I was trying to avoid a blowout. More details below.

[gladdybrewer87]

So i did a 5 gallon batch of an IPA, i put all 5 gallons in my carboy, looked the next day and it almost was a blowout already. So i took and sanitized a 2 gallon vessel and a sanitized siphon and transferred about a gallon over to the 2 gallon bucket to allow for adequate headspace to avoid a blow out. I put an airlock on the 2 gallon vessel and let it go. Both the large and small vessels fermentated very well and it is time to dry hop. Would i be okay to put the 1 gallon back into the 5 gallon carboy and dry hop. Or should i just dry hop the main batch and keep the small batch separated and bottled separately? I do always purge headspace with CO2 to get oxygen out as well.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Oxidation will be your main concern obviously, if you still have some active fermentation you can transfer it back in and hope the yeast will continue to scavenge the o2... however for next time I'd recommend leaving the airlock off for the first few days of active fermentation and install a blow off tube on your carboy instead. This avoids blowing the stopper out of your carboy and keeps all your beer in one vessel limiting o2 exposure.

 

[Snuffy]

After reading the title, I was relieved to find this thread was about beer.

Good luck with the IPA. You may find the smaller batch is slightly different than the larger one. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[gladdybrewer87]

Oxidation will be your main concern obviously, if you still have some active fermentation you can transfer it back in and hope the yeast will continue to scavenge the o2... however for next time I'd recommend leaving the airlock off for the first few days of active fermentation and install a blow off tube on your carboy instead. This avoids blowing the stopper out of your carboy and keeps all your beer in one vessel limiting o2 exposure.

So essentially something like this? I never used one because i was doing 2.5 gallon batches and putting it in 5 gallon carboys or buckets, so headspace was never an issue. Now that i have a 10.5 Anvil foundry, i am now making 5 gallon batches so headspace is becoming an issue.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Yeah basically, you can use a hose that fits on the stopper if using a glass carboy. But that's the basic idea. Also when your budget allows, now that you are making 5 gallon batches, look into 6 or 6.5 gallon carboys. Plastic ones like the fermonster are nice, and can add a spigot for easy transfers and other options.

 

[NoCornOrRice]

After reading the title, I was relieved to find this thread was about beer.

Yep... blowouts aka brownouts mean something very specific to parentfolk. Lol.

 

[firerat]

I've gotten to where I use blowoff now for everything as I ferment in kegs.

I haven't used a proper airlock in years.