Holy Cow! Foam Bomb!

[fuji6100]

Well, I expected a violent fermentation of my strawberry wheat (using real strawberries) but after 7 hours, my initial 3 foot 1/2" OD blowoff tube wasn't cutting it. The lid was domed up like it was about to blow so I thought I better do something different.

I rigged up a 16 inch tube to a sprite bottle with a little bit of water/bleach at the bottom. The shorter tube seems to be working better but I've probably already lost a beer to just foam. I'm hoping it doesn't blow up over night, or while I'm at work 12 hours tomorrow.

I'll cross my fingers.

[danno]

sounds like you've got a clogged tube...

your ferment is putting off so much co2, you're probably safe just cracking the lid and letting it vent out the sides... nothing's going to get in with that much output....

[paul84043]

I just went through that very same thing with my barleywine.
The pressure required to push the foam through that little tube is actually quite high, the surface area of your lid is so large that it takes only a little bit of pressure to add up to enough force to pop your lid off.
The shorter the hose, the better off you are...
I am going to drill out a bung and make an oversized blowoff because that situation really sucks.
Hang in there, keep an eye on it and do what you can to get through the day that it takes to fall back in....

You actually boiled your fruit right into your wort didn't You?

My raspberry wheat had me start like a normal wheat beer, then after 5 days when the initial ferment had died down, I added the fruit to the primary and it took off again.

[fuji6100]

Yeah, I saw pictures of your fermenter with the foam on top. Very similar situation here.

Actually, I didn't boil the fruit. I added the puree'd frozen strawberries (which were still "chilled" but not frozen) to the wort just after shutoff. I'm guessing they held at about 160-180 degrees (just enough to pasteurize) before I put the whole thing into an ice bath.

I'm thinking next time I'll do what you did, but how do you keep your fruit sanitary if adding it to the brew 5 days later?

(Just an update... The fermenter now resides in the bathtub with the bung open and about 3/4 gallon has already foamed down the drain)

[Tweek]

you guys that are using make shift blow offs should really consider asking for a blowoff tube from your brew shop. Most carry a tube that is the same size as the opening on carboys. I use this when I need to and never have any clogged hose problems.

[paul84043]

Oh...now you tell us.....
I have never seen a real big blowoff setup..

My barleywine blew off almost a full gallon of beer...that sucks.

I used the "Oregon" brand sterile puree....I don't know how you would sterilize fresh fruit.
I wonder if you could just blanch the fruit in hot water, then puree it or mash it up, and add it to the primary? If it works in the initial stage, then it should work just fine after a few days as well.

[fuji6100]

Tweek...

I'm using a 6.7 gallon plastic fermenting bucket. A small hole is pre-drilled in the lid with a rubber grommet inserted that takes a 1/4" Airlock/blowoff.

For this batch I took out the grommet and have a 1/2" Blowoff tube (the biggest I could get in without mangling my fermenting lid) which still didn't cut it.

My only option was to let it just ooze out into the bath-tub. It's pouring out so fast I really don't think any critters are going to get in.

Paul - Yeah, I think that could work. Maybe next time I'll try the hot water blanching and add it after primary fermentation is done. I think the combination of primary fermentation PLUS the strawberries is what kicked it into overdrive.

[Tweek]

hehe one more reason to spring for the 20 bucks to get a glass carboy :D