Fermentation going crazy, whats up?

[telebrewer]

My newest batch is over flowing up through the bubbler.
Here is what I made:

10# LME

Grains: 1# Carapils
1# Crystal 60L

Hops: 1 oz. Warrior
1 oz. Chinook 60 minutes
1 oz. Chinook 30 minutes
1 oz. Cascade flame out

Irish moss: 1/2 teaspoon @ 13 minutes

Yeast: White labs WPL-001 California ale

OG 1.054
I added water a little over the 5 gallon mark so I wouldn't lose a couple
of beers because of the trub.

I think I put a little too much water in. I'll post a picture later. What should I do???? Let it keep overflowing the bubbler or pour some out???

 

[monty73741]

a kolsch i made did that i just let it blow over & it was fine

 

[JustDave]

You'll want to use a blow off tube.

 

[FishinDave07]

Holy be-Jesus! 10 lbs LME!!!!!

As i was first reading it i was thinking: "10 lb LME, must be a double batch..."

Well, there must be a BUTT-LOAD of fermentable sugars in there and if you made a starter you will have an "epic" fermentation.

How big is the fermentation vessel? What was you OG?

Connect the blow-off tube!

EDIT: Your OG has to be off because maybe you didn't completely mix the top off water. what was your boil volume? Just running through some calculations and your OG should be around 1.07~

 

[WortMonger]

Yep, you just have a very active fermentation. You will lose some of your beer through blow off, but that is about all you can do at this point. You really don't need the bubbler specifically. What I mean is you could go get some large tubing that fits in the neck of the carboy and run that into a bucket of water. This way it has plenty of freedom to come out of the carboy. By adding water to save beer in the beginning you are actually defeating the purpose if your fermenter is too small to contain it. Next time brew a little stronger beer than you want and add water later (see blending techniques and high gravity brewing) or get a larger fermenter that will keep all the beer inside of it. There are even some more options through the use of a wort recovery device called a Burton Union. Lots to check out, but if space is your issue then buy a bigger fermenter is what I say.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

You'll want to use a blow off tube.

+1000

If you dont have a blow off tube handy, you can also try cooling your fermentation a little if you arn't controlling temperature already. Another thing to look into is foam control drops ( I use Fermcap-S from Northern Brewer, look at result #5 here)

 

[Revvy]

Emergency airlock blowoff tube.....Bottling hose and airlock....it helps if you cut the little criss cross off the bottom of the airlock

Some people use a 1" hose that fits on the entire airlock...use what you got!

 

[telebrewer]

I thought the OG was off too. But I really mixed it up good. Could my hydrometer be off? I kept double checking and getting 1.054

 

[FishinDave07]

I thought the OG was off too. But I really mixed it up good. Could my hydrometer be off? I kept double checking and getting 1.054

Make sure that you adjust the hydro reading with the temp of the sample. You could also test the hydrometer in water at 60 F

 

[telebrewer]

Thats right, I forgot. I took the hydro reading at around 78 - 80F. If I got 1.054 at that temp, would it have been higher had I done it at 60F? Where can I find an adjustment scale for hydro reading at different temps? Thanks...

 

[Laurel]

http://leebrewery.com/beermath.htm It's about halfway down the page.

The variation is so little, that if you're anywhere near 60º, it's not going to make a huge difference.

 

[Rezilynt]

Thats right, I forgot. I took the hydro reading at around 78 - 80F. If I got 1.054 at that temp, would it have been higher had I done it at 60F? Where can I find an adjustment scale for hydro reading at different temps? Thanks...

"Joy of Home Brewing" Page 23

"For every 10 degrees F (5,6 C), your measurements will be off by .002 - .003. If at 80 degrees F your brew measures 1.038, you need to add .004-.006 points... this equals 1.043"

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Take the hose that you normally attach to your auto-siphon and attach it per the pic that Revvy posted above. Or just put a towel under it and clean it up later. It will be over soon.

 

[Loup]

I've been using 5 gallon carboys for the two batches I've made so far (got them for free and they're all I've got right now) and have had blow off problems with both. My second batch I made sure I used a blow off tube with a 1 pint jar about half full of sanitizer and the jar ended up overflowing because there was so much blow off.

I'm really glad I decided to store my fermenting beer in an unused shower in my basement.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've been using 5 gallon carboys for the two batches I've made so far (got them for free and they're all I've got right now) and have had blow off problems with both. My second batch I made sure I used a blow off tube with a 1 pint jar about half full of sanitizer and the jar ended up overflowing because there was so much blow off.

I'm really glad I decided to store my fermenting beer in an unused shower in my basement.

You really do need to ferment 5 gallons of beer in a 6.5 gallon carboy or a 6.5 gallon (or larger) bucket. You're going to get blowoff every time if you use 5 gallon carboys for primaries.

 

[Loup]

You really do need to ferment 5 gallons of beer in a 6.5 gallon carboy or a 6.5 gallon (or larger) bucket. You're going to get blowoff every time if you use 5 gallon carboys for primaries.

Sadly, I'm going to keep fermenting in 5 gallon batches in 5 gallon carboys for a while. I have this tendency to buy more than I need when I walk into my LHBS so I'm going to have to wait till I have the extra money to spend.

 

[WortMonger]

Well, get used to 4 gallon batches at most with the 5 gallon carboy. I hear you abut spending money in a HBS .

 

[zacster]

I used 10lbs of LME in my last batch, with the same amount of steeping grains. My reading was also low, but I know I took the reading off the top after it had settled and didn't get a good reading. You should be around 1.072-1.075.