Switching from airlock to blowoff tube mid fermentation

[undergroundbrewer]

Hey guys,

It's been awhile since I've had the time and space to pursue my quest of brewing the world's greatest batch, and now my addiction has seen a comeback of epic proportions (hello northernbrewer.com.....meet Discover card). Anyway, in my ambitious quest I've had a couple of ...sticky....situations. Here it is -

I brewed a belgian pale ale yesterday, and following the boil I dropped in the wort chiller to bring the temps down to 87 (after 40 minutes, I couldn't risk any more time in fear of an infection...may be too late). Any way, with no ice handy, I pitched the yeast after letting it run on the stir plate for 40 hours.

3....2......1.....liftoff.

Houston, we have a problem. Bubbles and foam galore. No RPA's fortunately (rocket propelled airlocks), although I've had to change out the airlocks 3 times now in 18 hours as a result of severe foamage/wort filling/precious beer spilling.

My question for the peanut gallery is this - given good sanitation practice, can I switch to the blowoff tube now and prevent mopping the floor a 3rd time? I worry about this as I don't want to expose my lucious liquid, although I may have no choice. That, and using the big mouth bubbler, the provided hose is loose, so I don't want there to be a risk of infection due to the non-snug fit. Can I wrap the tube opening in foil and duct tape it? Any input would be much appreciated - thanks!


Edit: I should also note a few things - I didn't use a blow off because I never had before *facepalm*, I know the belgian yeast strains are rather .... active(after much reading), I heard pitching at higher temps could result in more activity, and lastly I had also never used a starter - thus I had no real idea as to what could happen - this is the perfect storm for crazy blow offs aaaagggghhh! I really want to enjoy my first batch now that I'm back into it, although I fear this one might be tough to swallow!

 

[EJay]

I'm no expert, but fitting a blowoff tube now sounds a lot more prudent and sanitary than blowing everything up again.

Not sure how you'd sanitize duct tape but foil crammed in there might help.

I think the pitching at such a high temperature is the major contributor to the rocket launch.

 

[teleplucker]

^^Agreed^^

I use plumbers/teflon tape, wrapped around the tubing, to tighten up the fairly loose fit when I put the blow off tube in the opening on the carboy cap. I get pretty crazy blow off into the tube and it's never knocked it loose when I've used the tape. I spritz it with Star San when applying the tape and putting the tube in the cap.

 

[mrdail87]

Switching mid-fermentation shouldn't be a problem. I've done it myself before. Just rinse everything with sanitizer before hand.

Also keep in mind that your carboy should have a decent buffer of CO2 by now to prevent any mold or aerobic bacteria from causing an issue.

 

[undergroundbrewer]

Just wanted to give an update - all is well! Soaked my tubing in star-san for a few minutes, then popped off the airlock (filled with my precious soon to be beverage) and dropped in the tube / wrapped in foil around the base. The fermentation is going strong as of this morning, giving a nice steady flow of bubbles in the bucket. Thanks for your comforts all

 

[unionrdr]

I was going to say that I cut the tip off an old "S" type airlock to fit my 3/8" ID blow off tube. It fits the airlock grommet pretty snug. Even some masking tape has been used to make sure it stays in place.

 

[KeninMN]

If you have a decent heat gun you can try flaring the end of the blowoff tube that fits into your carboy. You will need a solid cylinder that has an outside diameter (OD) slightly larger than the current inside diameter (ID) of your blowoff tube as a flaring tool. (Something tapered works best.) Wearing gloves, carefully heat the end of the tube with the heat gun until it softens and then jam the flaring tool into the blowoff tube's ID. Allow it to cool before removing your flaring tool and it should hold the larger OD. I've done this successfully with the tubing that fits the discharge end of my racking cane. I lubricated my flaring tool (it was a hard plastic chopstick) with a thin layer of cooking spray to make it easier to insert...