Airlocked foamed over so I made a makeshift blow off. Does this look right?

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

BeerDaddy94

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2020
Messages
17
Reaction score
4
I finished up brew day yesterday and tucked my carboy into the closet. I came home from work and looked at it and it was foaming through the airlock so i cleaned it up with a sanitize rag put some tubbing into the stopper hole and the other end into another one of my carboys with some starsan solution. Will this be ok untill the foaming slows down?
 

Attachments

  • 20201102_150358.jpg
    20201102_150358.jpg
    4.1 MB · Views: 101
Maybe it's an illusion, but it looks to me like the end of the tube is not submerged in the star san solution. It should be.

Also, not that you asked, but that fermenter should be kept out of the light or covered with something to block it.
 
VikeMan said:
Maybe it's an illusion, but it looks to me like the end of the tube is not submerged in the star san solution. It should be.

Also, not that you asked, but that fermenter should be kept out of the light or covered with something to block it.
Click to expand...
Yeah its submerged its just kinda hard to tell in the picture. I have it covered with a black shirt right now I just had it off for the picture.
 
The blowoff looks fine. Leave it on the whole time or replace with an airlock, it doesn't matter. They're the exact same thing.

What's the recipe/yeast? Other than UV (which the shirt will solve) my concern would be fermentation temps
 
dawn_kiebawls said:
The blowoff looks fine. Leave it on the whole time or replace with an airlock, it doesn't matter. They're the exact same thing.

What's the recipe/yeast? Other than UV (which the shirt will solve) my concern would be fermentation temps
Click to expand...
Im very new (this is only my second batch) this batch is just 1lb of DME and Nottingham ale yeast with 1/2 ounce of hop pellets total and some nutmeg and cinnamon. Temps stay between 65 and 70 where I usually keep it.
 
BeerDaddy94 said:
Im very new (this is only my second batch) this batch is just 1lb of DME and Nottingham ale yeast with 1/2 ounce of hop pellets total and some nutmeg and cinnamon. Temps stay between 65 and 70 where I usually keep it.
Click to expand...

You should be aware that during active fermentation the wort/beer will be a few to several degrees warmer than the ambient temperature. So try to take that into consideration when selecting yeast strains and locations for your fermenter.
 
BeerDaddy94 said:
Im very new (this is only my second batch) this batch is just 1lb of DME and Nottingham ale yeast with 1/2 ounce of hop pellets total and some nutmeg and cinnamon. Temps stay between 65 and 70 where I usually keep it.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to sound condescending at all so I hope you didn't take it that way! As @VikeMan said, fermentation is a thermodynamic process (meaning, it generates its' own heat) so just take that into consideration moving forward. Either way, you made beer! :)

When I first started brewing I didn't have any way of keeping fermentation temperatures cool, so I started off brewing Saisons because they like to be hot and I could either leave them at room temperature or strap a heating pad to them.

There are also a large number of people reporting clean fermentations at high temperatures with some of the Voss Kveik strains but I don't have any first hand experience with them to share.

RDWHAHB (Relax Dont Worry Have A HomeBrew), Cheers!
 
dawn_kiebawls said:
I didn't mean to sound condescending at all so I hope you didn't take it that way! As @VikeMan said, fermentation is a thermodynamic process (meaning, it generates its' own heat) so just take that into consideration moving forward. Either way, you made beer! :)

When I first started brewing I didn't have any way of keeping fermentation temperatures cool, so I started off brewing Saisons because they like to be hot and I could either leave them at room temperature or strap a heating pad to them.

There are also a large number of people reporting clean fermentations at high temperatures with some of the Voss Kveik strains but I don't have any first hand experience with them to share.

RDWHAHB (Relax Dont Worry Have A HomeBrew), Cheers!
Click to expand...
No absolutely, I'll take any advice i can get. Being a beginner Im just a worry "wort" 🤣🤣

... my kids are only 4 and 6 so Im still working on my dad jokes 😎
 
I never had to use a blow off. (never foamed up that much). What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong?
 
PGWolfe said:
I never had to use a blow off. (never foamed up that much). What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

You haven't told us what you're doing. But as a rule of thumb (mine anyway), if you have/do all of the following, there is very little risk of blowoff.

- Fermenter volume at least batch size plus 30%
- OG below 1.060
- Control Fermentation Temps
 
I always do 5 gallon batches (beer, mead, cyser) and all of my fermenters have sufficient head room (I never gave it much thought). As far as OG...I would have to go back and look at all my recipes. My temps were always very consistent because I was fortunate to have two furnaces and two A/C units in my house so I could set the temp in the room exactly where I wanted it and would not impact the rest of the house. However I recently moved so now I have to be more creative with my temps when fermenting.
 
Ok guys I need your help with this batch again. When I got home from work today all the foam had subsided and now there is barely any foam on top. Is this normal? My last batch, which was my very first ever, had a decent amount of foam on top for at least a week

@dawn_kiebawls
 
BeerDaddy94 said:
Ok guys I need your help with this batch again. When I got home from work today all the foam had subsided and now there is barely any foam on top. Is this normal? My last batch, which was my very first ever, had a decent amount of foam on top for at least a week

@dawn_kiebawls
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty normal to me! I've even had a few batches that don't form krausen (foam) hardly at all. But, it's pretty standard for the krausen to drop after peak fermentation. RDWHAHB ;)

Let it sit for 2-3 weeks to allow the yeast to clean up after itself, bottle and enjoy. Cheers!
 
dawn_kiebawls said:
Sounds pretty normal to me! I've even had a few batches that don't form krausen (foam) hardly at all. But, it's pretty standard for the krausen to drop after peak fermentation. RDWHAHB ;)

Let it sit for 2-3 weeks to allow the yeast to clean up after itself, bottle and enjoy. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Ok good thank you!
 
BeerDaddy94 said:
Temps stay between 65 and 70 where I usually keep it.
Click to expand...
For temperature control in this range of ambient temperatures, one gallon carboys and Little Big Mouth Bubblers fit nicely in a variety of 48 to 60 quart coolers. Use slightly chilled water (63 to 65F) to regulate the temperature. It's a variation on "swamp cooler" that doesn't require a towel/shirt/fan.

+1 for creative thinking on the blow off tube container (I noticed that the caution lablel is still on the Little BMB). Little BMBs will handle 1 gal batches without a blow off tube. Many 1.25 gal recipes will also work well in a little BMB.

If you're going to stay with the 1-gallon-ish batch size for a while, check out some of the recent (2019 - 2020) activity in 1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!
 

Similar threads

Kornssj
Makeshift blow off tube inquiry
Replies
5
Views
575
OakIslandBrewery
OakIslandBrewery
H
Yeast starter not starting
Replies
16
Views
1K
HB2112
H
Bilbo24
Airlock fell out?
Replies
5
Views
769
Bilbo24
Bilbo24
J
I don't know what I'm doing!!!!!
Replies
24
Views
2K
Dan O
Dan O
M
Saving My Mead
Replies
8
Views
2K
Midway Island
Midway Island

Latest posts

Back
Top