Overfilled 5G Carboy & then got it a little chilly

[jonnojohnson]

I'm still relatively new to AG and yesterday I brewed a batch of 80 shilling Scottish Ale. I used to just ferment at room temp in a plastic bucket but I wanted to improve my quality so I built an Igloo Ice Box cooler to improve the temp control of the ferment some. I built it to hold the glass carboy someone gave me but I didn't take into account that it's only a 5 gallon carboy.

I filled it as I normally do - with 5.5 gallons - and of course it barely fit. There is now only about a 4" diameter surface area on top (less than 2" to the bottom of the rubber bung).

Should I syphon some wort off? Should I rack it into the plastic bucket?

To complicate matters I also I discovered my thermometers weren't telling me the truth so I overcooled the wort a bit. The yeast is WLP0028 Edinburgh Ale which ideally should be at 65-70*f and according to White Labs, "Does not ferment well less than 62°F". I've cooled it to 60*f. After 12hrs it was showing some small signs of fermentation.

 

[bbognerks]

The yeast is fine. Just raise the temp and they'll wake up. As for filling the carboy, well it should be fine as long as you put a blowoff tube on it. You are pretty much guaranteed to have blowoff with the level it's at though. If you put just an airlock on it, it will probably clog and could potentially blow wort all over your room. Not fun.

 

[jonnojohnson]

Thanks bbognerks, that would have been my guess. I was just worried the low surface area would affect the yeast doing its job somehow.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You'll want a blow off and you'll lose some volume. I'd just leave it and next time don't ferment a 5G batch in a 5G carboy Those are for secondaries, the 6.5 - 7.5 G carboys are the primaries

 

[jonnojohnson]

Yeah I didn't even realize it was a 5 gal carboy till I had it filled.
My amazon wish list has a 6G Better Bottle on it

 

[Chefkeith]

Did you aerate or do a yeast starter? Both of those would help to dramatically reduce the time it takes for fermentation to really take off. And the correct temperature, of course

 

[jonnojohnson]

I aerated pretty good by pouring the wort into the carboy through a funnel. I did do a yeast starter but only yesterday morning so it wasn't exactly going crazy when I pitched about 8 hrs later.
Just checked with the wife and there's some activity starting to go on but no bubbling in the airlock yet. The cool temp prob has bought me enough time to wait until I get home to switch the airlock for a blowoff tube.
I have a stopper like this: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/popup_product_images.php?pID=11582
I have some syphon tubing that fits over the inner part. Do you think that would be wide enough ID for my blowoff?

 

[bbognerks]

Most recommend at least 1/2" ID for a blowoff.

 

[jonnojohnson]

Or should I buy some 1" tubing to fit directly into the carboy neck?

 

[bbognerks]

Seen it both ways. 1" direct fit or 1/2 - 3/4 with a drilled stopper. Whatever works for you. It just needs to be air tight. You are basically building a big airlock .

 

[Chefkeith]

I aerated pretty good by pouring the wort into the carboy through a funnel.

The current consensus, among those who don't aerate by pumping in air or pure oxygen, is to shake the carboy/bucket for 5 minutes. I usually do this by rocking the vessel back and forth on one of its edges. Always use caution when shaking/handling carboys - they're freaking dangerous!

Using these aeration techniques plus a good starter, you should see vigorous fermentation and bubbling in the blowoff tube in 4-6 hours.

 

[jonnojohnson]

Wife called, Krausen was bubbling through airlock so I had her stick the 3/8" tube in the stopper as a temp measure. Off to get some 1" tubing now. I think this'll be a big foamer for sure.

 

[BierMuncher]

1" tubing, direct fit is the way to go.