My first clogged airlock (Pics Inside)

[BrookdaleBrew]

Fermcap-S. Blow-off tube becomes non-essential at that point.

+1 to this, I add it to all my batches about 24 hours in and haven't had a blow off since.

 

[Justibone]

+1 to this, I add it to all my batches about 24 hours in and haven't had a blow off since.

We add it during the boil.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I used it during the boil when I was working with a smaller kettle, but since I got the 15 gallon, there is no longer a need!

 

[Justibone]

Nice!

 

[Skarekrough]

Freakish!

I started fermenting an Imperial Stout this past Saturday. On Sunday the krausen was getting pretty big so I went and moved the carboy downstairs in my house where it's a little chillier. The thought was to slow down things a bit to avoid a blowout and to get it out of the way of little hands that like to grab the airlock.

I checked on it last night and it looks good; plenty of krausen, plenty of activity and no blow out!

 

[TomSD]

I think Tom meant a blow off tube.

Yes, thanks for fixing that. It was a long, long, weekend. Sadly work not brewing.

 

[LaurieGator]

Fermcap-S. Blow-off tube becomes non-essential at that point.

I just finished a Raspberry Porter that I added my Fermcap-S drops to (the primary) and it needed a blow off tube This was the first time it has happened, my other brews with Fermcap-S have been blow-off tube free!

 

[Hartski]

Why do i have the feeling my basement is going to have porter all over it when i get home one of these nights..........

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I just finished a Raspberry Porter that I added my Fermcap-S drops to (the primary) and it needed a blow off tube This was the first time it has happened, my other brews with Fermcap-S have been blow-off tube free!

Just out of curiosity, when do you add it? If you're adding to primary it's best to add it once a krausen has formed.

 

[Justibone]

I just finished a Raspberry Porter that I added my Fermcap-S drops to (the primary) and it needed a blow off tube This was the first time it has happened, my other brews with Fermcap-S have been blow-off tube free!

Wow, that's the first time I heard of Fermcap-S failing!

I guess I'll be careful when I do notoriously big-headed beers (like wheats).

 

[dfc]

Yes, thanks for fixing that. It was a long, long, weekend. Sadly work not brewing.

No worries.

 

[LaurieGator]

Just out of curiosity, when do you add it? If you're adding to primary it's best to add it once a krausen has formed.

I have always added it to primary a few hours after I add my yeast. Yes, this was the first time this ever happened after using it on numerous beers (porters and stouts included). The only difference was that this was one of the few times I used a dry yeast (Safale US-05). Normally I use a liquid yeast with an appropriate starter.

 

[brad26]

I just started using Nottingham yeast on my last 3 batches, and have had blowoff in my buckets with all of them. Luckily I caught them before it progressed too much and exploded my buckets. Nottingham is pretty volatile apparently.

 

[stjackson]

So the Fermcap-S doesn't do anything to affect the beer's head further down the line?

 

[Justibone]

So the Fermcap-S doesn't do anything to affect the beer's head further down the line?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/lets-talk-about-foam-control-drops-aka-fermcap-59261/index2.html

It's theorized that Fermcap-S can potentially *help* head retention by preventing protein loss to kreusen. I'm not certain if that's been borne out yet, but there you go. (Search Feature: 1, Ignorance: 0)

 

[tbaynes]

Thanks for taking the time all, great info! Haven't even bottled my 1st batch yet, wish me luck!