Just put the airlock on a carboy last evening on a batch of Chocolate Milk Stout. Nothing this morning, nothing at lunch, came home to a closet with fermentation all over the floor and my carboy and its still erupting. Obviously, I am cleaning it up but I would like to know my next step because I want to contaminate as little as possible.
Any tips or suggestions?
I cleaned a plug and a hose and I have it draining into a bucket.
Keep in mind, nothing is going to get in while the carboy is actively barfing, so contamination risk is low
A blowoff tube is the best option in the short term.
Once it settles down (12-18) hours. You can put back the cleaned-out airlock. Refill it with fresh sanitizer; cheap vodka/rum/whiskey is a good star san substitute for this. Or leave the blow off, but I find even using sanitizer the blow-off bucket gets pretty gnarly.
thank you man.
It is my fourth batch and it has happened twice now.
+1 to what JMcK said.
What temperature were you fermenting at? Whatever the ambient temp, the temp inside the carboy can be several degrees higher and create a more vigorous ferm. If your ambient is 68-70*+, look into a swamp cooler. It really helps maintain a relatively consistent temp and can be adjusted with frozen water bottles and/or a fan or warm water if in a cold location. Maintaining a lower temp (lower end of the range of the yeast used) can mitigate this type of situation somewhat. Also, make sure your carboy has sufficient head space-minimum of 6 gal carboy for a five gallon batch, 6.5 would be better.
