My carboy just volcanoed on me

[Chase22]

So I made an partial mash version of Ed's IPA on Friday. I installed the blowoff tube and went on my way. It's been bubbling away pretty good this whole time, but it started to slow down a bit today, so I decided to take a hydro reading.

Well, when I took off the bung, I saw that the hops had plugged up the entire top of the carboy, and only a small hole of co2 was escaping. There is about 4 oz. of hops in this recipe. Well, I tried to push the hops back down into the carboy, since it's an IPA after all, and 1 oz. was dry hopping. In retrospect, I see that was a mistake.

As soon as I started to push the hop glob down, I sealed the small opening that was letting the co2 escape. The hop glob immediately started to rise out of the opening. I yelled at my girlfriend to grab a cup, so I could save the hops. As soon as the hop glob came out, the garage wall, floor, and much of my person was sprayed with green, frothy krausen. It looked like someone had ralphed everywhere.

Anyway, I'm about to put the hops in the freezer and add them when things settle down, hopefully tomorrow. My question is this: has this ever happened to anyone here? I guess I need a wider blow-off tube; this one is just the siphon hose that came with my kit. Also, I used abbey ale yeast, which was pretty vigorous last time.

 

[Sparky]

It did not happen unless we see pictures!

 

[Hoppin_Mad]

This made me lol.

I am in Dallas too and I also had a similar experience this morning. My Caramel Cream Ale blew its airlock in my bedroom, spreading what looked disturbingly like poop all around my room.

Small world huh?

 

[Chase22]

Sorry no camera, plus I already cleaned it up. And wow, Hoppin, I guess my experience could have been a lot worse, lol.

 

[itsme6582]

I made a batch of Ed Wort's Apfelwein that turned out pretty similar. I didn't have the extra corn sugar when I filled the carboy full of juice. I added it the next day. That juice came out of the carboy like a rocket once sugar hit it. I named that batch, "Eruption."

 

[bryank]

bahhahhhahahaha... j/k... I'm assuming that you are saving the hops for your next boil? I definitely would not put them back for dry hopping

 

[BryanJ]

Well, when I took off the bung, I saw that the hops had plugged up the entire top of the carboy, and only a small hole of co2 was escaping. There is about 4 oz. of hops in this recipe. Well, I tried to push the hops back down into the carboy, since it's an IPA after all, and 1 oz. was dry hopping. In retrospect, I see that was a mistake.

You shouldn't dry hop while fermentation is going on. The majority of the aroma from the dry hops will be released with the co2. I'd bet this is also the reason for having the hops plug up your carboy. Purchase your dry hops again and dry hop properly after fermentation is complete.

 

[Chase22]

You shouldn't dry hop while fermentation is going on. The majority of the aroma from the dry hops will be released with the co2. I'd bet this is also the reason for having the hops plug up your carboy. Purchase your dry hops again and dry hop properly after fermentation is complete.

Oh, I didn't realize. I will chuck the hops and add some fresh in a few days.

 

[BryanJ]

Make sure your primary fermentation is done before you started dry hopping for all of your brews.

 

[joety]

I got nuthin' to add; I just want to say you tell a great story. I felt like I was there.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

I feel your pain. Well, I don't really feel anything, and it probably wasn't very painful, but I've had it happen and it sucks. Carboy volcanoes are a huge mess. Try to use a carboy with a little more headspace for primary. for 5gal batch use 6.5 gal or larger primary and 5 gal secondary. It'll save the headache.

 

[bovineblitz]

I don't ferment without Fermcap-S these days

 

[Chase22]

Yea, I think I'll pick up some fermcap when I buy my hops. I've heard great things about the stuff.

 

[AzimuthBrewery]

Oh man! That's really funny/sad! Also, blowoff tubes should be be larger than a normal siphon hose. Probably as large a you can get within reason,so it doesn't get all munged up.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

I had a similar problem once when I was brewing with my roommates in college. I used whole-leaf hops, and I didn't get all of them out as well as I could have when transferring to the carboy. One of them got stuck in the airlock, and overnight the thing blew its top. I woke up the next morning, got a blowoff tube sorted out, and started mopping the ceiling.

Lately I've been solving the problem by using buckets and loosely setting the top on instead of using an airlock. Not sure it's a coincidence, but so far the krausen hasn't even gone near the top of the bucket in any of the brews I tried this on.

 

[Stout-n-Braggot]

Yeah, larger blowoff tube is a must. I use a piece of one inch tubing, it fits tight into the neck of most carboys.

 

[astropunk]

This is the reason I keep my fermentors in the basement shower!

 

[joety]

It could have been worse. A co-worker had a fruited batch detonate on him in a stairwell in his apartment building. He was pulling shards of glass out of the oak door casing. The blast woke the entire family from a sound sleep.

 

[rycov]

haha. good story.

 

[malkore]

I sprayed mead on the bathroom ceiling once when I was a 17-year old newbie brewer without airlocks.

I just vented them by opening the caps (plastic Welch's jugs) 2x a day, and one day it blew the cap outta my hand.

 

[pfooti]

I get pretty annoying hop-rafts even with Fermcap-S. What I find is that whole hops keep floating well after pellet hops would drop to the bottom of the fermentor. They make a fairly solid raft that floats and traps any CO2 under them pushing way up into the airlock. I typically keep my long-stem thermometer sitting in the star san pitcher so I can periodically poke a hole in the hopraft.

Well, I used to do that. Lately, I just grab a big stainless fitting (I ordered a few extra 1/2" FPT couplers for this duty) and put it in a hop sack with the dryhop addition. Works great, and I get much cleaner beer in the long run (or so it seems- I just started doing this last month, so the "long" run is a couple months).

 

[wilserbrewer]

Just as Quint from the movie Jaws will never again put on a lifejacket, I'll never put a bung on an actively fermenting carboy again, five gallons went in, and two came exploding out. November 26, 1986, we made the bomb, frothy yeast and hop matter all over the walls and cieling.