Beer exploded

[EricKCooper]

I have only been brewing since September and things have been good. My favorite batch has been a strong dark Belgian. Did another batch this weekend. Opened the closet door last night to find the lid blown off and beer everywhere. What happened? I used a bubble airlock like usual. Lid not tight enough?

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Not enough headspace for a violent fermentation it sounds like. Either leave more room in the FV or use a blowoff tube instead of an airlock in the beginning of fermentation until it settles, some use the blowoff for the duration of the fermentation.

 

[passedpawn]

Two pictures. My world before using a blowoff tube, my world after.

You really only need a blowoff when any of the following are true. But many people use them every time. Why not? Just remove before you cold crash, if you do that for clearing.

• Pitching a ton of active yeast
• Fermenting warm (70's)
• High-gravity beers (> 1.070 OG)

 

[Jtk78]

Been there once (with quite a bit of headspace, thats a 7 gallon fermenter). Now i usually do blowoffs as mentioned above. Just put some sanitizer in a jug the hose is going to.

7 gallon Fermonster Blowout

• Jtk78
• Feb 6, 2018

WY1318 goes volcanic

 

[ncbrewer]

Been there once (with quite a bit of headspace, thats a 7 gallon fermenter). Now i usually do blowoffs as mentioned above. Just put some sanitizer in a jug the hose is going to.

I use a 7.9 gallon bucket for 5 gallon batches and never use a blow-off tube, but I control temperature, and don't brew big beers. Was yours a big beer?

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I was using S-04 last year for the first time and didn't have enough headspace. Didn't realize how much more violent 04 was than 05 I'd been mostly using. Blew out my bung and made a big mess of my ferm chamber. I came to appreciate blow-off tubes after that.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Blew out my bung

 

[Jtk78]

I use a 7.9 gallon bucket for 5 gallon batches and never use a blow-off tube, but I control temperature, and don't brew big beers. Was yours a big beer?

It was a 1.066 porter, so certainly not what i would call a big beer. It was WY1318 though. It's known to have a big krausen, and I was keeping the wort temp about 66F, so not too warm either.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

It looked even worse than it sounds

 

[Soulshine2]

I have only been brewing since September and things have been good. My favorite batch has been a strong dark Belgian. Did another batch this weekend. Opened the closet door last night to find the lid blown off and beer everywhere. What happened? I used a bubble airlock like usual. Lid not tight enough?

use a blow-off tube for the first 24-36 hrs. your krauesen blocked the airlock and the pressure blew it off.

 

[EricKCooper]

Thanks for the replies. I now have a blowoff tube and will do another one next weekend!!!

 

[LittleRiver]

... now have a blowoff tube and will do another one next weekend!!!

I hope you put the top back on that explosive batch and let it finish.

 

[Beardless]

Thanks for the replies. I now have a blowoff tube and will do another one next weekend!!!

Brewed a stout recently (recipe I’ve done often) that wasn’t very big. First time I’ve ever done my primary in the house versus in the basement thinking “I’ve never had issues with this beer during primary, and I have a bunch of head space” and of course one of the 2 carboys blew everywhere due to clogging the airlock. Thought maybe I had an infection in it and lost half of the batch. Two days later the other exploded as well. My office was a beautiful mess with brown spots everywhere.

 

[BobBailey]

I use 7 gallon Fermonsters for 5.25 gallon batches and always add Fermcap-S just to be save. No more blow off tubes and no more messes.