Beer Explosion!!

tony b · Post by **tony b** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:55 pm

Had a first in beer experiences today. I actually had a batch of beer in the primary fermenter EXPLODE!

It was a batch of Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout. I brewed it this afternoon and pitched it around 3:30pm. The IG was offscale on my hygrometer. Beer Smith put it at 1.099. It was pitched onto a yeast cake of White Labs English Ale (WLP002) from a batch of Moose Drool that I had just transferred to secondary. It started working within half-an-hour. During dinner preps about an hour later, I heard a loud BOOM. It sounded like it was outside, so I first went to the patio door and listened outside - nothing. After dinner around 7:30pm, I went to the basement to check on the beer. The place was a freaking mess!!! The entire airlock assembly, rubber stopper and all, had blown out. There was wort splattered everywhere. It was even on the ceiling - about 4 1/2 ft above the carboy. The airlock inner cap was busted, as it had actually hit the ceiling. Note: the carboy was directly below the patio door upstairs, so that's why it sounded like the explosion was outside.

I estimate that I've lost at least a gallon of beer, as the level in the carboy is about 2 inches lower than where it started.

Lessons learned: this was only my second batch where I pitched on top of an existing yeast cake. The first time was 2 weeks ago and that beer also had an aggressive fermentation, but not explosive - it only popped the cap off the airlock after about 3 hours. Messy, but not horrendous. Second, this batch was the highest IG that I've ever done. The first batch that I re-pitched was only a 1.067 IG.

Moral of the story - Big Beers on Big Yeast Cakes = Blow Off Tubes, not Airlocks!!

Steven P · Post by **Steven P** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:12 am

Add to that. Use a big fat 1inch blowoff assembly instead of the 5/16 ID hoses that fit on the carboy caps. The 5/16 ones can get clogged easily and also explode.

There's nothing like coming home to a small river of wort running down into your basement drain. I shed a tear last time it happened to me.

daveR · Post by **daveR** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:09 am

pics or it didnt happen

tony b · Post by **tony b** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:27 am

Oh ye of little faith!

I didn't take any at the time of the actual mess (too freaked out), so here are some showing the aftermath. Notice the stains on the wall behind the carboy, the spot on the ceiling where the airlock slammed, and the loss of beer in the carboy (it started out even with the top of the thermometer strip!)

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:31 am

I have had that happen a few times. Usually with a big beer and when pitching on a yeast cake. Belgian dark strong is a major offender and if I start too warm the WLP007 Dry English Ale I have been using a lot will do that. With the WLP007, it helps to pitch cool around 62F to 64F and then let it rise up from there. I let it rise to 68F and hold there until activity slows to near a stop and then bump it to 70 F or so to finish it off. The fermcap foam reducer stuff is helpful too if you foresee a potential mess in your future.