fermentation blow-off

[grubs43]

Hello everyone,my last three brews have had intense blow-offs.Im actually losing a minimum of half gallon.ALways use a yeast starter and fermentation is rapid.typically use a fermentation lock but a couple weeks ago i found it on the other side of the room so using a hose submerged in water now. is my option to get a bigger carboy to maintain my 5 gallon batch? my o.g was at 1.067,somewhat following a guys citra who had 1.047 for his o.g. im no water expert but i used to use spring water and avoided my well,i have installed a new softener and now use my well water. ideas, thoughts ?

 

[eadavis80]

What temp are you fermenting at? What size is the fermenter?

 

[m00ps]

im guessing your fermentor is 6 or 5 gallons? 6 gal is just barley big enough (sometimes) for a 5 gal batch IME. You should have +1gal headspace and still there certain variables that can contribute to more krausen

also, fermcap may help

 

[grubs43]

70 degrees

 

[grubs43]

im using 6 gallon carboy@ 70 degrees

 

[brewerdoc]

Hello everyone,my last three brews have had intense blow-offs.Im actually losing a minimum of half gallon.ALways use a yeast starter and fermentation is rapid.typically use a fermentation lock but a couple weeks ago i found it on the other side of the room so using a hose submerged in water now. is my option to get a bigger carboy to maintain my 5 gallon batch? my o.g was at 1.067,somewhat following a guys citra who had 1.047 for his o.g. im no water expert but i used to use spring water and avoided my well,i have installed a new softener and now use my well water. ideas, thoughts ?

Give yourself about 20% head space which is about 1 gallon in a 6 gallon carboy . Also, decreasing the temperature at which you ferment will solve this problem as well. Drop the temperature to 65 or slightly lower and you will probably see a difference. Remember that just because the temperature probe is reading 70 degrees the internal temperature of the fermentation is most likely several degrees high, especially during vigorous fermentation. Hope this helps.

 

[kh54s10]

I use 6 gallon Better Bottles with 5 gallon batches. I actually collect about 5.25 gallons to ferment. I look up the ideal range for the yeast and ferment just under the mid point for the yeast. So that is usually around 64 to 68 degrees. I get some blow off but never more than a quart. Also a 6 gallon Better Bottle actually holds about 6.5 gallons all the way up the neck.

Try fermenting a little cooler.

I start every fermentation with a blow off tube installed - just in case.

I have also read that using softened water is not the best for brewing due to the salts used in the softener. YMMV.

 

[grubs43]

thanks guys ill reduce temp by 5 degrees and see what happens,and ultimately purchase a bigger carboy.happy brewing!!!