I usually slip a hose over the end of a 3 piece airlock with only the 1 piece there. However, it gets full of crud and I wind up throwing the hose out after fermentation. Is there something else I could use to save some $ as a blow off? I usually use a bucket. If I use a carboy, that orange cap with the hose works too, but I still wind up with cruddy hoses. Thanks!
I drilled an additional hole in my fermenting bucket lid to accommodate a secondary blowoff tube. I added a grommet so the fit is airtight. I still use the airlock, but any excessive blowoff is redirected through the secondary tube instead. Cleanup is easier that way, imo...
I use a 6.5 gallon bucket for 5 gallon batches. I use pure oxygen to aerate and ferment in the mid 60's. I use 5 drops of fermcap in the boil. I use the same blow off set up that you do and rarely get anything in the blow off tube so I just keep it attached to the airlock and clean and sanitize it well and use it again. I wonder if I even need the blow off but use it just to be safe for a week and then switch it out for an airlock. I think the fermcap in the boil and a lower fermentation temp is the key.
Fermcap in the boil affects krausen? I didn't know that. and I currently have a saison using wl565 so lower temp isn't ideal
From what I have read and experienced I think it does. I have read that some people add it to the fermentation vessel also. But I have only added it at the beginning of the boil. My last batch the inside of the lid of my bucket was completely clean when I opened it and got down to 1.010 in a week. 24 batches in and I am still using the original vial I bought. So it isn't much of an expense.
Fermcap in the fermenter has been working great for me. I found that it helps to use about ~50% more than the directions state. My last beer was an American Wheat with Chico yeast (typically a ripe combination for a massive krausen). With the Fermcap, the krausen was only about a cm high.
I do it the same way you do, but after a couple days of fermentation I take off the tube and let it soak overnight in a bucket with oxiclean (or PBW). The next day it rinses out fine with hot water.
You might want to explain this. It is not instantly apparent how one would redirect excessive blowoff. I assume you put a stopper (no holes) in your airlock hole. But then I'd wonder why you wouldn't just make a single larger hole and use a carboy sized stopper for your airlock and use the same hole for a blowoff tube when required.
Just soak it in hot PBW for 30-60 minutes and it comes right off. I use the same blowoff setup as you and it works like a charm.
I just stick a blow off hose with an external diameter that is the size of the internal diameter of my carboy opening straight into my carboy opening. Then I place the other end in a bucket with some sanitizer in it. After the first 3-7 days I switch over to a standard airlock and remove the hose / bucket.
