Foaming Imperial Stout

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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mpreynders
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Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Foaming Imperial Stout

Post by mpreynders »

I am brewing a russian imperial stout and when I checked it out this morning it had foamed out of the airlock all over the fermenting bucket. I resanitized the airlock only to have it quickly fill up with foam again. Should I just let it continue to foam out of the airlock?
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jedihoptrick
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Location: Mt. Hood, OR

Post by jedihoptrick »

Not unusual at all. Let it finish peakin' out, then clean up the airlock as safely as possible. Different yeast strains require different amounts of head space in the fermentation vessel. As does gravity, pitching rate and temperature.
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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

I've been making a lot of higher gravity beers lately, and I also have this same issue with the plastic buckets. I just remove the airlock and replace it with a fresh sanitized one. During the beginning of fermentation on my last beer, I had so much foam, I decided to take the lid off and just place it on top of the bucket without sealing it. I then put it in my bath tub and let it foam as much as needed. When it started calming down, I sealed the lid again and let it finish out for another week or so before transferring.

I think this may be a bit risky for the beer...but it turned out just fine, so I'm happy.
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Bottled - Bourbon Barrel Coffee Porter, Double Chocolate Raspberry Stout, Imperial Nut Brown, Apfelwein, American Amber Ale w/Homegrown Hops, Breakfast Stout
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yaturaz
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Blow off tube

Post by yaturaz »

You should sanitize a length of tubing and put that in place of your airlock. Run the tube into some water or sanitized solution. When it calms down you can then replace the airlock. That is what I do and it works great.
wausauben
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Foam problems

Post by wausauben »

I am frementing an Irish stout today and somehow the foam coming through the airlock mush have colgged iy up and actually blew off the cover of my bucket! I am now trying to implement the "length of tube..into water"routine.

This had never happened to me before. Then again, it is my first stout.

What other styles will I have to watch out for this?
shaggyt
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Go blow off tube!

Post by shaggyt »

wausauben,

I set up a blow off tube for every brew...some need it, others don't, but my paranoia doesn't allow me to risk it with just an airlock during the first few days in the primary. Other threads in this forum elude to wheats and stouts producing very high krausen. If that your preferred brew, go w/the blow tube.

Usually after 3-4 days, I replace the tube with an airlock.

One suggestion I would make though, make sure your vessel with the santized water in it is large enough to handle plenty of blow off...especially with the amount of foam you described.

Good luck.
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