Emergency transfer, help!

[Cathedral]

I brewed up a recipe on Saturday that, for various reasons, I way overshot my final volume... I ended up with about 6 1/4 gallons and I had no choice but to put it in my 6 1/2 gallon fermenting bucket. This thing was full almost to the brim. I had no choice but to pitch my yeast and close it up. LHBS was closed already, and they were closed the next day (Sunday.) I knew that the airlock was going to clog and the top would pop, but I just had to let it happen.

After 24 hours, the airlock was chugging away with some ferocity, but it was still clear.

This morning, after 36 hours, it was solid full of krausen and the lid had cracked and was spewing krausen out the side.It smelled delicious. HOWEVER, the lid was not all the way off, just cracked enough to let the pressure out.

Anyways, it's been in a swamp cooler, and I put another cooler upside-down over it so that when it did pop, "stuff" wouldn't float down into it.

My question is this now: should I run to LHBS after work and buy a new carboy so I can plug in a blow-off tube, or should I just let it sit?

By the time I get home it will have been at 49 hours since pitching. Do I run too much risk transferring this late? The activity was so ferocious I don't anticipate it stopping soon.

 

[CajunJay]

Depending on your OG you're probably close to being through the worst part of it. On the other hand it is never a bad idea to have a few various sized carboys/containers on hand. If it were me, I would sanitize a gallon jug and fill it 2/3 or 3/4 to give the large fermenter room to finish without the mess. Use a plastic water jug if you have to.

I just went through 2 days of a clogged airlock, crazy thing is I had a bigger container. I guess the yeast got happier than I thought they would.

 

[Cathedral]

OG was 1.062, est FG is 1.009; however it is full of 8lbs of cherries that were only pasteurized at the end of the boil so the sugars in that are still going to leach out and effect the amount of fermentables.

The damn cherries are why I missed my volume. Post boil was actually right on target at 5.5 g but I neglected to think about how much space 8lbs of cherries take up.

OTOH, it's sort of a belgian, so maybe a little open fermentation will make it true to style

 

[Cathedral]

Anyone else have a suggestion?

 

[patthebrewer]

Sorry just getting a mental image here:smack::rockin:....Look out its gonna blow!



Yup had that happen before. I say Sanitise another carboy, and an auto siphon, and rack most as much as needed into the sanitised carboy. You'll still get the yeast insupension, and attach a blow off. Although, as a previous poster mentioned, you might already be through the worst of it. Have you checked gravity??

 

[dinnerstick]

I had no choice but to put it in my 6 1/2 gallon fermenting bucket...I knew that the airlock was going to clog and the top would pop, but I just had to let it happen.

you had a choice- you could have not filled it to the top!!

i don't really get what you want to do with the new carboy. transfer some of the fermenting beer? use it to collect blowoff through a tube??

Do I run too much risk transferring this late?

what do you mean exactly? risk of what? i'm just not sure what you're looking for!

 

[Cathedral]

you had a choice- you could have not filled it to the top!!

i don't really get what you want to do with the new carboy. transfer some of the fermenting beer? use it to collect blowoff through a tube??



what do you mean exactly? risk of what? i'm just not sure what you're looking for!

I would buy a 7 gallon carboy and transfer the brew and use a blow off tube since I can't attach a blow off tube to my bucket.

And I don't want to risk infecting the beer or oxidizing it or having some other weird thing happen if I transfer it mid-fermentation.

 

[rhinoceroceros]

I would buy a 7 gallon carboy and transfer the brew and use a blow off tube since I can't attach a blow off tube to my bucket.

Why can't you attach a blow off tube? If your airlock fits into the bung, an appropriately sized tube should fit as well

 

[helibrewer]

I would buy a 7 gallon carboy and transfer the brew and use a blow off tube since I can't attach a blow off tube to my bucket.

And I don't want to risk infecting the beer or oxidizing it or having some other weird thing happen if I transfer it mid-fermentation.

A 3/8" tube should fit over the inner stem of the 3 piece airlock (remove the airlock lid and floating "hat"). Run the other end of the tubing into any container that can hold water/sanitizer (bucket/pail/large jar/etc.)

 

[stpug]

First and foremost, blowoff setups are good and easy and can be rigged up very simply. An additional carboy is not needed. A hose that goes from your fermenter into a container of water/starsan.

With that said, I feel like you're on the verge of being done with the heaviest part of fermentation and moving the beer into any other vessel will just complicate matters (and expose your beer to vulnerabilities). I would recommend waiting it out. If you still have foam coming through your fermenter then set up a blowoff (some hose into an 1/3 filled container of starsan), clean up your airlock and rubber stopper, and when the blowoff subsides then reattach your airlock/stopper.

 

[Cathedral]

Why can't you attach a blow off tube? If your airlock fits into the bung, an appropriately sized tube should fit as well

The lid doens't accept a bung; there is a hole and grommet and the airlock fits directly into the lid.

A 3/8" tube should fit over the inner stem of the 3 piece airlock (remove the airlock lid and floating "hat"). Run the other end of the tubing into any container that can hold water/sanitizer (bucket/pail/large jar/etc.)

That seems like a good idea, don't know why I didn't think of that

First and foremost, blowoff setups are good and easy and can be rigged up very simply. An additional carboy is not needed. A hose that goes from your fermenter into a container of water/starsan.

With that said, I feel like you're on the verge of being done with the heaviest part of fermentation and moving the beer into any other vessel will just complicate matters (and expose your beer to vulnerabilities). I would recommend waiting it out. If you still have foam coming through your fermenter then set up a blowoff (some hose into an 1/3 filled container of starsan), clean up your airlock and rubber stopper, and when the blowoff subsides then reattach your airlock/stopper.

I'm going to try putting the 3/8" hose on the airlock; if for some reason that clogs I'll just use a hole saw and put a hole in big enough to hold a bung and some 1" tube for a blow off. Then when it's done I can put in an undrilled bung and use the regular air lock.

Thanks for the suggestions and help everyone. I really appreciate it.

 

[rhinoceroceros]

If the airlock fits in the lid a hose the same size should fit as well

 

[Cathedral]

Well I hooked up a hose. The 3/8" that I had was too small to put over the airlock tube, and it was too big to fit in the hole. I had to get some 1-1/4" tube and jam it in the main piece of the the 3-piece airlock. it was a tight fit but I put some electrical tape over it just in case. The other end is in an erlenmeyer filled with starsan solution and damn, this thing is still chugging away.

Definitely had not hit peak fermentation yet. Safale US05 is some wicked stuff.