ArtCox wrote:
Don't feel bad Don, I came home from Nashville this evening to a mess in the garage. either my yeast pitch was too large or my headspace was too small, either or, it's still spewing. I built a tent of plastic over it to keep it off the walls and ceiling.
There are usually a few contributing factors to a violent blow off of your airlock. First is the yeast selection. Certain yeast have a greater propensity to create a "big fluffy head". The yeast that are known for big head productions are White Labs Trappist, WLP300 Hefeweizen, and WLP002 English. Certainly the first two are the most infamous. However, once in awhile a yeast like the normally calm WLP001 California busting out of a carboy. A second factor is heat. They yeast go wild when they get hot. Fermentations above 73 degrees are candidates. Another factor is starting gravity. Higher gravity beers have more violent ferments. Sometimes a beer will start to ferment and come to a near halt shortly after starting because of a rapid drop in ambient temperature. When it suddenly becomes warm, because the weather heats up or the carboy is moved to a warmer location, it can cause a yeast breakout. If you plan on brewing with actual fruit in the primary (when lots of sugar are left) you should use a blow off . There is no hard and fast rule for when it will happen but there are certain factors that can be avoided. Don't ferment in a 5 gallon carboy with only an airlock. Keep an eye on your fermenter when in doubt.
Some use FERMCAP FOAM CONTROL
It's a milky liquid emulsion that reduces foaming during fermentation, without affecting heading or the flavor of the finished beer. The active food grade ingredient,dimethylpolysiloxane, reduces surface tension of the wort, enabling you to have vigorous ferments in smaller fermenters.
Fermcap settle out in the yeast sediment when fermentation ends. Use ¼ to ½ teaspoon per 5 gallon batch of beer, adding right before you add the yeast. Preserved with sodium metabisulphite. This 4 fluid oz. bottle is good for many batches and should be stored in a cool place, and shaken before each use to unify the emulsion.
I have tried this in the past. it also works to control boilovers. My brewing I plan on every batch blowing off, I watch it and keep my blowoff tube handy, the bigger the beers, or the more wheat I use, the more likely I am to go ahead and put the tube in the carboy right after pitching the yeast.
