Need advice! Carboy overflow!

[tconnation]

Just finished my first brew last night, but it into my plastic carboy and topped with the airlock @ about 7:30pm. I woke up @ about 6am this morning hearing a loud 'thump'. The pressure in the carboy blew off the airlock and a lot of foam was overflowing. I quickly sanitized my overflow tub and put it on. It's letting out a lot of CO2 and foam.

I'm at work right now and left the overflow tub in. I'll be heading home for lunch to check on it. Any suggestions???

Is it normal for it to pressurize this quickly? Is there too much liquid and not enough room for foam?

Need help!

Thanks ~

 

[HeadyKilowatt]

Sounds like you pitched a healthy yeast colony and have a good, fast fermentation going on. Nice! This is a good thing, and totally normal.

How big is the batch and what's the size of your carboy? A five gallon carboy often won't provide enough headspace for a five gallon batch, depending on OG.

 

[tconnation]

5 gallon brew

Box said 6 gallon carboy but I'm not sold. It fills nearly all of the cyndrical portion of the carboy. Should I siphon some beer out?

 

[Enoch52]

I just had the same thing last night with my second batch. Same size equipment (and I measured it out--five gallons for me rises somewhat above the last ring around the carboy, but it'll hold six gallons). I used a yeast starter and the Nottingham ale yeast is apparently renowned for quick fermentation. Same thing--I pitched the yeast around 9:30pm, and by 6am fermentation had started. By the time I got home the airlock had blown off. I also sanitized a length of tubing and stuck it in a container of water.

Given the fact that almost immediately the blowoff reservior looked like it was boiling, I suspect the CO2 being let off was plenty strong enough to keep out contaminants. Lots of stories on this site talk about blowoffs that resulted in a successful beer.

Do NOT siphon any of the beer off. Not only are you losing beer you don't need to, you're exposing it to contamination unnecessarily. I posted my experience on Facebook, and one of my brewer friends said "Congrats! The first airlock rocket is both scary AND a right of passage."

 

[tconnation]

Thanks guys. Just checked up on it and it looks like it settled down a bit. No more foam coming through the blowoff. Think its safe to put the airlock back on? There's also a bunch of solid crud stuck to the top of the carboy, this normal?

 

[static]

All is normal. Leave it alone. Drink a frosty beverage and realize your beer will be fine.

 

[Enoch52]

A blowoff tube is really just a really big airlock. I'd leave it be. The stuff on the lip is just krausen--it's stuff that would be (and was) inside of the carboy anyway. I might clean it off for appearance's sake, but it's not going to hurt anything.

 

[kh54s10]

5 gallon brew

Box said 6 gallon carboy but I'm not sold. It fills nearly all of the cyndrical portion of the carboy. Should I siphon some beer out?

No, that is about where it should be. After this brew is done mark the carboy by pouring 1 gallon in at a time and marking - I used a Sharpie.

As to the the airlock popping out. Check to make sure it is open to gas flow. I had one that came with extra plastic on the end that goes into the stopper. I just clipped it of to open the passage.

I suggest that you start every batch with a blow off tube attached. It may not be necessary every time but it beats cleaning krausen off the ceiling. I never had that experience since I do use a blow off tube every time.

 

[Enoch52]

Speaking of that--is there any advantage to an airlock over a blowoff tube?

 

[Kate00]

Speaking of that--is there any advantage to an airlock over a blowoff tube?

Airlocks are smaller and take up less space. It conveniently sits on top of the fermenter, instead of a tube going to a separate container. less likely for an accident, like the tube falling out of the water it is bubbling through or something like that, but clogs easily if the krausen gets in it.

Blowoff advantages are that they dont clog and give the krausen a place to go.

They're both the same thing though, they're both essentially airlocks. I now start every batch with a blowoff tube and leave it on. I'll switch to an airlock if I am going to transfer to secondary to age or dry hop. If i have multiple batches fermenting or aging, and space is an issue, I'll throw an airlock on after fermentation settles down, just to reduce the chance of knocking the tube off.