a 1 gallon jug. Occasionally it's not enough. I just empty it every day.

 

[jammin]

Fermcap is not something I have considered.....what's in it?.

the fermcap will prevent a giant foamy/krauseny mess from spilling out of your blow off vessel. you can get away with a much smaller blow off vessel with this technique.

it is quite common to add fermcap in the primary ferm vessel. this is the original intent of the product. it keeps krausen down (does not impact fermentation) and keep a blow off from happening all together.


some folks worry that fermcap will affect foam stability/head retention although this is just myth. if you're worried about that, putting a couple drops in the blow off vessel is a great alternative

 

[60acresbrewclub]

I use a 1gallon water bottle with a little bit of sanitizer to a decent amount of water. I could prob run the tube through the top but I made a hole off to the side and put an air lock on the top....bc I have ton of airlocks and figure might as well use it.

Also I do many small batches simultaniously. If I was going to go bigger id use a 5gqllon bucket I know it's more then I need but I've never had a mess to clean up and the time the bottle got nasty I just tossed it and got another.

 

[Facinerous]

I have poor water in my area so I buy 2.5 gal water jugs for a batch. I use them and save one. Once I am done with brewing I cut a small hole in the top and fill it with some of my left over sanitizer. Thats it for me.

 

[Riot]

I've always just used 1 litre pickle jars, never had a problem

 

[day_trippr]

Cheers!

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I use a rather nice growler that had an accident that chipped the glass on the rim.