Beer Bomb!! Help!!

[Botoole560]

I brewed my Hefeweizen on saturday then left town for two days. When I came home this morning, I found a very strong beer scent, opened the door, and found that my carboy had blown the top spewing beer everywhere!! (I still haven't found the airlock!!) The part I'm having the most trouble cleaning up is the ceiling. The beer on the ceiling is in the form of dry hardened particles, and they're not coming off!! Also, I was wondering if since the carboy sat open for 1-2 days if the beer inside is ok. I put on a new airlock and it's still bubbling at 6 per minute. I figured if it blew up it already had a pretty good CO2 blanket on top and I shouldn't have to worry too much about contamination, right?? Also, just after brewing, the string had slipped off my hydrometer when I took my first reading and I had decided it would be fine staying in the carboy. Now I cannot see said hydrometer due to the usual junk on top of the beer and on the glass, but I also can't hear it like I usually can when I gently agitate the carboy. Is it possible that the hydrometer was crushed and I could be making shards o'glass weizen?? Or maybe it got blasted out of the carboy?? Anyway, I just have a couple main questions here:

1. Any suggestions for getting the beer off the ceiling today?? Before I get crazy and start sanding.

2. Do you think my beer is ok??

3. Did the hydrometer get crushed??

Thank you

[Botoole560]

I just found the hydrometer, safe and sound floating at the top!! And after scrubbing the carpet I'm tempted to take a bite out of my hands because they smell just like a nice yummy Franziskaner!!

Thank you

[JayShaw91]

I still want to know how the hell it blew up that badly. That sounds like some serious pressure to have that happen.

Did you make a starter? What temp are you fermenting at?

[beerking]

I have had beers do that, esp wheat beers are notorious for blowing. I always use a 6.5-7 gal carboy for primary, and if I think it is getting , or might get, very active I use a blow off tube, esp for wheats.

I have a lovely Oatmeal Stout stain on the shelf above my fermenter shelf.

[gestyr]

I agree. Using a blowoff tube is the thing to do. I realized this long ago when I came downstairs one morning and saw my airlock filled with krauzen. I relieved the pressure, put on a sanitized airlock, took a trip to the lhbs and bought a carboy cap and then installed it with a blowoff.

And I wouldn't worry about the batch being contaminated. If it was pumping out that much pressure you had a very nice CO2 blanket on top. :)

[Botoole560]

Thanks guys. I brewed an american style amber beer today again using White Labs yeast, and you can bet I used a blow off hose this time!! And as for the hydrometer, the rescue mission was a complete success!! It read the O.G. on today's brew and is now washed, sanitized, dried, and comfortably back in it's case. Unfortunately I will be away for another 5 days, so hopefully my blow off set up does the trick!!

Thank you

[Botoole560]

Oh, by the way, I did not make a starter, I used White Labs Hefeweizen Ale Yeast #WLP300, made a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon carboy, and the temperature was most likely a little on the cold side when I pitched. I aerated very thoroughly as I usually do. Then, it sat all night in the kitchen, and when I checked it in the morning before I left, I had decided it was too cold down there, so I hauled it upstairs to the bedroom. (doh!!) I did call home to have someone tell me if it had started or not, and at about the 24 hour mark it had not. So I'm thinking the colder initial temperature caused the slow start up. This yeast says it likes to work between 68 and 73, and my house is usually a bit on the cold side this time of year, so right now room temperature seems to be working. The house smells so strongly of alcohol right now, and the stuff was EVERYWHERE. I've come to the conclusion that I will in fact need to paint that ceiling soon. I got most of the big chunks off the ceiling, and am hoping the lil' lady will just think it's dust bunnies from the ceiling fan. She can't reach them to clean them up anyway, so I think we'll be good in the mean time.

Thank you

[Mill Rat]

OK, two points. First, WLP300 is a yeast on a mission. Even if you don't make a starter, warm it up first, or any of the other usual niceties it takes to turn a mild-looking tube of yeast into a rabid wort-hog, this yeast doesn't so much ferment as detonate. Temp control is the only way to keep it from going postal.

Second, flat ceilings are some of the most PITA part of a house to finish and get to look right, and you can't hang a picture over any glaring fault. You're pretty much stuck with sanding the crud off and repainting. Plan to repaint the entire ceiling, since you'll find that your warm air furnace has left a little gray haze over the registers that you can't see until you paint the rest of it bright white.

[TeufelBrew]

Second, flat ceilings are some of the most PITA part of a house to finish and get to look right, and you can't hang a picture over any glaring fault. You're pretty much stuck with sanding the crud off and repainting. Plan to repaint the entire ceiling, since you'll find that your warm air furnace has left a little gray haze over the registers that you can't see until you paint the rest of it bright white.

That sounds like the voice of experience speaking! ;) I recognize that voice quiet well myself. Two houses, all cealings re-finnished. Never easy and no way to cheat.