another "blow off tube" thread

[LouBrew13]

So this past Saturday I brewed up a Belgian strong ale and fermentation was going nicely. Last night I received a call at work from swmbo saying the lid had blown off and of course beer was everywhere. Then she told me that she cleaned it up and dumped my ruined beer. Ugh awful night.

When I got home the beer was fine but my airlock did clog and blew the lid off. Slight mess and that's pretty much it. She got me with the dumped batch though.

So my question, do I have anything to worry about with the beer? There was a nice cover of krausen on top and after cleaning and sanitizing the lid and stopper, active bubbling again. I want to keep my beer.

Cheers

 

[brewkinger]

Let it ride and see what the result is. No sense getting rid of it until you know for sure.
RDWHAHB

 

[glenn514]

The beer is probably fine. I have gotten into the habit of using a blow-off tube on EVERY brew. The first 48 hours of fermentation are often extremely vigorous...almost violent. Using a blow-off is simple insurance that all will be well.

glenn514

 

[m3n00b]

My blow off tube:

 

[Echoloc8]

My blow off tube:

Quoted for truth. Haven't had a blowoff (or kraeusen taller than about two inches) in five batches since using this stuff, and some of them were big dang beers with big dang pitches. :rockin:

-Rich

 

[LouBrew13]

Should I try to avoid that krausen when racking or will it just fall back into the beer as usual?

 

[m3n00b]

Should I try to avoid that krausen when racking or will it just fall back into the beer as usual?

There usually isn't any krausen when I rack. Are you racking to secondary? I would avoid it.

 

[LouBrew13]

I'll just let it sit for a bit after fermentation and age in a keg.

 

[kh54s10]

I have never had any krausen left when it was time to bottle. I always primary for 3 weeks then ,secondary if aging, or bottle and now I'm into kegging.

I used to use the Fermcap-s but since it is silicone and the FDA recommends filtering it out I have stopped using it and just set up a blow off tube for every batch. The Fermcap-s will settle to the bottom and if you don't suck up all the trub there should be no worries but I have decided not to use it in most cases.

 

[m3n00b]

I have never had any krausen left when it was time to bottle. I always primary for 3 weeks then ,secondary if aging, or bottle and now I'm into kegging.

I used to use the Fermcap-s but since it is silicone and the FDA recommends filtering it out I have stopped using it and just set up a blow off tube for every batch. The Fermcap-s will settle to the bottom and if you don't suck up all the trub there should be no worries but I have decided not to use it in most cases.

Fermcap just floats on top. As long as you don't siphon off all of the beer you won't get any in your bottle. Also, 3 drops in 5 gallons is way less than the toxicity rate in humans.

 

[kh54s10]

Fermcap just floats on top. As long as you don't siphon off all of the beer you won't get any in your bottle. Also, 3 drops in 5 gallons is way less than the toxicity rate in humans.

Ah, yes - it floats.

I am not worried about the toxicity but since it is synthetic product I have just decided not to use it in most cases. I have not experienced too many dramatic blow offs so I am not concerned about losing some foam out of the fermenter.

 

[m3n00b]

Ah, yes - it floats.

I am not worried about the toxicity but since it is synthetic product I have just decided not to use it in most cases. I have not experienced too many dramatic blow offs so I am not concerned about losing some foam out of the fermenter.

I just put it in there just in case. I've never had a blow off but since I ferment in my garage I don't really want it all over my car, tv, tools and homebrew stuff.

 

[Stauffbier]

I don't like using fermcap either. I don't care how safe it is. Blow off tubes work just fine for me.

 

[LouBrew13]

I'm sure some like fermcap but I really have no intention of using it. Just a blow off tube. And I should know better because the last time I brewed the same beer I needed one also. Trappist high gravity yeast is crazy! But never had the lid blow off before.