I just recently brewed my 2nd batch, decimation, the dogfish clone. About 3 days into it, it looked like it was going to explode and blow the lid off...i followed te directions very closely and the only difference between this and the first batch is that i am using a 3 peice airlock on this 1 and used a 1 piece airlock on the first batch...does theis have anything to do with the airlock? Was there a step i missed that caused this? My batch will still be good, right?
Fermenting bucket exploding!!!
- Thread starter brewbeav
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
temple240
Well-Known Member
Very carefully remove the airlock and vent the pressure immediately if it looks like it's going to blow. You're airlock might be blocked. Watch out for a potential volcano when you pull the airlock, no one likes beer in the face this early in the morning.
I had the same thing a few brews ago, my lid had a huge dome in it, since there was so much activity and the krausan was coming through the airlock. I took the airlock off, wiped down the area a little with sanitizer, then put a blow off tube in.
Indian_villager
Well-Known Member
Vent it and put a blow off tube on it as mentioned earlier. One of my brewing buddies had the lid pop off from the airlock getting clogged. Scared the **** out of him and had to explain to his wife why her shoes are spattered with yeast.
No. It has to do with a very active fermentation, possibly a bit too warm, that is reaching the top of the headspace.
Just to add to the same thread, because its along the same lines....i am currently using a bucket for fermentation, i was thinking about purchasing a carboy, or better bottle. I am only doing single stage fermentation as of now...can that be used for single stage fermentation? Any drawbacks or positives to using one for single stage aside from being able to see the fermentation process happen?
Gameface
Well-Known Member
All of those options are fine. If you want to ferment in a carboy you're gonna want to use the 6.5g ones.
For me glass is:
Harder to clean
Heavier
Harder to move around
Much more likely to send me to the hospital with huge cuts
So I prefer plastic buckets for 5g batches.
Start EVERY fermentation with a blow-off assembly set up. I have brewed similar recipes, fermented at the same temperature with the same yeast and one will blow and the next wont. The yeast will do what the yeast will do.
I suggest 8 gallon Better Bottles or a bucket. Glass is to dangerous IMO for any advantages it MIGHT have. For all the reasons Gameface stated.
I suggest 8 gallon Better Bottles or a bucket. Glass is to dangerous IMO for any advantages it MIGHT have. For all the reasons Gameface stated.
kh54s10 said:
Or, instead of a blowoff tube, you can just leave the lid loose - not locked down - for the first 48-72 hours. Since the beer is actively fermenting and pushing all that co2 out, you don't have to worry about anything getting in (and besides, wild yeast and bacteria can't climb/crawl, so with the lid on, even loosely, nothing's getting in anyway). This is what I do for all my beers and I never have to worry about exploding buckets.
Once fermentation slows down, lock the lid down, just to be safe.
