Fermenter Exploded

[mreff555]

Almost anyway.
I checked on it before I left for work, it was bubbling like crazy. I get home and I find the lid on the other side of the room and my walls coated with a few quarts of beer. I cleaned it off, washed out the airlock and put the lid back on.

My question: For all I know that lid has been off for 12 or so hours. Is the beer worth saving?

 

[brewkinger]

Let it go. As vigorous as the fermentation was, not much could survive if it got in there.
If it sours or gets infected later then you can dump.

 

[brewprint]

Yeast tends to take over so I bet it's fine unless you had it under a coat rack and a dirty coat fell in. Thats always the potential at my house

 

[ChefRex]

Where's the darn pictures? this should be in the rules, you make a huge mess brewing you need to post pictures!
Admin, can we sticky this? Post reported for being no fun!




chances are you'll be fine.

 

[Owly055]

Where's the darn pictures? this should be in the rules, you make a huge mess brewing you need to post pictures!
Admin, can we sticky this? Post reported for being no fun!




chances are you'll be fine.

"California Rules" again.......... "If it isn't on film, it didn't happen!!"


H.W.

 

[mreff555]

Where's the darn pictures? this should be in the rules, you make a huge mess brewing you need to post pictures!
Admin, can we sticky this? Post reported for being no fun!




chances are you'll be fine.

HAHA! Next time.

 

[jason1973]

Unless all your yeast is sticking to wall should be fine, with amount of co2 being made yeast making its own airlock.

 

[cannman]

Every time I see a thread with this type of title, I have to click on it. Just like slowing down to see who got pulled over, or to get a glimpse of the accident... So where are the pics!!??

 

[kh54s10]

I too was looking for carnage! I am surprised it hasn't been said yet... Start EVERY fermentation with a blow off tube installed!

 

[jason1973]

I was expecting pics or carboy glass every where coated in wort

 

[PGEduardo]

Next time just put sanitized tin foil over the carboy mouth (loosely). Once vigorous fermentation (krausen) subsides put an airlock on. I've never had an infection or a mess to clean up...

 

[daksin]

You're good but it sounds like your fermentation got too hot- cool that mother off!

 

[Kent88]

Unless fermenter space is at a premium in your homebrewery, let that beer go for the full primary and see what it is like after that.

I feel your pain, I once had a fermenter geyser in my face. I have a friend who brewed a high gravity stout which exploded all over his basement. I almost had a wheat beer "explode" this past weekend. It happens, its ok.

 

[mreff555]

Yeah,
I was thinking it would probably be ok. Since it was a good day into active fermenting, there had to be lots of active yeast in there so competitive inhibition should take care of the bacteria. As for yeast sticking to the walls of the fermenter... well yeah. Hell there was yeast stuck to my ceiling. But I did see some activity after I put it back together so I assume there is some still in there.

 

[Riot]

You aren't a real homebrewer until you've seen wort hit the ceiling. The beer is fine like 90% of the time, let it ride

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I too was looking for carnage! I am surprised it hasn't been said yet... Start EVERY fermentation with a blow off tube installed!

I think it has many times, but, well... Confession thread.

 

[azazel1024]

Unless fermenter space is at a premium in your homebrewery, let that beer go for the full primary and see what it is like after that.

I feel your pain, I once had a fermenter geyser in my face. I have a friend who brewed a high gravity stout which exploded all over his basement. I almost had a wheat beer "explode" this past weekend. It happens, its ok.

Hehehe, I have a friend of a friend (not me. No serious, it wasn't me. Stop looking at me like that, it was NOT me!) who got a clogged airblock. Went to pop the thing off before his carboy exploded, the minute he pulled it out, it geysered about 2 quarts of beer right in his face.

Which still doesn't beat the best beer tragedy I have ever heard of. Someone who shall remain nameless was brewing one night. turned their recirc pump on and went to leave the room. As they were stepping out of the room, they realized it was making a funny sound, turned around and realized it wasn't connected back in to the pot, so it was pumping 150F wort all over the kitchen floor. Tried to run over to turn off the pump, slipped in the wort and the person's foot hit the pot and knocked it off their stoves, spilling 10 gallons of 150F wort all over the floor and them.

The next worst was a different person who was pumping from their kettle to their fermenter. Kettle was outside and their line ran through their basement window to their fermentation room. Well, it ran behind a window AC unit and they didn't see that the line coupler was disconnected.

They pumped 15 gallons of 1.150 Barley wine all. over. their. basement.

It is part of the reason I keep my brew to 5 gallons or less (no, seriously, it is one of about 4 reasons). When I F-up, my F-ups are limited to no more than 5 gallons. My worst was only dropping a pot in to my sink by accident and slopping a quart or so of beer all over the counter tops, window and floor.