# may be breaking a rule



## halifaxwino (Mar 21, 2009)

hello there,

I may be breaking a rule but you guys are so helpful and maybe there is a beer maker out there as well as a wine maker. I am doing a all grains beer kit and its on day two, fermenting like mad. that is the problem its blowing the lid and the air lock off, ive tried the method of a tube into water, doesn't help. ive left the lid on slightly with out clipping it down only to find the lid sitting on 10 inches of foam haha. any ideas would be great.. sorry about the beer question!! if it helps i have two wine kits on the go lol.


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## St Allie (Mar 22, 2009)

Halifax.. I had a damson wine do the same thing for 48 hours.. All I can suggest is you split it into two primary fermenters until it calms down and then put them back into one fermenter when foaming stops.

I've made treacle ale ( old scots recipe)..same thing.. violent ferment.. you just have to wait it out I'm afraid.

Allie


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## Conquistadude (Mar 22, 2009)

There are a lot of people that brew beer here, Wade for example.

How much head room is between the lid and the top of your batch? that could be the factor that is causing this. also What kind of yeast are you using, and was this from a Beer Kit, or scratch supplies?


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## halifaxwino (Mar 22, 2009)

*thanks for the replies so quickly*

hi thanks for the replies. 

I am making "festa Brew Kit" its a porter one of there limited specialty brews. Im very new to making beer, I've made 8 kit wines and was so used to leaving it and not worrying till i went to the brew room and saw the mess ha ha.

Im actually not to sure what kind of yeast it is im afraid i broke another rule by throwing the package away. i should no better. 

About separating the brew into separate primaries. is this ok to do while fermenting? the one im using now has about 2 or 3 inches from the lid but is a fairly wide bucket. 

Thanks.

website is here http://www.magnotta.com/Festabrew/


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## St Allie (Mar 22, 2009)

Sure you can separate it. I do it if necessary. By the way I have no experience with wine kits,.. however, I have plenty of experience with beers/ales kits. Just split it til it calms down.. ( sanitise everything obviously) it's a small nuisance , however if you don;t split it , you'll lose a bottle of finished beer or more.

Allie


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## cpfan (Mar 22, 2009)

Halifaxwino:

I haven't made a Festa Brew kit (thats a 23 litre all wort kit right?), but it's on my list. i have made Brewhouse kits (which are similar). The BH instructions recommend a large primary because of the amount of foaming (krausen). I use a 46 litre primary and have never had any problems. with the 4-6 inches of foam.

I must say that I use 46 litre primaries for all my 23 litre batches, and have had a few kits (probably all Pebble Hill brand, made by Mosti Mondiale) foam up and touch the lid.

Steve


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## Wade E (Mar 22, 2009)

I usually do this in 2 carboys both having 1" tubes stuck right in the neck of the carboy and then into a primary bucket full of water. These hoses being that big allow for much less restriction and dont get blown out by the pressure. They are called blow off tubes. I really should have bought a bigger primary vessel by ow though like CP has suggeasted.


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## Malkore (Mar 23, 2009)

Yeah, for 5 gallons of beer you really need 7gallons of space and even then some yeast strains (like a belgian wit) can far exceed that much headspace with their krausen.

It's likely to only be this explosive another day or so, so you could leave the lid resting on top rather than tightly sealed.
As soon as it subsides enough, re-seal the lid firmly.


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## halifaxwino (Apr 3, 2009)

thanks guys,

well i bottled it a couple of days ago and it tasted good then. i'm looking forward to try the finished beer. ill let you know if the kit is worth it. everyone Ive spoken to have said they are very good kits.. i guess we shall see... its funny how 5 months ago i was scared about everything i did with my wine or beer. finally I'm getting confident after my 10th kit of wine lol.. 1 st beer kit "(lower alchol) so was worried about infection.

thanks again for the great advice as usual.

Phil


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## cpfan (Apr 4, 2009)

Phil:

You should be worried about infection with beer. My understanding is that there are two issues. First, the lower alcohol. Second the yeast is not as aggressive against certain bacteria.

According to the "Beer Guy" at Spagnols (a few years ago), a common problem for wine makers switching to beer is "post fermentation bacterial infections" caused by using K-meta as the sanitizer. The "pfbi" can give the beer a lemony taste. K-meta is just not strong enough apparently.

I have talked to people who have used K-meta for beer without having any problems. But also some who have encountered the lemony taste.

Steve


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2009)

I have not heard of this lemony taste but agree k-meta is just not for beer making but is great for wine. Iodophor and StarSan should be used for beer making.


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## smurfe (Apr 4, 2009)

No problems with a beer question. I brew beer, In fact I brew a whole lot more beer now days as I make wine. 

If you are using the fermenter buckets and have this issue you have a couple things you can do. First off, you need to have that lid snapped down on there. As you saw your lid was floating high on the krausen. There is a real infection exposure there. 

What I have done with the bucket is use a 3 piece airlock and remove the center piece and slide a piece of hose over the stem and ran in down into a jar of water to create an airlock. Another thing you can do is to remove the airlock grommet and enlarge the hole until what ever size hose you use fits snuggly inside the hole. Stiffer type hose might be best used here. I buy vinyl hose at Lowes that works well for this. It probably isn't food grade but it technically isn't in contact with the beer. 

If I have something I know will high krausen I ferment it in a 6.5 US gallon carboy with a huge hose that fits inside the neck as a blow off hose.


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## halifaxwino (Apr 4, 2009)

wow, Ok I'm worried again ha ha. i really hope its ok i have heard beer is more prone to problems.. the lemon; citrus taste you are talking about i think i have tasted from a Friends batch. which was a brown ale and said he did not put any citrus fruit in. 
I tried the tube in water but the foam plugged the hose causing a blow out. i was told beer is better fermenting at a lower temperature compared to wine is this true? do yo think a lower temperature would lower the risk of aggressive fermentation? 

thanks again
phil


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2009)

For beer you will want to use a bigger hose then a typical racking hose. Lots of people actually ferment in bigger carboy with a 1" blow by tube as it can handle the thick Krausen much better then a 3/8" or 1/2" hose can. As far as temps go lower temps are a little better.


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## cpfan (Apr 5, 2009)

I do 6 US gallon batches in a 12 US gallon primary. Iodophor as a sanitizer. Rack to glass carboy after 5 or 6 days usually (although the most recent was 7 or 8).

Steve


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## WhineMaker (Apr 15, 2009)

I was talking to a fellow brewer about Krausen issues, and he told me to try Fermcap-S.. Anyone here ever use it? Supposedly this stuff can raise your IBU by 10% too...

Product Link


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