I went out of town this week and came home last night to find my blowoff tube had come out of the water. Maybe a day, maybe 3-4. No way to tell. Fermentation was complete (or at least just finishing up) when this happened, so it seems like this makes it more at risk for contamination. Carboy has been in a chamber, so not a lot of air circulation. Have you guys had this happen? How did it turn out?
Blowoff tube out of water
- Thread starter jodymcd
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Kind of a tough call. It would've been alright as long as it was during initial fermentation. But after that,when fermentation slows down,it could become a problem. nothing to do now but ride it out with an airlock in place. It might be ok,but only one way to really know...
I would think that unless there was active suction (unlikely as you say it was just finishing fermentation) the risk is still pretty low. The wild spore would have had to float around in the air, float upward through your blowoff tube and then down into your wort. Chances aren't good for that to happen. Add to this the fact that your wort was likely still off-gassing and pushing CO2 out the hose and the chances are even slimmer. It can't hurt to be careful though. If you are going to bottle then put the beer in tubs to condition. I've only had 3 bottle bombs, all were from infection (stir bar was cracked and infected my starter) and you do NOT want to clean up that mess! Also, infections will get worse with time, so if you are worried about it don't age it, drink it!
No way! Keg that puppy! Kegs have blowoff valves and won't explode. I just meant that if you were bottling the batch you should put them in tubs to catch the mess just in case you had explosions. Kegging solves the problem nicely though.
You'll be fine. I'm often downright negligent and have never had a problem. People used to use wads of straw for an airlock.
That inspired a google search and a good hour of researching medieval brewing. Seriously cool stuff, it's amazing how spoiled we are as brewers today. Just the fact that we are brewing for flavor and not just for something we can drink without getting sick puts us ahead of the game! I always feel like I'm wasting the grain when I throw it out of my mash ton, but they made bread out of it (why not right?). Seriously cool stuff out there, just search for "medieval brewing techniques (tools, methods, history). "How beer saved the world" was pretty neat and is free on YouTube. Sorry to get off topic!
...We now return to our regularly scheduled program...
Here's more recipes from the spent grain chef; http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/category/spentgrainchef/
And the thing is,back then they had a lot more dumpers than we do today. Something to concider when thinking of skipping some sanitation steps.
And the thing is,back then they had a lot more dumpers than we do today. Something to concider when thinking of skipping some sanitation steps.
Cheesy_Goodness
Well-Known Member
Can't comment on the contamination issue, but I ran into this problem last night and solved it by running the tube through an unused bung to keep it underwater. The bung acts like a weight and keeps it held down pretty nicely.
GASoline71
Well-Known Member
Yup... me too. In 2 years of brewing, I have yet to have an infection or a problem with any beers brewed.
Gary
Update. Beer is great.
I agree, beer is great! But you are preaching to the choir on that one.
Just kidding, I'm glad it turned out for ya
n240sxguy
Well-Known Member
I used to think you absolutely had to remain air tight during fermentation. I got a 15 gallon plastic conical fermenter, and can't get it to be air tight. I drilled a hole and put a fitting for a blow off tube. Not a single bubble. Now I'm of the opinion that air right is good, but at least shielded from moving air is ok.
I use plastic 1/2 gallon vodka jugs for blow offs. The skinny neck seems to help keep the tube in place.
