Primary Bucket Looks Like Its Going to Explode

[DaPearl9]

Yesterday my roommate and I brewed up our dunkelweizen with everything going pretty much to plan. Our apartment was a little on the warm side but we've been lowering the temperature through air conditioning (down to 74 degrees now and hopefully dropping) and everything seemed fine with bubbles appearing in the airlock before I went to bed.

I wake this morning and now the primary bucket is swelling on the top, beer/wort has leaked down the sides onto the floor, and the airlock is now full of beer and foam, spraying stuff out through the holes even.

How bad is this situation? Is there anything we can or should do?

 

[llazy_llama]

Blow off tube.

Also, search feature.

 

[Blender]

You should break the gap on the lid to release the pressure or it may just blow off into the air.If you can rig up a blow off tube arrangement that would keep the pressure in check.

 

[WortMonger]

Here's something from the wiki for you. Blow off!

 

[dontman]

If you do nothing it will take care of itself. But you might not like the results.

If I were you I would pull off the top and just rest it on the bucket.

 

[eschatz]

I'd be careful when pulling off that lid. Drape a towel over hte edge because krausen could come blowing out if there's too much pressure. Either way you need to relieve that pressure!

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Go get your ceiling mop. Whats a ceiling mop you might ask? Well, wait any longer, and you'll get find out. Oh, you should take pictures if you have to find out what a ceiling mop is. It would be epic.

Seriously though, get a trash bag or a plastic bag of some sort, put it over the airlock and remove the airlock. You WILL get a geyser, so you will want that plastic bag covering the hole after you remove the airlock to catch all the krausen that will erupt like Mt. Vesuvius.

I once brewed up 5.5gal of Russian Imperial Stout and put it in a 6.5gal fermenter. That was the first and last time I will do that.

 

[DaPearl9]

Disaster averted. I was able to let off the pressure and rig up a make-shift blow off tube using the advice from this thread! Thanks everyone.

For the record too I am quite familiar with ceiling mops but that's another story.

 

[Dr. Francois]

For the record too I am quite familiar with ceiling mops but that's another story.

Do tell!

I love a good accidental mess story, so long as it doesn't involve a girl + tub or girl+girl+cup.

 

[WortMonger]

Do tell!

I love a good accidental mess story, so long as it doesn't involve a girl + tub or girl+girl+cup.

AMEN brudder! That is some sick stuff.:cross:

 

[DaPearl9]

Do tell!

I love a good accidental mess story, so long as it doesn't involve a girl + tub or girl+girl+cup.

It was nothing too bad but I was helping someone set up casks for a festival. For those who don't know the process you lay the casks on their sides, ready to pour and tap a pin that will be facing upwards first. Sometimes the built in pressure explodes, sometimes quite violently. In this case it exploded in a geyser covering a 6x6 foot area on the ceiling above it and a nearby huge HD TV).

So we cleaned it up and went on to putting in the serving taps. We put that tap in and it did the same exact thing, exploding all over the ceiling and TV once more. It was a pretty damn high ceiling too, and made me realize just how awkward it is to hold and use a mop upside down.

 

[jcarson83]

I don't get it. How do you build up pressure with an airlock properly installed?

 

[WortMonger]

I don't understand that either, the airlock should be squirting constantly unless it is packed up, then I understand.