Am I heading for a blow-off?

[rawsbb]

My second brew. First time, months ago, the yeast was a bit old (it was a dry yeast and very little action within the first 24 hrs, so I added a second the next day and it all worked fine); fermentation went as expected, bottling as well; finished product was terrific (not least for a first time).
Did another yesterday. Mixed-grain pale ale, with Columbus, Centennial and Cascade Hops (primary, secondary and final additions, respectively). Initial boil at 3.5gal. Liquid yeast a bit lame, so I used a single capsule BrewVint Yeast Fuel (after looking it up to read about pros/cons); emptied the capsule into the boil just after the second hop addition, just under 10mins before finishing the boil. Finished, cooled down the boil, added the rest (1.5gal) of the water to top it off to 5gal. Agitated carboy a bit per instructions. Let it sit for a few mins. Took OG reading, was 1.061. Added liquid yeast. Capped it with AirLock.
Finished and moved bottle downstairs to utility room (where I also did the first primary fermentation); room temp is btw 62ºF (avg overnight) to 68ºF (avg daytime). Initial movement was slow--sediment had moved to the bottom but very little activity. When I went to bed a few hours later, I checked it and the yeast appeared to be working a bit more. By morning, though, it was much better--more than I had ever seen with the first brew. Now, a few hours later, the airlock is bubbling--slowly, but consistently. Photos attached--the first is from 8am this morning, and the other two from 30mins ago, just after 1pm today).
Any suggestions? Am I heading for a blow-off? I don't have a blow-off tube, but I could rig one using the base of the airlock (I don't have an extra airlock, so I'd have to pull this one off and move quickly), or just leave it alone? Or?
Thanks for any suggestions. I've learned a lot from this forum and appreciate any input you can give
Richard (rawsbb)

 

[SabreSteve]

View attachment 13391 View attachment 13392 View attachment 13393 My second brew. First time, months ago, the yeast was a bit old (it was a dry yeast and very little action within the first 24 hrs, so I added a second the next day and it all worked fine); fermentation went as expected, bottling as well; finished product was terrific (not least for a first time).
Did another yesterday. Mixed-grain pale ale, with Columbus, Centennial and Cascade Hops (primary, secondary and final additions, respectively). Initial boil at 3.5gal. Liquid yeast a bit lame, so I used a single capsule BrewVint Yeast Fuel (after looking it up to read about pros/cons); emptied the capsule into the boil just after the second hop addition, just under 10mins before finishing the boil. Finished, cooled down the boil, added the rest (1.5gal) of the water to top it off to 5gal. Agitated carboy a bit per instructions. Let it sit for a few mins. Took OG reading, was 1.061. Added liquid yeast. Capped it with AirLock.
Finished and moved bottle downstairs to utility room (where I also did the first primary fermentation); room temp is btw 62ºF (avg overnight) to 68ºF (avg daytime). Initial movement was slow--sediment had moved to the bottom but very little activity. When I went to bed a few hours later, I checked it and the yeast appeared to be working a bit more. By morning, though, it was much better--more than I had ever seen with the first brew. Now, a few hours later, the airlock is bubbling--slowly, but consistently. Photos attached--the first is from 8am this morning, and the other two from 30mins ago, just after 1pm today).
Any suggestions? Am I heading for a blow-off? I don't have a blow-off tube, but I could rig one using the base of the airlock (I don't have an extra airlock, so I'd have to pull this one off and move quickly), or just leave it alone? Or?
Thanks for any suggestions. I've learned a lot from this forum and appreciate any input you can give
Richard (rawsbb)

I've made that same mistake before with overpitching Nottingham into a 1.060 gravity wort before:

I'll tell you what @Nosybear told me. Get a towel and gently unscrew the airlock. Then step back and say a prayer cause it's going to blow. If you're lucky like me it'll be more like an overflowing sink and less like a geyser. If you have another 3 peice airlock and some tubing you can rig a blowoff tube from the center post of the airlock and when the top of the carboy is clear install the new airlock with blowoff tube. I do this with all higher gravity beers now and when you're past the bulk of fermentation you can remove the tube and fill the airlock like normal. Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

[SabreSteve]

Sorry didn't read that you don't have an extra airlock. You could try to move quickly but even if it doesn't geyser it's likely that it will keep overflowing until you get the blowoff tube on. Just work fast. This is what mine ended up looking like:

 

[Josh Hughes]

We’ve all been there I’d say. I’ve had a few where I’ve needed to change he air lock 2-3 times during high Krausen. Luckily caught in time. I’m sure doing that saved me from the big blow.

 

[SabreSteve]

We’ve all been there I’d say. I’ve had a few where I’ve needed to change he air lock 2-3 times during high Krausen. Luckily caught in time. I’m sure doing that saved me from the big blow.

