I’m brewing NB Imperial stout tomorrow. I am seeing videos of bucket lids blowing off and things of this nature. What is the best way of preventing this from happening? Would it be okay to split 5 gallons between 2 buckets. Is this even a normal thing that happens with stouts? I’m really excited at making this beer, but my husband will make me clean up the mess. Any ideas would be welcome.
Thanks in advance
1st, do you have a sister? 
Blowing a lid off can happen with any beer. Over filled fermenter, warm temps, and/or the air lock getting plugged will cause a mess.
Temp control is one way to keep the krausen under control. If you have a basement, keep the fermenter down there. Low 60’s is fine.
If you do have a wild krausen, a larger blow off tube will allow the krausen to escape the fermenter. If possible, drill the lid to accept a large hose. .5 to .75" should be fine. You should be able to find a rubber stopper to fit it later. Build something like this.
http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/bbbot.htmlIf you don’t have a drill bit that size and you are using a 3 piece air lock you can put some tubing on the post of the air lock. Cut the “X” off the bottom of the air lock also.
If neither of those are a good option right now, yes, you can split the batch into 2 fermenters.
FermCap S is an option to keep the Krausen under control. It also helps keep the hot break from making a mess during the boil.
It’s more an Imperial thing than a stout thing. Big beers tend to do that.
Yep, keep the temp down and use a blowoff tube.
I have never had a top blow off. I have seen pictures/videos though. Fermcap-s does a nice job at keeping the krausen down. I don’t think you will have a issue if the air lock stays clean. For a really big beer I would use a drop or two extra of the fermcap.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]1st, do you have a sister?
Blowing a lid off can happen with any beer. Over filled fermenter, warm temps, and/or the air lock getting plugged will cause a mess.
Temp control is one way to keep the krausen under control. If you have a basement, keep the fermenter down there. Low 60’s is fine.
She’s married.
I used the airlock with a blow off hose attached, so far so good. I have a good amount of krausen at the top but nothing touching the lid yet. Hopefully things go okay and I can let you guys know how it turns out in 5 or 6 months.
Thanks for the help.
Looks like you’re making good progress. What’s the temp at? You want to keep that down to control the krausen and also to avoid the burning alcohol taste that can be associated with big beers fermented too warm.
I’m keeping it between 62-65 degrees. When it goes in the secondary should I keep it at this temp or should I bring the temp up. Its on my kitchen floor right now, to keep the temp down, but they usually go on a table in the closet so I can keep the temp around 71-73.
71-73* ambient is fine for secondary and may actually help the yeast clean up after their little party.
One thing you need to remember is that if you primary at 65* AMBIENT your actual fermentation is at LEAST 70* due to the heat given off by the yeast during fermentation. For a big beer like a RIS the actual ferm temp was probably closer to 75*.
There are many good ways at controlling temp. Check into swamp coolers or better yet, a chest freezer converted into a fermentation chamber.
