Prevent foam over/blow out

[195877]

Looking for as much information as possible in regard to preventing foam over and or blow out (blow the bung out), adding fruit to my secondary in 1 gal jug's.

I am making my 1st Mead's, my containers are only- 3gal carboy and 1gal glass jug's (have already exhausted my funds for this project so, am unable to purchase any type of buckets or wide mouth's) I am brewing in my carpeted clothes closet so an accident would be devastating on many levels.

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated in regard to preventing a foam over or blow-out catastrophe (through out the entire process).

cheers, TK

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure if this will work logistically, but I would use the larger carboy as your secondary and since there will be sugar in the fruit - and so continued production of CO2 I would not be overly concerned about leaving enough headroom to prevent any blowover... Use one or more of the smaller carboys to hold any "extra" liquor and when you remove the fruit (and that may be a small issue if you are using a carboy as your secondary) then add back to the 3 gallon vessel the extra liquor...

 

[FrodeM]

You can try to ferment at around the coldest temperature range for the yeast; then the process will be a bit slower but should not foam too much. This has benefits when it comes to taste and aging time as well.

I have most experience with the D-47, which in itself often tend to be a slow fermenter.

If blow-out is unavoidable, just replace the airlock with a blow-out tube and call it a day. You can make one of a long tube, and a water-filled plastic container at the end working as airlock. Remember to sanitize everything before use!

 

[195877]

Thanks for the suggestions, I feel much more confident that I will not decorate my closet and clothes with Mead.
This site is awesome!
Cheers

 

[fuelish]

My experience with mead is that there's little foam or blowoff created...luck perhaps??? If concerned and limited with resources, you could put the fermentor in a bathtub or big plastic storage container ot even just put it in a couple of kitchen trashcan bas to contain any overflow....but then again, I don't do 1 gallon batches, so perhaps this a concern...I primary in 6.5 gal buckets, secondary in 5, 3, or 1 gallon glass (or some combination of these)....have never had a mead blowoff like beer