CO2 purging / krausen spill-over

[RenaudP]

Hi,

first time this happens so I'm looking for advice. I have a 10G batch of blonde ale fermenting with WLP 001 and it's going like crazy even if I kept my temp to 64f. So much so that for the first time, the krausen reached the gas post on the spunding valve of my Spike CF15.

As I'm harvesting CO2 from that gas post to purge 2 starsan filled kegs intended to receive the finished beer, the beige creamy krausen made its way in both purged kegs.

Question is, am I ok using those kegs for conditioning and serving as the krausen went in there and will stay there for 7-9 days still, at room temperature? Or am I better off opening them, cleaning them and purging them with my CO2 tank to avoid any risk?

I don't want to run the risk of getting 10G of beer on something that went bad so I'm leaning toward opening them and cleaning them.

Thanks

 

[day_trippr]

I would be inclined to give up the purging at this point, clean the affected keg(s) - and then purge them using the "Star San purge" technique where you totally fill the cleaned and lidded kegs to overflowing out the PRV with a standard Star San & water mix then push the sanitizer out of the Out port using your CO2 cylinder and regulator.

Unless you use a prodigious amount of CO2 you won't do anywhere near as good a job purging kegs using a bottle vs your fermentation gas technique - or the Star San purge...

Cheers!

 

[RenaudP]

I decided to stop the purging, open and wash them then hook them again. Didn’t want to jeopardize 10G for something quite effortless in the end.

Thanks

 

[mac_1103]

Next time use a krausen catcher. You can buy one from Norcal, but there are lots of ways to DIY it. I just drilled two 1/2" holes in the cap of a juice bottle, put grommets in the holes and pushed barbed fittings through the grommets. But you can get as carried away as you want - I'll probably put keg posts on the next one I make.

 

[day_trippr]

Yup, I made my own "catchers" using PET jugs, 1/2" barb inserts, and female PTC connectors.
Work great - you can see the one on the left doing its job

Cheers!