On the importance of headspace

The blinds and pans over the kitchen sink... covered in blackberry.

The Great Eruption by SouthernGorilla, on Flickr

The laundry room door and wall... covered in blackberry.

The Great Eruption by SouthernGorilla, on Flickr

The ceiling over the sink... marked with blackberry.

The Great Eruption by SouthernGorilla, on Flickr

But who could stay mad at a face like this?

blackberry bochet by SouthernGorilla, on Flickr

I know most don't like a lot of head space and use blow off tube but I just use 7.8 gallon buckets and no issues. Hope you cleaned it before wife sees it.

Honestly, I got in a hurry and forgot to set up a blowoff. I bet I remember next time.

I actually left it for my wife to see. She laughed. It made a bigger mess than the pictures show. The floor, the stove, the counter, pretty much every surface within six feet of the sink had some blackberry on it.

The good news is that I didn't lose too much yeast. Fermentation is still going well. I expect it will pick up over the next day or so.

Blowoff tube FTW here.

Im sure many hobbyists have been forced to retire early (by their significant others) because of these Mead explosion accidents and an exploding bottle or two.

I had a bottle pop when we first started, it was right beside the excersize bike, wife on bike, bottle blew, storming up stairs, wine dripping off of nose, covered in red wine, worried we would loose the rest of the batch and told me to fix it. I always make her favorite, I can do no wrong as long as I dont let her favorites pop their tops! Why dont some of you guys use a bucket until the major activity of the primary is over? Its not beer, its not going to spoil without an airlock for a week? WVMJ

WVMJ said:

Why dont some of you guys use a bucket until the major activity of the primary is over? Its not beer, its not going to spoil without an airlock for a week? WVMJ

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Because we live in a small apartment. There isn't enough room for a ton of equipment. Glass jugs are semi-decorative. Buckets are fugly. And buckets don't last as long or sanitize as well. If I had a house with space I could store extra equipment I might consider having some buckets. Since I have to minimize my gear I'm sticking with glass. I just need to remember to run a blowoff tube when I have fruit in the primary.

Ah, those are always funny pictures, because we can also laugh at ourselfs.

rgarry said:

I know most don't like a lot of head space and use blow off tube but I just use 7.8 gallon buckets and no issues. Hope you cleaned it before wife sees it.

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Ditto. I upgraded to an 8gal fermenter after I got a Belgian tripel all over the ceiling. Wife was not happy. No need for a blow off tube.

I don't understand how a bucket removes the need for a blowoff tube. I do have a 6.5-gallon bottling bucket I bought as secondary for my 6.5-gallon carboy. If there's some advantage to it I could always reverse their roles.

SouthernGorilla said:

I don't understand how a bucket removes the need for a blowoff tube. I do have a 6.5-gallon bottling bucket I bought as secondary for my 6.5-gallon carboy. If there's some advantage to it I could always reverse their roles.

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If you have more head space, it will release the co2 without any up chuck from the beer. I use 8 gal buckets and never had a blow out.

Dont even put a lid on it, its not beer but mead, we just put a towel over ours with a elastic strap to keep the gnats out. One thing about those bottling buckets, they always leak while you are at work! WVMJ

SouthernGorilla said:

I don't understand how a bucket removes the need for a blowoff tube. I do have a 6.5-gallon bottling bucket I bought as secondary for my 6.5-gallon carboy. If there's some advantage to it I could always reverse their roles.

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There's something primal about the idea of an open bucket of mead bubbling away in the kitchen. I can get behind that idea. It might take more than a towel to keep the cat out though.

I didin't think the bottling bucket all the way through when I bought it. I probably won't ever use it. I was already worried about the spigot.