Brew day before leaving on vacation....yes or no?

[fotomatt1]

So the only day I've had free to brew in quite a while is tomorrow, and I leave on vacation on Sunday. Just curious what everybody's thoughts are on leaving for 10 days eight at the beginning of fermentation? Is this a horrible idea? Should I just wait another two weeks? Any input is appreciated.

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

so long as you have good temp controls, id go for it, what's the worst that happens?

 

[Sammy86]

so long as you have good temp controls, id go for it, what's the worst that happens?

+1 to this. If you have a fermentation chamber or even the place you ferment is constant you should be fine!

I did this two summers ago...brewed two days before leaving, pitched the next morning...left for vacation for 7 days came back all was well!

Cheers!

 

[howamidriving]

I brewed a day or two before I went on vacation last year, aside from not being able to know what was going on with it, it was fine. I mean, I usually let my beers sit for at least two weeks anyway, so what's the difference?

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

upon further review...I would rig a blowoff tube instead of an airlock, just in case, but other than that, let it ride

 

[fotomatt1]

upon further review...I would rig a blowoff tube instead of an airlock, just in case, but other than that, let it ride

I use an old wine fridge as a fermentation chamber and don't have any room inside for a bucket of any consequence to rig a blowoff to. This is my worry.

 

[fotomatt1]

so long as you have good temp controls, id go for it, what's the worst that happens?

Also, I use a ranco temp control with a thermowell that I keep in a 1L bottle of water, so it keeps the temp pretty accurately. I'm just worried that if fermentation gets insanely active, I could have a flood that would spill out of our basement store room into our newly finished basement. Wife would not be happy. I've never had a mess during fermentation, but I suppose you never know, right?

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

put a bunch of towels down and hope for the best?

 

[itsnotrequired]

I use an old wine fridge as a fermentation chamber and don't have any room inside for a bucket of any consequence to rig a blowoff to. This is my worry.

do you normally get blowouts with your airlocks? if not (and brewing a 'normal' beer), no worries. i certainly wouldn't experiment with a barleywine or some other high gravity style for the first time while away from home, unless you have a blow off tube. or if you have only brewed a couple times.

i've personally brewed several beers while on vacation but know my system and feel comfortable in how it performs.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

Not even room to blow off into a mason jar?

 

[triethylborane]

Ive deployed while leaving brew in ferm and aging, not to get R&R for 6 months. Just set it up with blow off and no worries. Get something that will fit in the corners of the fridge, one of those tall bottled water containers, Voss? I think its called, might fit in the corner plus it has a wide opening. Or something similar.

 

[IkeKrizzule]

If you're really worried about a blowoff just make a smaller batch

 

[Gravity]

So the only day I've had free to brew in quite a while is tomorrow, and I leave on vacation on Sunday. Just curious what everybody's thoughts are on leaving for 10 days eight at the beginning of fermentation? Is this a horrible idea? Should I just wait another two weeks? Any input is appreciated.

I do this all the time

The only thing I would be cautious of is blowoff, as this happened to me once. I got home with a mess on my hands. Now I insert a blowoff tube if I suspect a heavy fermentation. I guess I can also do a smaller batch, but...nah.....

Go for it

 

[JunkCatsOnThePorch]

What do your beers usually do during this time?

I wouldn't worry, set the whole thing in the tub if its really that big of a beer or an unfamiliar yeast strain.

 

[KarmaCitra]

I wouldn't worry about it. And as most suggested here, I would try my best to get a blow off tube included.

 

[65C]

I don't get how anyone can brew without a blowoff in first week

Even with a blow off I had an issue last week where a couple of hops that made it through the syphon blocked the tube enough to build up some crud in there and the whole thing popped in the fridge - fortunately I caught it just after it happened but it was still a mess

Most brews I do are not ready for an airlock until at least 4 days in the fridge

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, the Spousal Unit and I typically disappear for two weeks twice a year, and I always have something in the pipeline, whether brewed the day before departure or earlier. I always start with 1" ID blow-offs regardless, so that's what gets left when we go. A couple of times I launched 110 point stouts on DDay-1 with no issues.

I can observe and control my fridges and keezer from anywhere with Internet - and if something were to go haywire I have a son within a half hour that can intervene. But that's never happened, everything just keeps chugging along...

Cheers!

 

[Morrey]

I brewed Sunday (yesterday) and will be out of town for the next 6 days. I have my fermenter cooled with a glycol chiller but I have confidence and familiarity with my gear. Worse thing that can happen is a breaker trips and my beer gets hot and probably dumped, but I am gambling that wont happen.

Well....I guess worse than fearing something will go wrong would be I don't have any beer brewing...so that's my logic to move forward.

 

[Kee]

When I was doing 3 week hitches offshore, I always left something fermenting. Take the usual precautions.

 

[kh54s10]

Can you fit a tall catch vessel in the chamber next to the fermenter. I would suggest a blow off tube, but would risk it if that can't happen. Or a fermenter with large headspace. I use 6 gallon Better Bottles with just over 5 gallons in them. I would estimate 50% give some blow off. You could try Fermcap if you have it or can get some. A 6.5 gallon carboy might not blow, or a 6.5-7+ gallon bucket.

Whatever, I would go for it!

 

[beernutz]

Yeah man, brewing before a trip is the best as you come back to almost ready to keg beer--YMMV.

I ferment 10 gallon batches in a 15 gallon Speidel so blowoffs aren't an issue allowing worry free vacations. Do it!

 

[johnwpowell]

Hell yea. Brewed ON the same day I left for India and Germany.

 

[Shade]

Same same - I frequently travel for work for a couple of weeks at a time, this is when I am most likely to be brewing or bottling. Especiallllllly bottling as it takes away the worst part, which is waiting.

But getting 2 weeks of fermentation out of the way is great too (and my lovely assistant brewer/wife adjusts my temperature controller for me).

I use a blow off tube anyway as my fridge isn't tall enough to fit an airlock on top, and I use a 30L fermenter and make 23L batches at most, so plenty of headspace, the idea of a fermentation going so crazy it makes a mess is pretty foreign to me.

+1 on just do it.