To much wort

[rooster_442]

I just did a oatmeal stout and when I got done adding water to it to make the OG down to 1.054 witch the recipe calls for. I had almost 6 and a half gallons of wort. I have about 1 1/2 inches from the top of my 6 1/2 gallon bucket. Is it going to blow the air lock off? How did it make so much wort? Did I do something wrong?

 

[fartinmartin]

Yes, to have trouble free brewing with the airlock you need about 25% free space . It will foam up maybe 3inches. Some will tell you to use a blow off tube, but , I would reduce the volume by decanting some of the yeasted brew to something like a demijohn taking about four litres out or using two two litre bottles anything just to get the volume down. What you take out can of course continue to a successful beer.
If you go down the blow off tube route be prepared to have four litres blow out !

 

[rooster_442]

Should I wait for the yeast to mix a little before I just take out two 2 liter bottles out? Can I do it in a gallon jug that the water came in?

 

[rooster_442]

How do I use a blow off tube? Lol lots of questions now sorry about that

 

[eluterio]

Roster there are several factors that may have lead to this final result.

1) Adding top off water is normal practice for extract and all grain if you 1) boil too much wort, 2) over shoot your gravity 3) to make your batch a full 5- in your case 6.5 gallons of wort. There is nothing wrong with having TOO much wort this = MORE BEER!!

To correct this make sure when your boiling your wort check how much loss you have. Starting out with 3 gallons lose about 1 leaves you with 2. Top off water of 3 will give you 5 gallons. With out knowing the details of what you started with and how much top off water you used there was a miscalculation somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it.

Ounce you pitch your yeast the bucket will most likely push out the air lock and create a huge mess. If you have it in an area that your able to clean easily leave it and watch the explosion. I would suggest if you haven't pitch your yeast rack some of the wort out. You could buy a bigger bucket or carboy like now and rack it into it. Check out your Local Home Brew Shop.

If you have already pitch your yeast your screwed, just kidding. You can still buy a bigger carboy and rack it all into it.

If you go with the first and leave it alone, I would suggest getting a blow off tube or more airlocks and bungs. Most likely your going to have a mess. BUT THE BEER WILL BE BEER WHEN ITS DONE!!! remember that and relax!

 

[rooster_442]

Or can I just take some out and put it into my carboy?

 

[Peyope]

Attach a hose to the hole and run that sanitized hose to a bucket of sanitizer. If you have a 3 piece air lock you can connect the hose to the top of that.

Next time when adding water, add to get your volume and don't be concerned with the higher gravity. The higher gravity just means you'll have a stronger beer.

 

[rooster_442]

I do have a 3 peice air lock but my hose fits inside the air lock so wouldn't it just blow the hose out of the airlick?

 

[eluterio]

NO worries on question that's why this forum is here. Try heading over to your homebrew shop and get supplies. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/blowoff-tube-bucket-154531/

try this forum

 

[fartinmartin]

Yes once the brew has started the yeast is moving around, the brew you take out will have enough yeast in it to continue to ferment out in the new vessel.
The gallon jug the water came in is perfect, just get some sort of cover on it, foil will do .

A blow off tube is simply a tube that exits the FV at one end and the other end is fixed in another container with the opening under a few inches of water allowing the gas and foam to unload without any nasties getting up into the brew. For me always a messy affair, but some do it that way all the time.

 

[rooster_442]

Thanks alot eluterio I'll just clean up a mess I was trying to make a blow off but I don't have anything that worked and it's to late to run to the brew shop

 

[eluterio]

Thanks alot eluterio I'll just clean up a mess I was trying to make a blow off but I don't have anything that worked and it's to late to run to the brew shop

Let us know and glad to help! Brew shops are always a good resource.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[eluterio]

Glad to help how did it turn out


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[rooster_442]

Well I just put it in the fermenter around and then I siphoned some out about a half gallon and then put the bucket in the basement shower just in case it does blow off. I'll let you know in a few days

 

[fartinmartin]

I guess you have your eye on it rooster, 36 hours in is about when the volcano happens.

 

[eluterio]

Cool

 

[metanoia]

Did I miss a part of this, or did you mention if you were brewing all grain or extract?

If it was extract, you should not trust any hydrometer reading for FG because it's often difficult to get the concentrated wort you boiled fully mixed with the water you added. If you're using extract, you'll be able to determine the FG from a calculator since the efficiency is already determined by the extract-maker, and it's not going to change depending on your process.

It's probably too late now since the yeast have been working away for over 12 hours, but you should go recalculate your FG based on 6.5 gallons instead of 5 if you want an accurate number, which will also mean you'll have a more watered-down beer for the style and less of an alcohol yield.