Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Production methods from starch to sugars.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
FreeMountainHermit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1769
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 6:45 pm
Location: Two Dogs Holler, West Virginia

Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by FreeMountainHermit »

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.
Blah, blah, blah,........
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by shadylane »

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.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by NZChris »

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.
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by shadylane »

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.
User avatar
FreeMountainHermit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1769
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 6:45 pm
Location: Two Dogs Holler, West Virginia

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by FreeMountainHermit »

Got fan. Got hose. Safety first.

Keep 'em coming boyz.

Any ferments that stick out as being volatile ??
Blah, blah, blah,........
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by NZChris »

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.
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by kiwi Bruce »

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
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by shadylane »

FreeMountainHermit wrote:Got fan. Got hose. Safety first.

Keep 'em coming boyz.

Any ferments that stick out as being volatile ??
The worst I've had was 100% malted oats. It fermented fast and the cap double the size of the ferment.
3 days latter the cap had fallen and only the stains remained to show how "volcanic" it was.
User avatar
FreeMountainHermit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1769
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 6:45 pm
Location: Two Dogs Holler, West Virginia

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by FreeMountainHermit »

Stains ???

hmmmmmm,..... NFG :lol: :lol: :lol:
Blah, blah, blah,........
biker geek
Swill Maker
Posts: 181
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:00 pm

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by biker geek »

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.
User avatar
cranky
Master of Distillation
Posts: 6505
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:18 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by cranky »

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.
User avatar
scuba stiller
Swill Maker
Posts: 222
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:10 pm

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by scuba stiller »

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
User avatar
Kegg_jam
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1167
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:29 am
Location: Appalachian Mountains of MD

Re: Volcanic Ferments and Adjustments.

Post by Kegg_jam »

scuba 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
+1

Amen
Post Reply