Aggressive Primary Fermentation - advice

Clean and replace the air lock. You can use a piece of sanitized aluminum foil in the mean time. Your beer has mixed with the Star San, but most of it has been pushed one way--out of the fermenter. It's the price of doing business sometimes. An oz of Star San in your beer won't hurt anyway. Can I ask how big your fermenter is and how much wort was collected? Ideally, you want about 20-30% extra head space for fermentation. That doesn't always happen.

Next time you think you'll have trouble, don't be afraid to put the whole fermenter in a contractor trash bag. It's much easier to haul that over to a bath tub than tracking all of that mess through the house. Also, Google "blow off tube."

 

One of the reasosns I like fermenting in buckets, no blow off necessary.

 

When I brew a aggressive fermenting batch of beer I use 2 fermenters, thus, no mess and no lost beer.

 

OP, let me get this straight -- you have a blow-off tube and an airlock attached to the fermenter? If so, then this is the real problem here. If using a blowoff tube, then there is no need for an airlock. And as you have (apparently) discovered, if the blow-ff tube is necessary (as in your case), then you also end up with krausen in the airlock, which is the situation a blowoff tube is designed to prevent.

If I've misinterpreted you post, apologies.

Cheers!

 

Almost no reason a normal 1.066 beer should blow-off...unless it's fermented too warm

 

Wait, what?

 

I primary ferment in 7.9 gallon plastic buckets. I have never had to utilize a blow off tube since there is plenty of headspace in those buckets.

Cheers!

 

I do the same, but for REALLY big top-cropping beers (eg. 1.10) you'd have to be crazy to not use a blow-off, IMHO

 

I do not brew beers quite that big but when I do brew 'bigger' beers like I recently brewed a 1.089 Robust Porter I simply placed some Fermcap drops in the primary for insurance and everything was A-OK.

I suppose if I ever decided to brew something like a 1.10 beer maybe I would need to think about a blow off?

Cheers!

 

escaping yeast is yeast and gravity dependent, I get blow offs with WLP023 and WLP530 for example when fermenting in a bucket, that's for 5%-8% beers . With so4 for example it wouldn't come close

 

I've seen my brew buddy use Fermcap in the boil with some success, but for me, most of my beers are bitter enough already and if I can do without an extra ingredient...so much the better.

 

Definitely. And I'd add temperature, oxygenation, pitch rate, nutrients, and (of course) headspace to those factors.

 

Barry, I hear what you are saying.

I rarely use Fermcap; I add it to the primary fermenter when I brew bigger beers (>1.080). FWIW, I personally do not perceive any impacts from Fermcap in the beers I have brewed using it.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Where did you buy 7.9 gallon buckets?

 

This is a common size. Midwest, Northern Brewer, Austin Homebrew.

 

Yes, I think originally the 7.9 gal buckets were meant for wine, but they work great, especially if you over shoot your volume a little. A word of caution though: the lids are harder to get off without a tool and the buckets break easier in cold temps.

 

I use the same buckets and need a blowoff tube...

 

As has been discussed previously in this thread there are lots of variables here. It would appear that the variables in your homebrewing practices results in a need for a blow off tube. That is not the case for me.

Cheers!