[oscarvan]

OK, this one is out of control. I mean, there's 5.25 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket, 1.070 OG for a Russian Imperialish Stout, and two smack packs. This thing has been bubbling out of the bucket for 12 hours now.....I've had to mop up the lid every half hour, and it ain't stopping...... (24 hours since pitching) Finally I broke down and stuck a hose in it to a 1 gallon bucket and there's an inch of beer in there..... (I plan on putting it in a soda bottle and carbonating and drinking it.....) Heck, at the rate we're going there will be nothing left in the bucket! 

I've had to mop up a lid before.....but eight times in 6 hours?

Anyone else seen this?

(BTW, brewed batch # 80 today........      )

[The Professor]

You definitely need a bigger bucket.  A 7 or 8 gallon one would be ideal.  To my mind, a six gallon one is just too small, especially for a brew like that where you're really giving the yeasties a feast (actually, a six gal bucket for even a normal 5.25 gal of beer can be pushing one's luck a bit, if the yeasties are really active). 

In the future you could install a blowoff and avoid the mopping (but still potentially lose a lot of beer...not worth it in my book).

I still maintain that a bigger fermentor is the best solution. I'm still using a 7 gal glass acid carboy  for 5 gal batches and have had only one blowout in 23 years (and it was my fault...I overpitched a fresh yeast cake a bit too massively).  Eventually though, I will probably switch back to a bucket sooner or later.  I've seen some very nice 7 and 8 gal brew buckets, even some very translucent ones, that would cover the problem easily.

[Hokerer]

I've had to mop up a lid before.....but eight times in 6 hours?

Anyone else seen this?

Here's a pic of a blowoff I had recently,  yes, that's a 5000ml flask...



http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=11182.msg142052#msg142052

[dannyjed]

The Imperial Stout I made in winter even left gunk in the blow off tube in an 8 gallon bucket.  I hope you don't lose too much to the beer gods.

[roguejim]

Are you able to control your fermentation temp?  How high is it?

[oscarvan]

Temp is fully under control (chest freezer with temp controller)......66ºF.......

OK, is there such a thing as a food grade 7 gallon bucket? I need 8 please......

[andrew000141]

I have a 7 and a half gallon bucket and recently I used wyeast whitbread ale for the first time the thing had a 10 hr lag time then exploded with activity I had krausen in my airlock and now it's permanently stained brown lol

[dannyjed]

Temp is fully under control (chest freezer with temp controller)......66ºF.......

OK, is there such a thing as a food grade 7 gallon bucket? I need 8 please......

I use these http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/7-9-gal-fermenting-bucket.html

[ethalacker]

I love this yeast. I use it for a couple of my english ales.  Always is a very active fermentation.  After the first time cleaning out a fridge I've used a blow of tube since, but a bigger vessel would be better!

[oscarvan]

OK, the beast has finally calmed down.....figure I lost about 2 qts. Installed a hose and salvaged one qt and put it in a soda bottle with CO2 on it.....will see what the gravity is later. Need to get a bigger bucket for this animal!

[oly]

Brewcraft makes a nice 8 gallon bucket.

[jeffy]

Next time you may want to collect the blow-off in a sanitized vessel and pitch into your next batch.  It sounds like a really good top-cropping yeast.

[linenoiz]

Build yourself  Burton Union.

[tonyp]

You could always split the batch into two 5gal buckets...

[kylekohlmorgen]

Build yourself  Burton Union.

How does he come up with this stuff?

Probably a trivial addition to the brewery, but a cool idea, nonetheless, especially if you just use it for top-cropping.