First yeast starter

[Glub]

So I brewed my first batch using a yeast starter yesterday. It was a Wyeast propagator pack in two quarts of water and 2 cups of dry malt extract for a fairly high grav stout (per Wyeast's instructions). Everything was looking great until I got up this morning and the airlock had been pushed out of my fermenting bucket. Thats odd I thought, sanitized it and replaced it.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I got home from work to find the lid blown off and beer on the ceiling

So my question is this, is this how it should be and shame on me for not using a blow off tube. Or is this extreme and next time I it would be better to cut my starter down a little?

Thanks all

 

[Zen_Brew]

Generally speaking the heavier a beer you make (more fermentables in the wort) the more aggressive your fermentation will be. I usually put a blowoff on for the first couple days until I see how aggressive the fermentation is going to be.

 

[marubozo]

Exploding fermenters are never fun to clean up after... but not uncommon if you're just using an airlock and brewing bigger beers. Those airlocks can get clogged quite easily and there's no stopping the CO2 output from the yeast so it's only a matter of time.

Like Zen said, typically the higher the gravity of the beer, the more vigorous the fermentation which finds its way into your airlock and clogs it.

Don't worry about the fact that you made a starter. Since it did take off and start fermentation right away that's a GOOD thing, so instead, just prepare next time with a blowoff.