Crisis (Narrowly) Averted

[Mainer]

I have just escaped from a perfect storm of a brewing crisis.
I have taken my life in my hands in the following ways:
1. While I ferment most of my beers in the cellar, for those that require higher temperatures, I use the guest room closet; the same closet, significantly, where the Missus, a knitting addict, keeps her expensive yarn stash, because I am stupid, and besides, what's the worst that could happen?
2. When fermenting these beers, I use only an airlock, no blowoff tube, because I am stupid and besides, what's the worst that could happen?
3. My current sour required an addition of raspberries, and rather than remove the carboy to make my addition, I decided to add them IN THE CLOSET, right next to six skeins of snow-white merino wool, because I am stupid, and besides, what's the worst that could happen?
4. Having managed, by the grace of god, to spill raspberries everywhere EXCEPT on the wool, I realized I had underestimated the sheer volume in the carboy that three pounds of raspberries takes up, and my carboy is now full up INTO the neck. But I cleaned up my spills, and I decided to leave it with only an airlock, because I am stupid, and besides, what's the worst that could happen?

Anyway, long story short, I came in to check on the beer three hours later and the beer-and-berry-juice mixture with its remarkable staining potential was like half an inch from the top of the airlock, about to blow out. I quickly removed the airlock, liberated about half a pint of beer from the carboy with my beer thief, ran downstairs to grab some tubing, and hooked up an emergency blowoff tube. Because I am stupid, but also lucky, the Missus is working late, and will never have any idea this happened. And we'll just keep it between us.

Moral of the story, kiddos, maybe we should listen when the big kids tell us blowoffs happen.

 

[Carlscan26]

Go buy a lottery ticket. Right now!!

 

[Fedora]

If those berries hit the bottom of that stopper you're still gonna have a mess.

 

[mongoose33]

Ever give any thought to moving the wool out of harm's way?

Just sayin'.

 

[Aristotelian]

I love Stratego. Is that one of the classic versions?

 

[Mainer]

If those berries hit the bottom of that stopper you're still gonna have a mess.

Yeah, that's why I took a half-pint out. I'll.keep an eye on it.

 

[madscientist451]

I'm guessing the beer is done with primary? Next time, If you rack to secondary, you'll free up some carboy space for the raspberries, because you'll be getting rid of an inch or more of yeast and other crud in the bottom of the vessel. Also, why not just put it in the basement?
If a fermentation kicks off with the fruit, its better to go slow with it anyway.

 

[Mainer]

Ever give any thought to moving the wool out of harm's way?

Just sayin'.

It's her closet. I'm just allowed to use a couple square feet of it. I'd put it in my closet but the dog likes to sleep in there.

 

[Mainer]

I'm guessing the beer is done with primary? Next time, If you rack to secondary, you'll free up some carboy space for the raspberries, because you'll be getting rid of an inch or more of yeast and other crud in the bottom of the vessel. Also, why not just put it in the basement?
If a fermentation kicks off with the fruit, its better to go slow with it anyway.

There's lacto and brett in there. If the lacto is going to have a fighting chance, it's not going to be in the cellar. At least not until summer. It's still 55 down there.

 

[Singletrack]

"Skein." Learned a word today. That doesn't happen very often -- probably because I spend my free time reading HBT instead of books. Funny post. Thanks for both.

 

[Mainer]

I'm guessing the beer is done with primary? Next time, If you rack to secondary, you'll free up some carboy space for the raspberries, because you'll be getting rid of an inch or more of yeast and other crud in the bottom of the vessel. Also, why not just put it in the basement?
If a fermentation kicks off with the fruit, its better to go slow with it anyway.

Oh, and it's already in secondary. I racked it off a few months ago, but I'm getting more brett funk than lactose tartness, so I'm adding the berries for their acid.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

It's her closet. I'm just allowed to use a couple square feet of it. I'd put it in my closet but the dog likes to sleep in there.

Ever thought about putting a box over the carboy? That way if it blows, the box will shield it.

My "beer space" is the corner of our laundry room, which also happens to be where all of my clothes are (because when you're the only dude in a house full of females that all need their own closet, you take what you can get), and after ruining a handful of shirts TWICE, I've learned to take extra measures against blow-offs.

 

[dyqik]

Ever thought about putting a box over the carboy? That way if it blows, the box will shield it.

Better still, put the carboy in either an oil drain pan, or better still, a 7.9 gal fermenting bucket (the wider type, often sold for wine), with a box over the top.

That way if it blows, the liquid is contained completely. Also, the fermenting bucket handle provides a convenient way to move the carboy, and the box/bucket combo shields the carboy from drafts and changes in air temperature.