Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
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- FreeMountainHermit
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Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
Gentlemen, cold weather is soon upon us and is already here in my neck of the woods so I will be forced to move my ferments into our small bathroom when I'm up and running again soon.
In the last few months some members have posted about having very "active" ferments resulting in not a little bit of a mess to clean up. I can't say that I remember this beeing an issue here with the exception of one of the recipes in the T&T section where the OP posted that his airlock blew off and hit his ceiling.
Any do's n don't's I should be aware of or ferments that I should keep a close eyeball on ?
Don't feel like gittin' shot by my SOH with my own damn gun. I know youse guyz will understand. LOL.
I believe PH adjustments were an issue in one posters situation.
TIA, FMH.
In the last few months some members have posted about having very "active" ferments resulting in not a little bit of a mess to clean up. I can't say that I remember this beeing an issue here with the exception of one of the recipes in the T&T section where the OP posted that his airlock blew off and hit his ceiling.
Any do's n don't's I should be aware of or ferments that I should keep a close eyeball on ?
Don't feel like gittin' shot by my SOH with my own damn gun. I know youse guyz will understand. LOL.
I believe PH adjustments were an issue in one posters situation.
TIA, FMH.
Blah, blah, blah,........
- shadylane
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
Don't fill the fermenter all the way up, especially with an all grain that will form a cap.
Be careful adding anything to an active ferment, the CO2 will use it as an excuse to foam up.
Be careful adding anything to an active ferment, the CO2 will use it as an excuse to foam up.
Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
Be very careful doing big ferments in small, unvented spaces. You certainly don't want little people barging in and closing the door behind them. If you can, vent the CO2 outside.
- shadylane
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
If the bathroom has a window, you could use some hose to vent the fermenter outside.
That would also get rid of the smell. Plan B would be to use the ceiling vent fan if the bathroom has one.
That would also get rid of the smell. Plan B would be to use the ceiling vent fan if the bathroom has one.
- FreeMountainHermit
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
Got fan. Got hose. Safety first.
Keep 'em coming boyz.
Any ferments that stick out as being volatile ??
Keep 'em coming boyz.
Any ferments that stick out as being volatile ??
Blah, blah, blah,........
Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
The only fountain I've had was rum through an airlock. Without the airlock it would have been a minor spill instead of a cleanup from the ceiling down.
- kiwi Bruce
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
You could use the solution used by the homebrewers. It's called a "Blow-off" In homebrewing. I use 7 gal carboys with mouths that are 1 1/4 inches. When it looks like one is going to "GO" I stick an 18 inch length of 1 1/4 inch vinyl tube in the mouth of the carboy with the other end in a mason jar and let it go. I can't use the beer that's lost, but in a wash you could. So depending on the size of your fermenter, and on the volume of you wash, some sort of "Blow-off" must be possible.
Getting hung up all day on smiles
- shadylane
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
The worst I've had was 100% malted oats. It fermented fast and the cap double the size of the ferment.FreeMountainHermit wrote:Got fan. Got hose. Safety first.
Keep 'em coming boyz.
Any ferments that stick out as being volatile ??
3 days latter the cap had fallen and only the stains remained to show how "volcanic" it was.
- FreeMountainHermit
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
using a blow off rig can help. If you use a sealed fermenter with an airlock, substitute a hose going from the stopper to a jar with water in it, for the airlock. The amount of liquid in the jar will grow, so leave some space.
Also, depending on the yeast used it might be good to limit the temp of the ferment. Putting the fermenter in a water bath can lower the temp about 5 degrees. and putting tshirt over the fermenter as a wick can take it 5 deg lower. I just do this for the first day or so while the yeast is generating a lot of heat. With a lot of beer yeast it helps to start at a lower temp and raise the temp toward the end to help it finish. a slightly cooler ferment will erupt less ferociously and, for a lot of yeast, a cleaner ferment.
Also, depending on the yeast used it might be good to limit the temp of the ferment. Putting the fermenter in a water bath can lower the temp about 5 degrees. and putting tshirt over the fermenter as a wick can take it 5 deg lower. I just do this for the first day or so while the yeast is generating a lot of heat. With a lot of beer yeast it helps to start at a lower temp and raise the temp toward the end to help it finish. a slightly cooler ferment will erupt less ferociously and, for a lot of yeast, a cleaner ferment.
- cranky
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
For me plums foam like crazy and sneak out of the fermenter in the middle of the night to have some kind of messy party all over the place but by morning they settle down again and I can never catch them in the act, I just have a big foamy plum mess to clean up the next day. This happened even when I did an 8 gallon ferment in a 12 gallon fermenter.
- scuba stiller
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
Oats and Rye tend to go volcanic. I give them respect and headroom both in the fermenter and boiler. I hate cleaning a puked still worse than moping the floor.
SS
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- Kegg_jam
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Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.
+1scuba stiller wrote:Oats and Rye tend to go volcanic. I give them respect and headroom both in the fermenter and boiler. I hate cleaning a puked still worse than moping the floor.
SS
Amen