fermentation bucket, etc

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spgriffin
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fermentation bucket, etc

Post by spgriffin »

I noticed that some of my fermentation is starting off really big lately and tend to fill the bubbler with wort/beer. I am using a 6.5 gallon bucket and also have had this happen with a 6 gallon better bottle. Any suggestions people have? I don't want to get into using a blow off as my kids are likely to play with it and pull on it. Maybe a 7.9 gallon wine bucket?

Any suggestions and experience is appreciated.
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conman
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Post by conman »

I cant really suggest anything other than a blow off hose except put less wort in there to begin with or split the batches into 2 fermenters.
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slothrob
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Violent fermentation

Post by slothrob »

I've found that cooler fermentation temperatures do a lot to control violent fermentations. It won't work every time, or if the volume is too high, but it should help a lot. As an example, I found that fermenting Weizen at 62°F virtually eliminated the constant need for a blow off tube for those.

At what temperatures are you fermenting now, and with which yeasts?
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spgriffin
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fermentation

Post by spgriffin »

I am fermenting at 71 right now, but depending on the style I can be between 68-72 (ales). I can lager in a controlled fridge and never had issues with those.

Yeasts I have used lately:
Amer Ale II
Whitbread
Northwest
American Wheat
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slothrob
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Re: fermentation

Post by slothrob »

spgriffin wrote:I am fermenting at 71 right now, but depending on the style I can be between 68-72 (ales).
Try 60-65°F for US styles and 62-68°F for British styles. Shooting for the low end should calm the fermentations a bit.

I get away with 60-62°F for most yeast, but the highly flocculant ones, like the British strains, often benefit from an increase in temperature once things start to slow down. German Ale yeasts and US-05 can even ferment down into the upper 50's.

The US styles will come out cleaner at these lower temperatures, which is more appropriate to style. British ales may be a little too clean for you at those temperatures, so you might find you want to go warmer with them. A lot of US breweries use WLP002 fermented cool to make US styles, taking advantage of this cleaner ferment.

Am. Ale and Whitbread should take 62°F, AM. Wheat should be able to go even lower. So those should be safe fermented cool. I don't have any experience with Northwest.
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slothrob
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fermentation blowoff

Post by slothrob »

I meant to also mention the use of foam control drops.

These will help minimize the foaming during fermentation and might allow you to keep your temperatures high, if you prefer that.
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