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I've never had a normal IPA blow up on me .... Until today what a fucking mess. Ceiling, wall, three other fermantors, two kegs, three bags of grain and a kettle covered.ugggggg

Clogged air lock in primary fermentor or do you mean a bottle bomb?

Clogged air lock:( I didn't think I needed a blow off tube because there was only about 18 liters in a 23 litre carboy. Guess I left too much trub in it. On the bright side my Harry potter closet smells great!

Yeah I only ever use air locks in lagers now, sooner or later you get bit.

Our Christmas Hefeweizen blew up a couple days ago!

Made a porter once and had a clogged blow off tube. Nasty. Ceiling, walls, floor - beer everywhere. Only about 1/4 remained in the carboy post eruption. Since then I switched my blow off tubes out for ones that are the same diameter as the carboy opening. Never had a problem since that event in 1996.

I just figured there wasn't enough beer in the carboy to worry about it. Oh well live and learn and clean up messes.

What's your set-up for a blowoff tube on a primary fermenter? I install a 1/2" ID tube on the center piece of my airlock, but I'm afraid 1/2" is still a bit small and that I might have a nasty surprise someday. (I never use a carboy for primary fermentation, simply because it's much easier to clean a plastic pail).

generally I use one that fits the carboy snuggly, I use glass because its easier to clean I find, fill it with warm water and some pbw throw an iarlock with cling film on it and put it upside down in the sink and let it soak over night

cling film! that's a good idea.
I got a belgian facial last weekend after finding my airlock plugged with krausen.

Don't google Belgian Facial!!!

Sandy

GAM wrote:Don't google Belgian Facial!!!

Sandy

LMFAO

Has anyone found a down side to doing a blow off tube? I've never bothered with the air lock.

BasilD wrote:Has anyone found a down side to doing a blow off tube? I've never bothered with the air lock.

One thing to watch for is when you're cold crashing (if you do). There could be negative pressure created inside the fermenter and suck whatever liquid is in your blow off vessel back into the fermenter.

You all have me paranoid that I'm going to have a huge mess in my basement. One would figure the bung would shoot out of the brew before the carboy exploded.

keithforbes wrote:You all have me paranoid that I'm going to have a huge mess in my basement. One would figure the bung would shoot out of the brew before the carboy exploded.

I don't think the carboy would explode, it would just suck whatever liquid is in your blowoff vessel into the carboy until it was sucking air. It's an outside chance that would even happen, but it's still a consideration when choosing the liquid to put in your blowoff vessel.

keithforbes wrote:You all have me paranoid that I'm going to have a huge mess in my basement. One would figure the bung would shoot out of the brew before the carboy exploded.

Best bet is to make your brew room/closet look like Dexters kill rooms.