silly newbie, don't do that!

[bulldog]

I'm brewing my second batch. Brewed it yesterday and put the primary in my bathroom. Well about midnight last night I went to use the bathroom and looked over and saw a bunch of foam coming out of the air lock. OK I thought this is just very active fermentation, I've read about this. So I went and got a hose, a container half full of water and a bucket to catch any over flow if it got really active. I did all the cleaning needed and got to it. Well the hose wouldn't fit tightly in the air lock hole. I'm just using bucket system. So I tried putting tape around the hose to increase it's OD. Well I never could get a good seal. So I said "screw it" I'll clean the air lock back up and put the darn thing in my bath tub. If it foams over it'll just go down the drain. Well this morning I woke to a hissing/whistling noise. I thought OK the air lock needs to be cleaned again, no big deal. So I stumbled into the bathroom, eyes still half closed. Opened the shower curtain, bent over and pulled the air lock out. WHOOSH!!! A fountain of foam and beer shot out the hole and NAILED me right in the face! Well I'm awake now! Felt just like a sorority girl, dumb, sinking of beer and my face was all sticky. Really enjoying the learning curve now. Thought you all could use a funny story. If there is a good thread on this problem just point me to it. Some one must make a tapered rubber bung that will hold a hose out there somewhere. Ideas and advise welcome.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

BREWKAKE!!!!!!


wow. i needed that laugh. i hope it didn't hit the ceiling. was this the Lefse Blonde?

 

[dorklord]

I don't know what you have for a carboy, or what you've got for hose, but
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/carboy-cap-3-5-and-6-gallon-carboys.html is an example of a carboy cap that allows a hose.

There are also a pretty wide variety of different stoppers/bungs that take different sizes of hoses. One thing i like about the orange/purple carboy caps is that they have openings for 2 different sizes of hose right on them. (This also means that you can, for example, put your airlock in the smaller hole and put a hose on the other, run it to your overflow bottle/bucket/whatever, and then when the activity has died down, you just yank the hose and put the cap back on).

 

[sprocketmaker]

Classic problem, that hissing sound means its building pressure... sorry ya had to take a load ot figure that one out!
You made a valiant effort to set up a blow off tube... but had problems getting the fit right... As you would suspect, this has had numerous discussions on homewbrewtalk... here's a link below, even with some nice pics of how to do it! Now clean yourself up and keep brewing!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Blowoff_tube

 

[ChrisHansen]

hahaha that's awesome!

 

[glenn514]

Bulldog...just take your stopper to a hardware store, go to the plumbing section, and start trying to get the various hoses to go into the hole. You'll find the right size in less than 15 seconds! Buy 5-6 feet of the stuff, and you are good to go!

glenn514

 

[r8rphan]

I constructed blow off tubes for my carboys out of inch and a half no hub couplings, inch and a quarter male PVC adapters, and 6' of 1" ID (inch and a quarter OD) clear vinyl tubing from the big box home store..

The 1" ID tubing (inch and a quarter OD) fits pretty snug inside the PVC adapter and allows me to slide the tube through it into the neck of the carboy (also a reasonably snug fit.. but can still slide it)... The no hub coupling secures the large end of the PVC adapter firmly to the top of the carboy...

I place 1" copper tees in the end of the tubes to help weigh them in the blow off bucket (I use a 5G home depot bucket for this)...

Works 'great'... After primary ferment is over and krausen has fallen, I take all that off and put in rubber stoppers with plastic airlocks...

with 5 gallon carboys, blow off tubes are a necessity.. 6.5 G (like mine) they are still a good idea, but usually not necessary...

always use 'sanitized' water in the blow off buckets... (ie star san)

 

[bulldog]

I thought you guys would like that. It's like watching somebody trip and fall. You might think, "ouch, that poor guy" but damn it's funny! I'm just using a plastic bucket for a fermentor and yes Hockeyhunter99 it was the lefse blond. My face stopped it from hitting the ceiling! ha ha ha

 

[r8rphan]

I rigged up adapters to use the same blow offs that I use for my carboys with plastic buckets.. I'll try to post some pics tonite when I get home...

 

[beergolf]

With a bucket. I fyou are using a 3 piece airlock a peice of 1/2" tubing (I think that is the size) goes right over the center part of the airlock.

 

[paraordnance]

I don't know what you have for a carboy, or what you've got for hose, but
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/carboy-cap-3-5-and-6-gallon-carboys.html is an example of a carboy cap that allows a hose.

There are also a pretty wide variety of different stoppers/bungs that take different sizes of hoses. One thing i like about the orange/purple carboy caps is that they have openings for 2 different sizes of hose right on them. (This also means that you can, for example, put your airlock in the smaller hole and put a hose on the other, run it to your overflow bottle/bucket/whatever, and then when the activity has died down, you just yank the hose and put the cap back on).

yes, these things are priceless. I ferment in carboys and love orange hoods for easy transfers, blow-offs etc.

 

[two_hearted]

BREWKAKE!!!!!!

Awesome! I laughed out loud at work when I read that. New term for me I guess.

 

[bulldog]

With a bucket. I fyou are using a 3 piece airlock a peice of 1/2" tubing (I think that is the size) goes right over the center part of the airlock.

Great minds must think alike. I just ran out with a second air lock and picked up some hose to fit the inner part and have it all set up so it is going to a proper catch system.

 

[SwampassJ]

Freshest tasting beer "ever".

 

[cheezydemon3]

How did you blow out a bucket????

Mine holds 5 gallons and like 2-3 gallons of krausen.

If you have that much krausen, your bathroom aint cold enough, but the bathtub full of ice might be a good start.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

it didn't come out the lid, it came out the airlock. think squirt gun spray! if you have never seen the result of an over pressured bucket, you haven't lived. has anyone ever tried mopping a ceiling?

 

[cheezydemon3]

I get it, but for it to come out of the airlock, it's surface would have had to reach the lid.

If you were making 6.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon bucket, OK, but the beauty of a bucket is plenty of headspace and still get 5 gallons. I NEVER use a blowoff anymore.


My money says that you are fermenting too warm, which can cause all sorts of bad stuff, way beyond an airlock blowout.


.....new quote for my sig....."I blew it out of the god damned airlock" Ripley ALIENS

 

[abweatherley]

you could always use Fermencap that will make the bubbles subside, I used it on my second batch

 

[cclloyd]

BREWKAKE! Awesome! I laughed out loud at work when I read that. New term for me I guess.

Same response I had. That is seriously funny.

 

[Rev2010]

Ha, I actually really did laugh out loud when I read that!! Thanks for sharing the story man


Rev.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

i have to thank Yooper for the term.

i laughed so hard when i first heard it.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Felt just like a sorority girl, dumb, sinking of beer and my face was all sticky.

I nearly spat coffee into my keyboard reading this! Funniest thing I've read all day! Regards, GF.

 

[DakotaRules]

Super funny!

 

[DakotaRules]

I use these bungs and 1" hose from the depot into a milk jug of starsan.