Someone PLEEEASE tell me to RDWHAHB

[hooky]

I brewed an Imperial Stout last night and pitched a yeast slurry from another beer I had racked on Tuesday. It was cooking away this morning before I left for work. About 4 hours ago, my son and I tried to say "bubble" every time we saw one and couldn't keep up. I just came back up after sanitizing the 3 piece airlock that was full of beer and put the lid back on the bucket after it had been blown off. I didn't hear it blow, but I know there was at most a 4 hour window where the primary was open to whatever is floating around in the air down in my basement.

Now I'm bummed. I know there's nothing to do but wait and see what happens.

A blow off tube and 6.5 gal carboy are in my future.

[hooky]

Holy Crap. I no sooner hit submit before I heard it blow again. Any ideas on what to do? It's a 5 Gallon batch in a 6.5 Gallon bucket with a 3 piece airlock. I'm going to leave the airlock off for now and cover it with a small glass bowl turned upside downh. I'm not sure what else to do.

:(

[hooky]

Maybe scoop out some with a sterilized spoon?

[gestyr]

Relax!!!!!

Take a piece of syphon hose and connect it to the center of the airlock...you know....the tube part that goes thru the lid? Then just run the tube into a pail of water.

No worries. You are at a point of active fermentation and the pressure is positive. There should be a minimum chance of contanimation.

Or you could just leave the lid loose until the heavy activity dies down and then seal it.

[corkybstewart]

I have to agree with geystr. A blow off hose is an essential peice of equipment, but beer was brewed for centuries without airlocks or blowoffs The flow of CO2 from the surface of the wort will keep nasties away, and the pH of the fermenting beer will discourage those nasties that do land from having an impact. Leave the lid on loosely for now and all will be alright. Relax, etc

[hooky]

Just poured a whiskey and went down to break the seal on the lid. Life is good. I now understand the need for a blow off hose and respect the power of a big fresh yeast pitch.

I should have guessed this one would be different when I had had 2 near boilovers with a batch this size in a 30 qt pot.

[gestyr]

Learning is half the fun. I have seen a batch pitched onto a yeastcake take off in almost a matter of minutes. Blowoff tubes are a wonderful thing.

Now....rdwahahb

[corkybstewart]

I learned the value of a blow off hose when my wife called me on my cell phone while I was at an out of town meeting. The lid had blown off my fermenter and "gunk" was everywhere. Luckily the client I was with loved my homebrew. But I had to exolain to my wife how to find a piece of plastic tubing, sanitize it, stick it thru the stopper, and attach a hose. The beer actually was one of my best. Now I always use a blowoff hose, regardless of what I'm brewing. I have 2 sizes, 1/2" and 3/8". And there is always time to relax and have a brew.

[hooky]

I'm smiling now. But as you can tell, I was just a tad concerned before. :cool:

I'm really digging this hobby. Thanks for the guidance guys.

[corkybstewart]

Hobby my ass. If you ain't living it you're in the wrong game my friend.
Sorry but my evil twin the "beermonster" took over for a moment.

[hooky]

Denial is only a river in Egypt.

It's just a hobby, damnit.

[corkybstewart]

Ask my wife if it's a hobby for me -hell, its my obssesion. We don't do anything without considering the beer related implications. In my defense we spent a week in Belgium and only visited 2 breweries-you see one, you've seen them all, and besides, I have one in the garage. On the other other hand we did spend a lot of time drinking and buying beer every chance we got.
Beer isn't a hobby any more than breathing is an option.
But he key is to always relax have another one, even if it isn't a homebrew.

[hooky]

Lid loosened and it's pushing foam out onto the floor (actually a couple of towels) at a rate that I would have called alarming before this thread.

1 in the morning and I'm still watching the fermenter and posting here. I think I'm realizing that I've crossed that imaginary hobby line.

[corkybstewart]

Just tell the wife that you expected this to happen, it always does with great beer and if she doesn't like it -sorry, strike that comment about if she doesn't like it. Just tell her that you can't believe how supportive she is of your hobby.

[hooky]

That's the best thing about this whole stretch. She's up with me, talking about how much heart this beer has and how good it's going to be when we crack open both the first and last.

I've got a keeper.

[hooky]

The yeast is still tearing through the sugar down there this morning. Had to change out the towels the bucket is sitting on, but other than that I don't have any more problems. Thanks, Corky and Gestyr.

[Halgarmeister]

Originally posted by hooky
That's the best thing about this whole stretch. She's up with me, talking about how much heart this beer has and how good it's going to be when we crack open both the first and last.

I've got a keeper.

Yes you do, my friend, yes, you do!

Your description and experiences here with using the yeast cake has made me want to try it now.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
Hobby my ass. If you ain't living it you're in the wrong game my friend.

Nice, nice.......

[gestyr]

So Hooky....

Any updates? I am curious to see how it worked out for you.

[hooky]

I left the lid loose Friday night and then sealed it again Saturday morning. It was still very active all day Saturday. Today (Sunday) it's winding down, about 20 bubbles/minute coming through the airlock when the first NFL game started. I'll rack it to secondary on Tuesday or Wednesday and post an update.

Here's a pic of it within a few minutes after the second blow up. I'd cleaned up most of the mess at this point. You can see some of the debris in the bottome right on the sheet that covers my secondaries. That post was covered with crap from knee high up to about my shoulders. LOL

[gestyr]

Looks very familiar. :)

I think it is a form of baptism....and it teaches home brewers about blowoff tubes. Just be glad you didn't have it in a glass carboy.

All of us go through it. Just like all of us can tell their favorite boilover stories.

Keep up the good work Hooky and keep us posted.

And for the record,
Drinking now: Old Muhlpis Blonde Ale
Conditioning in bottle: Smiling Cat APA
Aging for 30 more days: Pornographic Priestess Porter

[chapesh]

well welcome to homebrewing, i had this happen and blamed my cat! don't worry the beer will be fine, better than fine it is after all your beer! and the girlfriend who stands beside you while your are stressing over this messy smelly glass carboy and talks of heart and how good it is going to be IS A KEEPER, i just married mine a few months ago. the kicker is what beer styles does she like? mine was a bud girl(and tekillya) but she has professed a love of my wheat and kolsch. ahhh i love her! good luck with the beer it should be fine and congrats on the girl! by the way my beer was great! go ahead with the blow off tube though it will come in VERY handy. also just go ahead and get several feet of tubing of the sizes you use you will find that it comes in handy and is cheap backup! good luck!

[dparsons]

I think its more to worry about if your beer doesn't kick off. Thats when the nasties have time to get in.

[hooky]

I racked this beer Thursday night and then left Friday morning for a weekend trip. It was extremely dark, and smelled sweet and hoppy. I had a just a little bit of fermentation in the secondary even though I had swirled it pretty good to rouse yeast on Monday. The yeast cake was very thick and a dark gray. I harvested a little over 400ml of it for a porter, when I find a recipe.