lot's of foam, no blowoff

[kbidness]

I'm brewing a generic "NW style IPA" (a recipe kit from a local brew shop). It is now 36 hours since the wort was placed in the carboy sealed with a blow off valve. Right now the beer is swirling (active fermentation I assume) and there is a nice 2-3 inches of foam on top (the very top layer being dark brown sludgy stuff) and blowing frequent inner bubbles on the end of the blow off tube stuck in the water.

I'm just wondering, is it normal that I haven't seen in actual blow off yet after 36 hours? If a brew is going to produce enough foam to be blown off, how long until it begins blowing off?

Last question, I swear (sorry this is my first ever batch): Should i just put the regular airlock on at this point?

 

[Runyanka]

Not all beers require a blowoff its more of a precautionary thing. I would wait until its done activley fermenting (5 days give or take) then replace with airlock. Everything is normal and your beer will turn out fine

 

[BendBrewer]

Assuming you have a 5 gallon batch in a 6+ gallon bucket, an average brew won't 'blow out'. That is the result of a big beer, lots of fermentable sugars, or using a fermenter that is too small for the volume being fermented.

 

[RM-MN]

It could end up needing a blow off. Ask the yeast as they are the only ones that know how hard they will work. I'd leave the blowoff tube in there for a couple more days at least.

 

[Golddiggie]

In my experience, if you need a blow-off tube it's because you have more than just gas coming out of the primary. Such as having a bit too much wort for the carboy size (like I did on Sunday )... The blow-off assembly is to prevent painting the walls and ceiling in wort... Once the excessive activity has reduced, and the krausen has fallen (reduced) you should be safe to install a standard airlock.

As for how long to let it go before you remove the tube and install an airlock... You'll need to decide by how active it is and such. If you're still getting foam through the tube, leave it in. If you go 12-24 hours without anything (foam/liquid) going through the tube, you should be safe to install the airlock.

I usually pull the blow-off tube after about 2-3 days from when fermentation went visible. Of course, that all depends on how much is going through the tube. If nothing is going at day 2, then I install the airlock. If it's rocking the carboy, then I let it stay on the tube until it's done farting up a storm (reminds me of the beans scene in Blazing Saddles :rockin: )...

Since this is your first brew, I suggest reading up on Revvy's statements about long primaries... Since you're brewing an IPA, the longer primary (no secondary) would be a good choice (in my opinion)... I've noticed significant improvement in my brews since adopting that method. Just means you'll want to get more primary fermenters so you can start another batch while the one going is still, well, going. I would also suggest planning on brewing again two weeks after you started the first batch. Getting onto a [roughly] two week cycle means you'll establish a decent pipeline that will keep you in home brew. There's plenty of posts about that too.

 

[kbidness]

Awesome. Thanks guys. Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm using a 5 gallon carboy for roughly 5 gallons of beer, so i sort of expected SOME blowoff. Also, this might be a stupid question but can you stick a blow off tube too far into the carboy? I just realized mine's poked down about 2 inches from the beginning of the mouth of the carboy.

Again, I'm new to this, so I'm probably sweatin' the small stuff too much.

 

[Golddiggie]

Does yours look anything like this??

That is gas moving up the side of the carboy, to the foam... Fermentation went visible after about 8-10 hours from when the yeast was pitched in... There was more wort in there, but it's in the bucket now... Not violently active fermentation, just enough to appreciate the tube being there... I knew I would need it when I over-filled the carboy... I also put the gaffers tape on the bung to ensure it didn't go flying. :rockin:

 

[idigg]

that is one overloaded carboy right there lol

 

[Golddiggie]

that is one overloaded carboy right there lol

I couldn't stop myself from transferring almost all of the wort from the boil pot to the carboy... I probably should have stopped just after the 5 gallon line, but I didn't... With the yeast starter pitched in (most of it drained off, didn't even get all the yeast slurry in) it was right up to the base of the neck (vertical point)... So a few inches went into the bucket... But, I'll probably be bottling a full 5 gallons of home brew (at long last)... Normally I get 4-4.5 gallons into bottles.

I just hope it comes out like I think it should... It's my first brew with honey malt... What a fine honey she shall be too...

 

[jab106]

Timely thread. I just brewed a batch of big beer and filled my carboy similarly full to golddiggie. The resulting foam blow off has reduced the level in my 6gal carboy from the initial 5.5gal to about 4.5gal. (I too have resorted to taping the top down, as well as taping the hose to the top from past spattering experiences)

Knowing the foam is a combo of sugars and water, I assume that if I top off with a little water before bottling I'll just dilute the beer? (which I don't want to do.) I guess I will just bottle less than I planned.

For future reference---If I don't fill the carboy so full, can I assume that gravity will keep more of the foam within the carboy and hence I will experience less lost wort? Maybe I could split the 5-6gal primary into two carboys?

 

[paul7]

buy a 6.5 gallon plastic fermenter, theyre cheap, and have plenty of headspace for foam. the only drawback is that you cant watch it ferment like with a carboy.

 

[Golddiggie]

I don't think I've ever lost a full gallon of volume from a carboy... Even when I put just over 5 gallons into the 6 gallon carboy, and had it take off like a madman...

I installed the airlock after about a week with the blow-off tube, since it had calmed way down. I also moved it out of the cooler closet into the kitchen, so that it would stay more in the range I wanted it at. The closet actually got warmed up while the brew was very active in there.

I'm still seeing airlock activity, granted it's much slower... Planning on letting this go at least one more week before taking a hydrometer sample from it. Will have to see what the SG readings are, as well as the taste, in the 3-4 week range. If the taste is good, then I'll be bottling it up soon. If it seems like it needs more time, then I'll let it ride some more. Basically, I'll be checking on it next weekend to see where it's at...

With the OG of 1.072, I'm hoping it comes in a little under the 1.020 FG estimate... Mashed around 152-154 for most of the mash period... Was at 150 at the end of the mash...

 

[stratslinger]

Assuming you have a 5 gallon batch in a 6+ gallon bucket, an average brew won't 'blow out'. That is the result of a big beer, lots of fermentable sugars, or using a fermenter that is too small for the volume being fermented.

I don't know that this is necessarily true. I just brewed the AHS Pecan Porter kit - my OG was 1.052, not what I'd consider a big beer. I transferred about 5.25 gallons into a 6 gallon better bottle, and within a day, day and a half, my blow-off tube was full of foam. Hell, the starsan-solution-filled growler that the blow-off tube ran into was literally overflowing with foam at the peak of fermentation.

Granted, .75 gallons of headspace isn't a ton of room, but I don't think it was THAT undersized. I suspect the yeast (S-04, in my case) and how vigorously it takes off plays just as large a role as headspace or high gravity...