Secondary Overflowing due to Fruit Clogs

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Mikexw, Apr 25, 2018.

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  1. Mikexw

    Mikexw Pooh-Bah (2,314) Mar 3, 2014 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Anybody have any suggestions for this one? I'm having some issued with a fruity hefe I'm trying to brew

    1 - brewing was pretty straightforward with a simple recipe, I added about a pound of fresh raspberries to the boil. Unfortunately, I dropped my hydrometer while the wort was cooling, so I never got an OG measurement, although the target was 1.051. I've gotta figure I was close.

    2 - primary fermentation starting quickly and was pretty active, it slowed down dramatically after 5 or 6 days. The recipe instructions suggested transferring to secondary after 5-7 days, I actually waited 9 days. At that point, gravity was 1.018; the original recipe target FINAL gravity was 1.012 so I figured I was close enough to rack to secondary.

    3 - I added about 3 pounds of frozen berries to the carboy then racked to secondary and put in an airlock and stopper last night. There was some minor activity in the airlock as of about 11:30PM. It's probably worth noting that a) the carboy was fuller than typical for me (due to the fruit taking up space) AND.... spoiler alert ... berries apparently float.

    [​IMG]


    4 - this morning, I found the airlock next to the carboy and lots of colorful fruity krausen overflowing the lid. I cleaned it up as well as I could and replaced the airlock. I'm hoping that everything's in good shape when I get home from work tonight, but suspect I may have another overflow. And I don't THINK a blowoff tube would help here, because I get the impression the fruit floating to the top is what's popping the airlock off; it would probably clog a blowoff tube as well. Do I have any other options?

    I'm sort of hoping that the huge glob of mushy fruit keeps contaminants out and that things calm down, but if not is there anything else I can do? In retrospect, I guess I probably overfilled the carboy but I can't really do much about that now shy of siphoning some of the beer out of it. Or I could have racked to secondary, cleaned out the primary fermentation bucket, and racked back into the bucket for secondary; hindsight is 20-20.

    Thanks in advance!
     
    #1 Mikexw, Apr 25, 2018
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  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    It's not the fact that the fruit floats (per say) that's popping the airlock off. It's the total volume of the beer/fruit, which is too big for the fermenter (i.e. not enough headspace), combined with the pressure of the fermentation. (The fruit is "floating," but you'll find that much of it is actually below the beer line, and that the fruit above the beer line also has some beer in it.) When doing a secondary with fruit, you need to allow ample headspace, just like you would for a primary fermentation. But many people have made this mistake.

    Regarding options... I would probably place the carboy somewhere where a mess isn't a big deal, switch to a blowoff hose, and ride it out. If you use a hose that fits the neck of the carboy (as opposed to one that plugs into the top of the airlock stem), I doubt it would clog. OTOH, it might, but a hose seems to me to be a safer option.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Apr 25, 2018
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  3. Mikexw

    Mikexw Pooh-Bah (2,314) Mar 3, 2014 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks -- I'll try that -- if the fruit can fit through the carboy neck then a big enough hose should fix the problem. I figured headspace was the issue (the combination of additional sugars PLUS the fruit taking up space).
     
    #3 Mikexw, Apr 25, 2018
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