Thar she blows!

[Seven]

Well I just had a bit of excitement when I went to check on the beer that I brewed yesterday. The top of the fermentor was covered in foam (kreusen?) that came through the airlock!

I quickly sanitized a piece of plastic tubing and the top of the fermenting bucket, then I removed the airlock and inserted the plastic tubing to act as an emergency blow off. Foam immediately filled the tube and drained into the bucket below that I have filled still with my sanitizing solution (star san).

Will it be OK to leave it like this until it stops foaming then replace the airlock later?

Is this a common thing? I used a 6.5 gal. fermenting bucket that I filled with 5-gals of brew...

Hopefully this batch isn't ruined. Time for me to RDWHAHB!

 

[TheBaconator]

Howdy! You are correct, that is krausen. It sounds like you're having a great fermentation. That is more common than you'd think. I know a fair amount of brewers that stick with blow-off tubes only, just so they never have to find the situation you did. Provided that you sanitized your blow-off tube well it will be just fine to leave it until the crazy fermentation subsides. You're probably ok sanitation-wise as well. Since most of that krausen was coming out, that'll likely keep any baddies from getting in.

One tip for future reference, check out the boards here about whatever yeast you plan to use and see if others have had similar experiences. There are some that are more active fermenters than others.

Just out of curiosity, what yeast did you use?

 

[Clonefarmer]

Well I just had a bit of excitement when I went to check on the beer that I brewed yesterday. The top of the fermentor was covered in foam (kreusen?) that came through the airlock!

I quickly sanitized a piece of plastic tubing and the top of the fermenting bucket, then I removed the airlock and inserted the plastic tubing to act as an emergency blow off. Foam immediately filled the tube and drained into the bucket below that I have filled still with my sanitizing solution (star san).

Will it be OK to leave it like this until it stops foaming then replace the airlock later?

Is this a common thing? I used a 6.5 gal. fermenting bucket that I filled with 5-gals of brew...

Hopefully this batch isn't ruined. Time for me to RDWHAHB!

You did the right thing. When the foam subsides you can swap back to an airlock. This is why it's a good idea to always hook up a blow off tube for the first few days. The more you brew the more likely it'll happen again.

 

[hamiltont]

You should be fine but remember. It didn't happen without pics... Here's mine. Oatmeal RIS. I really miss that beer! It turned out better than I expected, even with this little issue... Cheers!!!

 

[Clonefarmer]

You should be fine but remember. It didn't happen without pics... Here's mine. Oatmeal RIS. I really miss that beer! It turned out better than I expected, even with this little issue... Cheers!!!

Impressive!

 

[Seven]

I know a fair amount of brewers that stick with blow-off tubes only, just so they never have to find the situation you did

Excellent advice! I now plan to do this in the future thanks to this experience...

Just out of curiosity, what yeast did you use?

I used the Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat yeast that is part of this extract kit: Dunkelweizen

 

[TheBaconator]

Good deal, I've had similar experience with the Weihenstephan yeast as well. The Belgian yeasts are vigorous fermenters too. Best of luck and I hope it turns out great!

 

[Seven]

You should be fine but remember. It didn't happen without pics...

Here's the result of my emergency siphon tube insertion maneuver...

The bubbles surrounding the grommet is from star san that I sprayed onto the area.