Planning to do a BIG beer.

[brewprint]

Any advice would be appreciated here.

I have this bucket http://www.midwestsupplies.com/6-5-gallon-plastic-fermenter-with-lid.html?p=3#Reviews_tab

I have the 3 pc style airlock.

I want to brew this beer http://www.midwestsupplies.com/split-open-and-melt-imperial-stout-recipe-kit-big-brew-day-2014.html

I was going to do a 1 liter starter.

My concern is that of an explosion. Can this airlock blow off of here? Should I use a blow off tube?

 

[jethro55]

Uh-huh. Anything that strong churns pretty hard. It'll likely clog the bubbler.

 

[brewprint]

What do I do to avoid a catastrophe? I really want to brew an imperial stout.

 

[duboman]

You use a blow off tube which is nothing more than a piece of tubing running into a growler or other vessel filled with star San mix.

If you have a 3 piece airlock, remove the cap and the center float and jam a piece of tubing over the center pipe and into the growler, no explosions!


Sent from the Commune

 

[bobeer]

yup, blowoff tube for sure. I like Duboman's idea. You could also just brew a smaller batch if you're really worried about a mess. Good luck!

 

[TheBeerGuy]

I use a blowoff tube all the time now. I had a cherry explosion all over my dining room wall, floor, and ceiling (still need to paint). I learned my lesson.

What I do is use a 4' length of tubing with one end in the bung and then I'll tie a little loose know in it around the middle and put a little sanitized solution in there. The other end goes in my growler half full of sanitizer.

 

[kh54s10]

On the three piece airlock, if you are going to use it for the blow off, cut the x at the bottom tip off. Otherwise it will likely plug with debris and you will have problems. If you have the right size tubing you can just jam it in the hole where the airlock goes. You may need to remove the rubber grommet.

Put the catch vessel with Starsan on the floor next to the bucket or lower. Use only an inch or two of Starsan, just enough to keep the end of the tubing submerged. You want to avoid a reverse siphon that will suck the Starsan back into the fermenter.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Ferment at the yeast's lowest possible temp to start. It will still churn, but not as hard. You'll still probably need a blow off tubing, but it won't be as bad. Higher temps will turn your bucket into a messy volcano...


Also, bucket blow off tubes usually clog, so you end up with a mess anyways. The tubing diameter is too small.

1 1/4" tubing fits nicely in a glass carboy, and there's almost no chance that big boy will clog...

 

[flars]

Any advice would be appreciated here.

I have this bucket http://www.midwestsupplies.com/6-5-gallon-plastic-fermenter-with-lid.html?p=3#Reviews_tab

I have the 3 pc style airlock.

I want to brew this beer http://www.midwestsupplies.com/split-open-and-melt-imperial-stout-recipe-kit-big-brew-day-2014.html

I was going to do a 1 liter starter.

My concern is that of an explosion. Can this airlock blow off of here? Should I use a blow off tube?

A blow off tube is great insurance. Have the collection container below the wort to prevent a back siphon. After about four to five days the regular airlock will suffice.

Use a yeast starter calculator to help prevent a stalled fermentation. A 1 liter starter requires at least a 2 liter container.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/
http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast-tools.php

If you make a starter with dry yeast it must be properly rehydrated. Use manufacturers site for info.

Look up the optimum fermentation range pon the manufacturers web site.

High OG beers can produce a lot of heat in the first few days of active fermentation. Have the equipment to hold the fermentation in the optimum range.

Four to seven days is not sufficient time for primary fermentation.

Use your hydrometer to determine when FG is reached.

Does the recipe specify racking to a secondary? Question the need for this.

High OG beeres require long bottle conditioning times. Get ready to be patient.

No offense is these things are already very obvious in your brewing.

 

[brewprint]

I appreciate all the insight.

I think what I'm going to do here is buy another lid for the bucket. Then I'm going to take an 1 1/4 or so hole saw and drill a hole. Then use some 1 3/8 tubing for the blow off tube.

I only have 5 gallon carboys and I think that'll be too much.

Temperature regulation is hard. This summer our house stays at approximately 70 degrees so getting below that will be difficult.

 

[brewprint]

Midwest sent me this picture:

http://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/attachm...st-bucket-explosion-picture-blow-off-tube.jpg

 

[causeimthesquid]

You will need to be below 70f. I would look around here for some swamp cooler ideas.

 

[flars]

This is my swamp cooler set up when I need to keep the temp down. The wet towel and fan will drop the actively fermenting wort 8°F at an ambient temp of 68°F.
The Imperial Stout with a higher OG may not achieve an 8° drop without some ice bottles in the water.
There are other swamp cooler photos also.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/photo/swamp-cooler-61314.html

 

[KepowOb]

Yeah, from the reading on big beers I've been doing (I'm planning a RIS shortly as well), fermentation can be pretty intense, so temp control is pretty important.

You can try out a swamp cooler like flars posted, a lot of people use them. I just use a big rope bucket (this is the exact one I have... if you want one, shop around, I've seen them online on more specialty shops for as much as $30) with water that goes up to about the mid-point on my carboy, more or less, and I rotate frozen water bottles into it (2L water bottles, change them every 12 hours or so).

My room temperature is currently 77F and just by putting my carboy into the water, it kept fermentation at 72 when I was making a Saison, and I've kept a beer at 60-62 in the past, though I was rotating my bottles a bit more often for that one.

In other words, temperature control doesn't have to be fancy, just know that it won't necessarily be elegant either, hah. And obviously doing something like a swamp cooler won't be as precise as a temp. controlled fridge, but it's definitely better than nothing.

 

[Hopper5000]

Blowoff tube will work fine as cleaning krausen off of the ceiling really really sucks. I have had to do it a couple of times....

You could also use fermcap which breaks surface tension and will prevent the fermentation from going super crazy.

 

[causeimthesquid]

Why are you worrying about temperature control with a saison?