blow off

[mikfaria]

I'm fairly new to homebrewing...Mr. Beer-->5 gal extract.
I tried to make a 5 gal batch of IPA in a 5 gal bucket. Guess what. It blew off foam right through the airlock. As I would have suspected if I had read this site before I tried. I pulled off the lid and tried to clean it up before resealing and putting the airlock back on. There has been no CO2 action since.
The residue on the lid seemed to primarily be yeast. Would this be the case? Should I add more yeast to get it rolling again. or throw it away and start over?

[wortchillergoal]

Is the water in the aielock level or pushed to the outlet side? I would think you will be ok and it is just the major portion of the fermentation is over.

[danno]

don't throw it out... for all the dire warnings we talk about, it is pretty tough to wreck a batch of beer. take a gravity reading and see how far you've fermented...

[mikfaria]

can I still take a reading if I don't have an OG? I just bouht a hhydrometer. One step at a time...Nezt step coffee/porter total whim for recipe. I'll post any credible results. I'mm doing complete fly by pants brewing. FOllowing bad cooking habits. I've never tried to follow a recipe I try to change it imediately.

[YamahaXS]

relax and have a homebrew.

1) your beer is still good. You could probably drop your car keys in your beer, fish them out with a three year olds golf club, and your beer would still be good. That said, in general avoid exposing your beer to unsanitized stuff, BUT if it happens don't think your beer will turn rotten.

2) you can take gravity readings anytime. OG and FG are useful for estimating alcohol content.

stable readings over a 3-5 day period tell you your beer is done, and its time to bottle.

In general though, for a plain old IPA or something like that, your beer will most likely be done after 3 weeks. many people will follow the following:
1. 1 week in primary.
2. 2 weeks in secondary.
3. 3 weeks in bottles.

3) fly by pants brewing is okay. I did that for a year. looking back at my recipe book I wonder what the fvck i was thinking tho. recipes, or at least style guidelines, are your friend. I say this not to damp your creative spirits, but to ensure that the beer you do brew will be good. I can not say the same about some of my first few batches (6 lbs extract : 8 ounces hops????? wtf was I thinking? :D)

[mikfaria]

thanks for the advise. I'm racking it tonight, so we'll see what we get.
I took the guidelines for this from a couple recipes posted on this forum adn melded them according to what was available at my local store.
After all the reading I've done, it's refreshing to hear that small mistakes won't kill my work.

[blatant_brewer]

Originally posted by YamahaXS
6 lbs extract : 8 ounces hops????? wtf was I thinking?

Woah, EIGHT ounces?? Was it even drinkable??