philipCT
Brewniversity student
- Joined
- May 10, 2013
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SO I've brewed 10 batches of beer before this - all in glass carboys. Never had an issue. Until now.
This was a 10 gallon batch of a Red's RyePA AG recipe from my LHBS. Brewed it Memorial Day, split the batch into two 5 gallons carboys, pitched a full smack pack of 1056 into each, inserted airlocks and placed the carboys into my fermentation control chambers (converted top-loading mini-fridges).
When I came home from work Tuesday everything looked good - bubbling away like crazy. When I came home from work Wednesday, this is what I found.
When I lifted the carboy out of the mess, you could see the bottom was blown completely clean off. Guess the rubber stopper was in there pretty good and when that dink-crap little airlock got blocked up with krausen, she just blew herself out!
BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING: I add 10 drops of Fermcap into the fermenter before aeration to keep the foaming down during aeration and to limit blow-off during fermentation. But, it is obvious to me that some well aerated, well-pitched worts will blow-off anyway. This one was a fairly decent 1.068 OG.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Throw out your airlocks - rig a blow-off tube from minute one, or risk losing five gallons of deliciousness!
Sub-moral: It's a really good idea, if you're using glass carboys, to use a deep fermentation control chamber that is water-tight. I didn't know this little puppy was water tight before, but I know now because I didn't have to clean the floors and walls
Hope this helps someone!
This was a 10 gallon batch of a Red's RyePA AG recipe from my LHBS. Brewed it Memorial Day, split the batch into two 5 gallons carboys, pitched a full smack pack of 1056 into each, inserted airlocks and placed the carboys into my fermentation control chambers (converted top-loading mini-fridges).
When I came home from work Tuesday everything looked good - bubbling away like crazy. When I came home from work Wednesday, this is what I found.
When I lifted the carboy out of the mess, you could see the bottom was blown completely clean off. Guess the rubber stopper was in there pretty good and when that dink-crap little airlock got blocked up with krausen, she just blew herself out!
BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING: I add 10 drops of Fermcap into the fermenter before aeration to keep the foaming down during aeration and to limit blow-off during fermentation. But, it is obvious to me that some well aerated, well-pitched worts will blow-off anyway. This one was a fairly decent 1.068 OG.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Throw out your airlocks - rig a blow-off tube from minute one, or risk losing five gallons of deliciousness!
Sub-moral: It's a really good idea, if you're using glass carboys, to use a deep fermentation control chamber that is water-tight. I didn't know this little puppy was water tight before, but I know now because I didn't have to clean the floors and walls
Hope this helps someone!
