Changing primary fermenting buckets in first 48 hours?

[cawf]

Hi all

I'm in a little bit of a pickle. Yesterday was brew day and the first time I did 5 gallons (as opposed to 2.5). I thought my fermentation bucket was 5.5 gallons but its actually literally exactly 5.05, so when I poured the wort and pitched the yeast, the level was almost flush with the top. Since it was like 2am and I had done all this work, I just said "f&&#ck it" and let it ride.

Now its been 12 hours and fermentation is happening nicely, but some actual liquid is escaping through the top around the fermentation lock (CO2 is also nicely bubbling through the lock as well).

I was thinking of running out and getting a 5.5 or 6 gallon so there's more airspace above the wort and so more of it doesn't literally leak out as a result of fermentation. Is there any downside to just pouring it from one to another? Should I just leave this batch and if I do, will it get too contaminated or will I lose too much beer if I do? Thanks for any guidance!

 

[kh54s10]

If you do transfer to a larger vessel, DO NOT pour it. That would oxidize the partially fermented beer. If it has slowed the spurting of krausen any, I would let it ride. If you do transfer, siphon it carefully. Do not let it splash or introduce air into the beer.

 

[cawf]

If you do transfer to a larger vessel, DO NOT pour it. That would oxidize the partially fermented beer. If it has slowed the spurting of krausen any, I would let it ride. If you do transfer, siphon it carefully. Do not let it splash or introduce air into the beer.

Thanks kh54s10. Given those caveats, is it better to just let this one go and just see what happens? I dont mind if I lose a few bottles of beer out of it, but I don't want the whole thing to go bad either, so if the annoying work of siphoning actively fermenting (we're talking big CO2 burps) beer is necessary to save the whole batch, I'll do that.... Thank you again.

 

[IslandLizard]

What @kh54s10 says. ^^
Do not pour or introduce air (O2) into the beer at this point!

Most (regular) brew buckets are 6.5 gallons, so a 5.5 gallon batch leaves a gallon of headspace, plenty for most fermentations. That (5.5 gallon) batch size allows .5 gallon of yeast and trub to stay behind when packaging.

Are you doing anything to control your fermentation temps?

 

[kh54s10]

How active is it? What you have sitting on the lid is less than 1/4 bottle. If there is not a lot of krausen coming out of the blow off tube, I would let it go. If it is really spewing, I would try to transfer.

 

[cawf]

What @kh54s10 says. ^^
Do not pour or introduce air (O2) into the beer at this point!

Most (regular) brew buckets are 6.5 gallons, so a 5.5 gallon batch leaves a gallon of headspace, plenty for most fermentations. That (5.5 gallon) batch size allows .5 gallon of yeast and trub to stay behind when packaging.

Are you doing anything to control your fermentation temps?

Yep, like my tags on this post - this was a total newb mistake. This is my 8th beer, each one better, but they were all 2.5 and I never really considered this problem. Totally my bad for being unprepared; but thats what I wanted to know, if I should just suck it up and get what beer comes out of this or if the whole thing is now ruined.

Controlling temps, no - this is an amateur setup and its in a very stable basement room with very stable temperature. Is there something you want to suggest? All advice is helpful!

 

[JohnSand]

A ferm fridge and controller are great. But if your basement is a good temp (mid sixties) nature is great. I ferment in the basement all winter, varying yeast to match the temps.

 

[cawf]

How active is it? What you have sitting on the lid is less than 1/4 bottle. If there is not a lot of krausen coming out of the blow off tube, I would let it go. If it is really spewing, I would try to transfer.

Not spewing... but keeps dribbling little foam. I would say in total (I keep cleaning it) I've lost 1/4-1/2 a bottle.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yep, like my tags on this post - this was a total newb mistake. This is my 8th beer, each one better, but they were all 2.5 and I never really considered this problem. Totally my bad for being unprepared; but thats what I wanted to know, if I should just suck it up and get what beer comes out of this or if the whole thing is now ruined.

Controlling temps, no - this is an amateur setup and its in a very stable basement room with very stable temperature. Is there something you want to suggest? All advice is helpful!

Much worse mistakes have been made, and yielded excellent beer!

Just keep mopping and make sure nothing leaks back into the bucket. Keep things sanitary.
Maybe place a pan or plastic sheet with towel underneath to prevent your wooden floor from being damaged.

Make sure that airlock doesn't have that star-shaped restrictor on the bottom. If that blow off rig plugs up you'll have a mess you won't even imagine! Boom...!

What yeast did you use?
What was the OG of the wort?
What is the beer you brewed?

Most of us are amateurs here, but we do like to control ferm temps, mostly to control flavor and limit or prevent byproducts from forming. A cool basement works fine, what is the ambient temp in there?

Fermentation is a process that creates heat, so inside your bucket it may be few degrees higher. Higher temps create more vigorous fermentations, etc. etc.

Even placing the bucket into a small tub or cooler with cool water will help restrain some of that activity.

