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dpeachey

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I am new to brewing. I've made 3 batches so far. Yesterday I brewed a Wheat beer from AIH. It was the first time I used liquid yeast and didn't read the instructions on the back. I simply dumped it in, then realized I had screwed up. I needed to break a packet inside and let the yeast activate. Anyway, today the top blew off my fermenter making an huge mess.

Question: Did this happen because I screwed up the yeast or did something else go wrong? Any help is appreciated.
 
Bucket or carboy? It happens. you can hook up a blow off tube for the first few days. Or cut off the cross pattern off the tip. Usually this gets blocked with hop matter or krausen. Pressure builds. Top blows off.

I brewed a gallon and put it in s cool vase on the coffee table to watch it. Bung and air lock hit the ceiling and made a mess.
 
I am new to brewing. I've made 3 batches so far. Yesterday I brewed a Wheat beer from AIH. It was the first time I used liquid yeast and didn't read the instructions on the back. I simply dumped it in, then realized I had screwed up. I needed to break a packet inside and let the yeast activate. Anyway, today the top blew off my fermenter making an huge mess.

Question: Did this happen because I screwed up the yeast or did something else go wrong? Any help is appreciated.

The yeast don't rally need to be activated. That nutrient pack just get's the yeast going enough to let you know they're still alive in there.

I think wheat beers can really take off.

But the reason the lid blew off is very possibly because you are fermenting too hot. Yeast metabolism is determined largely by temperature and when they get hot they eat considerably faster. That can sometimes lead to undesirable qualities like esters, phenols and in the worst case fusel alcohol.

But sometimes even when you're doing everything right you still get so much krausen that it'll clog up your airlock and blow the lid off. Many people use a blow off tube instead of an airlock. That's just a larger diameter tube that it attached to the lid or top opening at one end and is submersed in liquid at the other end. Doesn't get clogged anywhere near as easily.
 
My last 2 wheat beers have had this sort of activity, they were batch 5 and 6 for me so still relatively new, it was a surprise on the first one, luckily I got to it before it blew the lid off but when I pulled the air lock out it sure made a spectacular geyser!! I replaced it with a blowoff tube and used the same setup for the next batch, it was an equally intense fermentation but the tube saved me, I wont use an airlock again in my primary!!
 
Pictures or it didn't happen. Kidding. A clogged air lock is a recipe for disaster. Rig up a blowoff tube. Use it, live by it.
 
Pictures or it didn't happen. Kidding. A clogged air lock is a recipe for disaster. Rig up a blowoff tube. Use it, live by it.

California Rules........... is what you are saying. "If it isn't on film... it didn't happen"


H.W.
 
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