Wheat Beer Woes...

[FishinDave07]

Here's the deal:

I will be receiving a AHS Bavarian Hefeweizen kit soon and have read in the past that wheat beers ferment vigorously.

I have a 5 gallon carboy but i KNOW that the Krausen will be ridiculuously high even with a blow off tube.

I have a 6.7 gallon bucket that i'm afraid to use an airlock on. The issue is that the hole is tiny for a decent sized blowoff tube.

Would i be better off using the 6.7 bucket with an airlock or with a 3/8 " blow-off tube?

Is it a good idea to keep an eye on this brew and plan to make it when i wont be out of town?

 

[maltMonkey]

I recently did a 5.5g Hefe in a 6.9gallon bucket -- airlock only and I used a large starter.... So I would think you would be alright.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

My vote is for the blow off tube. I did a wheat in a 6.5 gallon carboy with an airlock and it flew off multiple times.

 

[bradsul]

Go with the bucket with the blow-off tube, it should be fine. Try and keep the fermentation temperature a little on the cooler side if you can, that will help keep the explosions to a minimum too.

 

[BigKahuna]

My brew store has little "Sticks" of plastic to adapt from the grommet to the hose. That way your hose doesn't provide an air leak.
I have had pretty good luck with the 3 piece air lock and clip off the star from the bottom so that the junk can flow. It can definitely make a mess, but it works.

 

[FishinDave07]

you guys don't think that my 3/8" siphon tubing wont be too narrow?

 

[bradsul]

That's pretty narrow, I'm not sure how well it would work.

I use 1/2" ID tubing over the tube of my 3pc airlock and it works great if you cut the little crosshatch off the bottom of the airlock.

 

[FishinDave07]

Better yet! As far as experimentation goes, i would like to see the difference in clove and banana flavors in the Wyeast 3068 strain so im thinking about putting half in the 6.7 bucket and half in the 5 gal carboy and fermenting at different temps.

Would there be any negative results with that much head space?

 

[Pulp Fiction]

Doing my first batch, a wheat beer, and my airlock blew off today at some point while I was at work (somewhere in a seven hour span). When I got home, I immediately hooked up the blow off tube. How problematic for my beer is losing the airlock for however long it may have been?

Thank you much.

 

[john from dc]

i've had good luck just sticking my (sanitized) 3/8" tube into the black grommet in the lid of my ale pail. it fits snugly, and there isn't anything in my wort that's big enough to clog it.

 

[bradsul]

Doing my first batch, a wheat beer, and my airlock blew off today at some point while I was at work (somewhere in a seven hour span). When I got home, I immediately hooked up the blow off tube. How problematic for my beer is losing the airlock for however long it may have been?

Thank you much.

I wouldn't worry, fermentation that strong won't let anything fall through the hole.

Oh and welcome to HBT!

 

[Benny Blanco]

Better yet! As far as experimentation goes, i would like to see the difference in clove and banana flavors in the Wyeast 3068 strain so im thinking about putting half in the 6.7 bucket and half in the 5 gal carboy and fermenting at different temps.

Would there be any negative results with that much head space?

I think you can do that..but it sounds like too much work if/when you transfer to a secondary.

 

[bradsul]

Better yet! As far as experimentation goes, i would like to see the difference in clove and banana flavors in the Wyeast 3068 strain so im thinking about putting half in the 6.7 bucket and half in the 5 gal carboy and fermenting at different temps.

Would there be any negative results with that much head space?

There is no problem doing that during primary fermentation. Since it's a wheat beer you don't need to secondary so there is no issue there either. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[FishinDave07]

There is no problem doing that during primary fermentation. Since it's a wheat beer you don't need to secondary so there is no issue there either. Let us know how it turns out!

Yup, no secondary. I will let you guys know.