 

[cawf]

Much worse mistakes have been made, and yielded excellent beer!

Just keep mopping and make sure nothing leaks back into the bucket. Keep things sanitary.
Maybe place a pan or plastic sheet with towel underneath to prevent your wooden floor from being damaged.

Make sure that airlock doesn't have that star-shaped restrictor on the bottom. If that blow off rig plugs up you'll have a mess you won't even imagine! Boom...!

What yeast did you use?
What was the OG of the wort?
What is the beer you brewed?

Most of us are amateurs here, but we do like to control ferm temps, mostly to control flavor and limit or prevent byproducts from forming. A cool basement works fine, what is the ambient temp in there?

Fermentation is a process that creates heat, so inside your bucket it may be few degrees higher. Higher temps create more vigorous fermentations, etc. etc.

Even placing the bucket into a small tub or cooler with cool water will help restrain some of that activity.

Cheers, thank you! I don't have a restrictor, thank god, so that'll work. will keep mopping and cleaning and suck this up to a lesson well learned (and just buy a 5.5 gallon lol). I don't mind cleaning and mopping, just do not want to let this thing sit for 2 weeks and only then learn that it all went bad or whatever.

I used a Wyeast Belgian Abbey (OG 1.060) , brewing a dubbel! So excited.

 

[IslandLizard]

Cheers, thank you! I don't have a restrictor, thank god, so that'll work. will keep mopping and cleaning and suck this up to a lesson well learned (and just buy a 5.5 gallon lol). I don't mind cleaning and mopping, just do not want to let this thing sit for 2 weeks and only then learn that it all went bad or whatever.

I used a Wyeast Belgian Abbey (OG 1.060) , brewing a dubbel! So excited.

No wonder she took off like a rocket! Little warmer temps right now (70-72F), inside, won't harm her or the beer, but shouldn't be much higher until she has slowed down.

Look for 6.5 gallon standard brew buckets, 5.5 is still too small for 5 gallon batches!

Check that airlock (and hose) from time to time while she's blowing off, making sure that she doesn't get plugged up somewhere. Clean and re-sanitize if needed.
She'll be mostly done by tomorrow, if not sooner.

 

[cawf]

No wonder she took off like a rocket! Little warmer temps right now (70-72F), inside, won't harm her or the beer, but shouldn't be much higher until she has slowed down.

Look for 6.5 gallon standard brew buckets, 5.5 is still too small for 5 gallon batches!

Check that airlock (and hose) from time to time while she's blowing off, making sure that she doesn't get plugged up somewhere. Clean and re-sanitize if needed.
She'll be mostly done by tomorrow, if not sooner.

Airlock/hose is definitely not clogged, it really is taking off though! Whats best way to sanitize and clean during this process? If I remove the airlock from the bucket to temporarily clean & sanitize, there will be nothing preventing any air entry into the bucket for a few minutes... Is that OK? Can I just leave it open for a few minutes or lay a towel over it? I know beer has been made for thousands of years so I assume its pretty tolerant of such mistakes, but don't want to screw up my precious dubbel

 

[JohnSand]

If it is in a relatively clean space, you can remove the airlock. If you are worried, invert a sanitized cup over the hole. My basement is old and contaminated, if I open the lid there, my beer sours. To dry hop I bring it upstairs, wipe down the lid with sanitizer, and open.

 

[RM-MN]

Airlock/hose is definitely not clogged, it really is taking off though! Whats best way to sanitize and clean during this process? If I remove the airlock from the bucket to temporarily clean & sanitize, there will be nothing preventing any air entry into the bucket for a few minutes... Is that OK? Can I just leave it open for a few minutes or lay a towel over it? I know beer has been made for thousands of years so I assume its pretty tolerant of such mistakes, but don't want to screw up my precious dubbel

Your beer will be fine with the airlock off. The beer will have so much excess CO2 dissolved in it that there will be a continuous flow of CO2 out the airlock hole preventing oxygen from getting in.

Thinking of your other brews, did you bottle them? Did you have a sealed lid on both buckets? Unless agitated the beer does not quickly absorb oxygen so just having it exposed to air for a few minutes will do little harm.

 

[Yooper]

If the beer is only started fermentation, I'd simply move it to a larger bucket. You won't oxidize it if it's over, say, 1.030 or so.

 

[cawf]

Thanks all. I just left it and kept emptying the runoff.. I must have lost a good liter or so, after all said and done, which is sad but an excellent lesson about being prepared.

Now its a very low (but vigorous) stream, seems like the majority of the initial fermentation is done, so I'll just leave it unless people think it'll be an issue in the next 14 days?

 

[shoengine]

My opinion is that letting the blow-off drain back into the bucket would have been a greater risk than reintroducing oxygen to a partially fermented batch (infection vs. staling). When I've had blow-off egress I just made sure to get a new, sanitized airlock on the vessel. It sounds like you have it under control though. Fortunately, blow-off is a self solving problem!