Creating a blow-off bucket

[GeoGirl]

After my first fermentation turned the airlock into a mini rocket, I am thinking on my next I should probably do a blow-off. The trouble is the curious cat in the house. If I do not have a cover on the blow-off bucket, there is going to be problems.

I have some plastic peanut containers that have screw-on lids that I could drill holes into to stick the hose, but I don't know if they are big enough. They are big enough to hold 2 pounds of shelled peanuts.

My questions are - Would this work or should the blow-off bucket be larger? and would I need to drill 2 holes in the lid (one for the tube and 1 for air release)

 

[BendBrewer]

I use a CC container and have 3 indoor cats. I have never seen them go anywhere near it.

I guess you could put a lid on it with 2 holes. The air just has to be able to escape.

 

[Golddiggie]

I use a 2 gallon bucket for my blow-off assembly... It's the kind you can get from the LHBS that has a grommet in the lid for an airlock (if you decide to ferment in it)... You could put the tube through the hole, and just not seal the bucket if you wanted to. Or cover it with a towel... Or ferment in a room/closet where the cat won't be allowed to go, while the blow-off tube is in use.

 

[rudu81]

I would go to Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and get a 2 gal container with lid and make some holes. Might be an inexpensive option.

 

[Golddiggie]

As long as the bucket is also the right grade of plastic you could do that. The ones I have also do double duty as small mead batch primaries. I have 2 of the 2 gallon buckets... I have one marked at 4, 5, and 6 quarts, so that I can also measure the water for mash/sparge volumes.

Of course, getting some fermcap-s would be a cheaper method than the blow-off bucket, in many cases. I wouldn't NOT have a blow-off setup ready, just saying that many times you'll be able to avoid needing it with using fermcap...

 

[ayoungrad]

I used a blow-off once - on my current batch. I filled my 6.5 gallon bucket with 6 gallons of wheat - I knew there could be trouble.

I just used a flower vase I had sitting around. You can use anything as long as it holds water. As for cats, I'm not sure. I ferment in a frig so I just had everything in there. Just use anything you can find that your cats cant get into. And/or spray it with pepper spray.

 

[Hoosier-Brewer]

How about using a growler?

 

[Golddiggie]

As long as you can get the other end of the tube into it, and keep it under the sanitizer solution, it doesn't really matter too much. I like the 2 gallon bucket due to how much it can take into it. I can put 2-3 quarts of sanitizer in it, and it will still take a full gallon of blow-off before I start to have an issue. Thankfully, I've never had THAT much of a blow off. At most, I think I've had a quart go into it from a single batch.

 

[just2brew]

I'll use a 2L flask if I'm not making a starter at the time or a glass jar.

 

[Seven]

I use a growler, a 1000-ml flask, a plastic bucket, empty jars... pretty much whatever is available at the moment. It doesn't need to be big at all.

If you have curious pets then maybe get a larger paint bucket and lid and drill a hole for the hose then add a couple of gallons of water to give it some weight. This way it won't tip over too easily.

 

[GeoGirl]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Not sure why I didn't think of the growler. I have a few of those under the sink and they would fit perfectly into the corner where the fermenter sits. Little girl would not even be able to get to it there.

 

[zachary80]

Even better... just use a 1 gallon water jug

 

[pwndabear]

ditch the cats. homebrewing is more important