Brewed a Belgian Dubbel using a T58 dry yeast. Got temp down to 70 , agitated and sprinkled dry yeast and swirled to mix. Had a massive blow off,actually blew airlock off within 8 hours, made a mess. Added a blowoff tube. The inside of the carboy is a mess. I had planned on leaving it in primary for 5-6 weeks and not going to secondary. After the mess, should I move to secondary after two weeks? More info - room was warm for the first night, over 75 degrees while the hotstove fire died out. Roomed cooled to the high 60s in the morning. I am a newbie so any advice is welcome. Thanks
I wouldn’t worry about how the inside of the carboy looks. More important is if there is a mess on the outside neck and lip of the carboy. I would try and make sure that is cleaned up well because of the possibility of anything contacting that “lip” later on when you go to insert your siphon to rack.
Using a secondary is usually personal preference, or sometimes in my case, laziness. While I usually prefer to use a secondary I think it is best for newer brewers to skip it until they have their racking technique down and then they can see if they prefer using one or not. Many people don’t use one.
It does sound like you might want to avoid starting your ferment at such a warm temp. While T-58 can be fermented pretty warm, I would try to start it out a bit slower and let it rise on its own rather than w/ the rising room temp. You’ll also have less blow-off issues that way.
Thanks, I did clean the neck (outside and inside) with sanitizer when I put on the blowoff tube. It has settled down so I will add the 3 piece back on and clean againm I was more concerned about the sticky mess inside the glass attracting bacteria over 3-4 weeks.
Something you could consider as well is to just start with a blow-off tube instead of the airlock for the first 24-36 hours of fermentation if you expect any kind of violent fermentation. I did with my last brew and it worked out pretty well. Once the blow-off was over I put my nice clean airlock on and let it continue fermenting for the next two weeks.
Sure, the top of the carboy got all that gunk in there again, but I have come to expect that as part of the process. You just have to come up with a reliable way to clean all that out of there.
Not sure if you know this, the few times I’ve used T-58 it is known to have a higher final gravity, so it is normal to see it finish high. I usually start to check it after 2-3 wks over a few days to see if it’s done with Hydrom.
This is the best advice. Don’t pitch your yeast until the wort is at or slightly below the temperature you want to ferment at, then let it rise to fermentation temperature slowly. Combine that with a 7 gallon bucket as primary, and you’ll never have another blowoff.
This is the best advice. Don’t pitch your yeast until the wort is at or slightly below the temperature you want to ferment at, then let it rise to fermentation temperature slowly. Combine that with a 7 gallon bucket as primary, and you’ll never have another blowoff.[/quote]
Another +1 to this advice. Warm fermentation temperature is probably the number 1 contributor to poor results in a beer. When any literature informs you to ferment at X degrees, they are referring to beer temp, not ambient room temperature. Once those yeast get going they will create heat, sending your beer temps above room temperature by 5-10 degrees, depending on batch size, available sugar and fermentation vessel.
As far as infection goes, don’t worry about it. If it occurred, it was likely not from this blow-off incident. The residue clinging to the inside of the carboy will only grow bugs if bugs were introduced during fermentation. As long as you have a properly sealed carboy and your sanitation efforts were properly conducted prior to chilling your wort and pitching your yeast, no bugs found their way in to begin messing with your beer. Fermentation is always messy.
Again, you will probably notice off flavors with your beer. These are most likely esters/alcohol flavors associated with fermenting too warm.
