Late open fermenting a quad

[hopetobrewgr8]

I've had a quad in the car boy since last Monday, and it is still fermenting. I planned to you open fermentation with a piece of foil wrapped around the opening, but there was too much blow off to do that. Now that the krausen has subsided a bit, would anyone know if it would still be okay to move to open fermentation in order to vent some of the banana aromas out of the beer? I used Wyeast 3787, and wasn't expecting the banana, but the blowoff jug smells like banana runts and rubber.

Any advice?

 

[scottballz]

What temp are you fermenting at? The higher the temp, the more esters your going to get. especially from a trappist style yeast.

 

[Arrheinous]

To get the most out of open fermentation it also comes down the shape of the fermenter: you need a wider, shallower profile more like a pan. Just taking off the airlock won't be enough, especially if you'll cover the opening with foil anyway.

Aromas can be scrubbed by bubbling through CO2 if you keg. Less chance of infection that way if you just want to vent excess esters and not promote the formation of esters you see in some open fermentation beers.

 

[hopetobrewgr8]

I've been fermenting from about 68-73 room temperature. I didn't expect the banana aromas, but I don't think that works with a quad according to BJCP standards.

As for the wider vessel for open fermentation, how would I go about doing that next time? Does someone sell a wide open fermenter that isnt part of something like a 10 BBL system?

 

[andrewmaixner]

As for the wider vessel for open fermentation, how would I go about doing that next time? Does someone sell a wide open fermenter that isnt part of something like a 10 BBL system?

I'd start looking for a food-grade HDPE water trough, or some kind of large container like that. maybe a storage tote?
Also, there are stainless steel basins for water gardens, but they seem to start in a several-hundred dollar price range.

 

[pdxal]

Aside from what has been mentioned before, open fermentation at this point really won't do much for you. It is most useful for beer in the initial stage of fermentation. Many brewers transfer to closed fermentation as soon as things start to slow down a little.
Smells from fermentation at this point may have nothing to do with what the finished beer tastes and smells like.
Be sure to warm up the 3787 very late in fermentation to be sure it finishes and doesn't cause bottle bombs. The last few points are very slow to ferment and can overcarbonate if they happen after bottling.