first big beer

[stitchman]

So I just brewed my first big beer yesterday, an imperial stout. It's a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket. Well I came home today and saw that the krausen is flowing out of the airlock. I should have used a blowoff tube in hindsight.

My real concern is how much volume am I going to lose to the leakage? Should I top with water in secondary or will that reduce the abv? I want to maintain the 10.5ish abv even if I lose some volume. Anyone have some experience with this?

 

[ColoHox]

So I just brewed my first big beer yesterday, an imperial stout. It's a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket. Well I came home today and saw that the krausen is flowing out of the airlock. I should have used a blowoff tube in hindsight.

My real concern is how much volume am I going to lose to the leakage? Should I top with water in secondary or will that reduce the abv? I want to maintain the 10.5ish abv even if I lose some volume. Anyone have some experience with this?

You can't predict how much you will lose, and a beer-cano is pretty common. You could try cooling it a tiny bit, but the yeast will just do their thing. Do not top up with water though, it will just dilute the flavor and reduce the abv.

 

[stitchman]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just wait it out.

 

[flars]

1.5 gallons of headspace and krausen coming through the airlock. What is your fermentation temperature?