I think I saw somewhere somebody said you can't really call yourself a homebrewer until you've had to repaint the ceiling...
We all get there at some point.

 

[rawsbb]

Thanks for the input. It appears that the consensus is that it's going to blow, or that it's just a prudent idea to rig a blow-off cap/tube anyway, or both? I can rig one using the base of the existing airlock, I think, but assuming that would work, I'd be exposing the brew to the open air while I did it. The only alternative I can come up with is to do nothing but to monitor it. (I could order a blow-off tube set-up etc., but it won't be here for 1-3 days. Photo attached is from a few minutes ago, about 2hrs after I posted this.

 

[Megary]

Thanks for the input. It appears that the consensus is that it's going to blow, or that it's just a prudent idea to rig a blow-off cap/tube anyway, or both? I can rig one using the base of the existing airlock, I think, but assuming that would work, I'd be exposing the brew to the open air while I did it. The only alternative I can come up with is to do nothing but to monitor it. (I could order a blow-off tube set-up etc., but it won't be here for 1-3 days

With your yeasties as active as they currently are, this is not an issue. Rig that blow-off and don't worry about air.

 

[Craigerrr]

Don't worry about exposure at this point, Co2 is being pushed out pretty vigorously right now. Just make sure to sanitize whatever you use.

 

[SabreSteve]

Don't worry about exposure at this point, Co2 is being pushed out pretty vigorously right now. Just make sure to sanitize whatever you use.

Yeah don't worry about exposure. Your number one concern is to relieve that pressure and rig up your blowoff tube. No significant amount of air is getting in there while it's that pressurized.

 

[rawsbb]

Thanks again. Turned out a) the pressure was manageable when we did the switch, but b) the tube and the stem built-inside the airlock's hard plastic base were the same diameter (I had thought I could mount the tube on the stem), so I couldn't use the funnel-like hard plastic base with the tube; I ended up placing the one end of the tube directly into the outer rubber base of the airlock (the other is in a bucket with sanitizer and water). I pushed the tube down into the carboy, but it isn't as snug a fit as the outer plastic base is when it fits into the rubber base. It's flowing, slowly; it's working. But does this make sense? Is this ok, or do I run the risk of air getting into the carboy via the base of the airlock? And in any case, do I leave this arrangement for the duration or do i put the airlock back on in a day or so when it appears to have moved past the initial phase and the threat appears to have passed?

 

[Mark Farrall]

It doesn't sound ideal, but controlling the overflow is the most important thing at the moment.

As the hose and the airlock are the same size you could try softening the hose in some boiled water and using pliers to widen the hose so that it can hopefully fit over the part of the airlock. It may take a bit of work, but you can usually push it over if they're the same size.

 

[SabreSteve]

Thanks again. Turned out a) the pressure was manageable when we did the switch, but b) the tube and the stem built-inside the airlock's hard plastic base were the same diameter (I had thought I could mount the tube on the stem), so I couldn't use the funnel-like hard plastic base with the tube; I ended up placing the one end of the tube directly into the outer rubber base of the airlock (the other is in a bucket with sanitizer and water). I pushed the tube down into the carboy, but it isn't as snug a fit as the outer plastic base is when it fits into the rubber base. It's flowing, slowly; it's working. But does this make sense? Is this ok, or do I run the risk of air getting into the carboy via the base of the airlock? And in any case, do I leave this arrangement for the duration or do i put the airlock back on in a day or so when it appears to have moved past the initial phase and the threat appears to have passed?

So it sounds like you bypassed the airlock completely and put the tube directly in the carboy bung/stopper. As long as it's all sanitized that's fine. If it's not completely snug that's fine because the outgoing CO2 should keep the oxygen out. If you're worried about that when the fermentation slows down you can swap your airlock back in. That's the main advantage of connecting to the airlock post is that it's quicker and easier to swap back. If it takes you a min to swap it don't worry about it. I've had my toddler straight yank the airlock off after high krausen and took me a few minutes to get it sorted out. Beer came out fine. My batch that almost blew up also came out delicious FYI. I call it my bomb squad brown ale

 

[Hawkbox]

You've never experienced brewing if you haven't painted your ceiling at least once.

 

[rawsbb]

Thanks again. This has been invaluable advice from all of you. I did put the hose directly into the bung/stopper, because the airlock base wouldn't accommodate the hose. It's snug, if not as airtight as it might be if it--the hose--were directly mounted on the stem of the airlock base but it can't be as they're the same size. It's been producing non-stop, if slow, flow of air and a bit of foam/krausen with it, for the past five hours, into the bucket containing sanitized water. I'm monitoring it, hoping it will ease up before long as I'd like to put the airlock back on if for no other reason than the simple fact that I don't want to loose too much fermentation or gain too much new air in the process.
I appreciate the advice. This forum is great.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I learn stuff every day on here. Great place