Out of control foam!!!!!

[gonzo_911]

I just started fermenting my first batch of brew and all seemed to be going well until day two of the primary fermentation. The foam has made its way up through the airlock and forced the cap off the airlock and began oozing down the sides of the carboy. What can I do to mend this problem or is it too late?

 

[Walker]

you're fine. take off the airlock, clean it, and put it back on. with all that foam and gas coming OUT, nothing is able to go IN, so things are still clean on the inside and the beer is ok.

-walker

 

[El Pistolero]

Sanitize some siphon hose, pour the sanitizer in a bucket, and run the hose from your bucket into the sanitizer bucket...the foam will go thru the tube into the sanitizer. Once the foaming subsides, clean the airlock and replace it.

 

[Lounge Lizard]

Out of control foam!!!!!

Congratulations! You are making beer...

 

[Beermaker]

Did it get on the ceiling? Thats when you know you made it!

 

[Mindflux]

If you dont ever want to deal with blowoff again you can add foam control to your beer once it hits the fermentor. Works great from what I hear.

Oddly enough out of 8 batches I've brewed I've never had to use a blowoff tube..

 

[OtherWhiteMeat]

I just used my first blow off the other day and i cant clean the frekan hose. That stuff is like glue in there. I soaked it in dish soap for a whole day and got nowhere. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[Walker]

Anyone have suggestions?

get a bigger fermenter?

-walker

 

[JOHN51277]

I just used my first blow off the other day and i cant clean the frekan hose. That stuff is like glue in there. I soaked it in dish soap for a whole day and got nowhere. Anyone have suggestions?

Go to your local hardware store and buy some more hose its dirt cheap!!
try a larger size too it works wonders.

 

[El Pistolero]

I just used my first blow off the other day and i cant clean the frekan hose. That stuff is like glue in there. I soaked it in dish soap for a whole day and got nowhere. Anyone have suggestions?

A soak in PBW ought to do it...also if you've got a jet bottle washer that would help.

 

[david_42]

Hose brush or

Blow a piece of string through the tube (at least twice as long as the tube)
Tie a small rag to the middle of string
Soak rag in cleaner
Pull through
Pull back

Repeat until clean.

 

[gonzo_911]

took the advice with the blowoff tube and the bucket of sanitizer...everything is good again with the Imperial Stout. Thanks for the help.

 

[ScottT]

I use a 1" diameter blow-off tube and just soak it in the bath-tub with some bleach added over night. The next morning it just rinses out but I still use a 48" brush to make sure I get it clean.

Look here: http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15979

 

[ScottT]

Oh and a bigger pirmary doesn't necessairly prevent blow-off. I use a 6.5 gallon carboy and fill it to 5.5 gallons. I still fix the blow-off to the carboy for the first 3 days every batch. I get blow-off from about 25% of them. The most recent a stout pushed through the blow-off tube for over a day.

 

[OtherWhiteMeat]

Thanks for the advice. Im using a plastic primary, what are they like 6-6.5 gal. I had to use my racking tube for a blow off, its all i could come up with at 11pm when it started to take over my airlock.

 

[Walker]

I'm going to consider myself lucky in that I've never had a single blow-out. I've had a couple come all the way to the tippy top of the carboy (6.5gal vessel with 5.5gal of juice in it), but they never made it into the airlock. 'Normal' for me is just a couple inched of foam.

I know one of these days it'll happen, though.

Oh.. and as for the size of the plastic fermenter; I don't know if there is a standard size. I have a bucket that I only use for bottling (it was part of a beginner's kit and meant to be used as the fermenter) and that one is 7.5 gallons.

-walker

 

[Thor]

I read posts like these and said to myself, "well, I haven't had any foam disasters yet, and I probably won't." Yes, I talk to myself, but that's another story.


And of course, as if on cue, I went into my home office this morning where I am temporarily keeping my primary, and THAR SHE BLOWS! Nothing catastrophic, but the airlock looked like a 2 year old's face after finishing a chocolate sundae. Heeding your collective advice, I sanitized a thin hose, the stopper, a short piece of hard plastic tube and a glass jar, filled the jar halfway with the sanitizer solution, and ran the tube into the jar.

It's bubbling nicely, and the mess is contained. Now, it makes those science lab bubbling sounds. I think I need to find a long white coat and one of those machines that shoots sparks. Booo hoo ha ha haaaa (text version of my evil laugh).

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

have you been drinking already? ;~)

 

[david_42]

It ain't a real blowoff, unless you have to mop the ceiling!

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

If you dont ever want to deal with blowoff again you can add foam control to your beer once it hits the fermentor.

When I read the title, I read it as Out of "Control Foam".

<-- Eats, chutes, and leaves

 

[Beermaker]

Amen David 42.....my point exactly!