Last weekend, in the midst of our busy madness, we made two batches of beer; a Red Chile Chocolate Porter and a Belgian Golden Ale. Since the carboys “live” in our garage while they do their fermentation thing and the garage is pretty cold in the winter, Tool Lady did a lot of research on how to keep them a bit warmer. The answer was to place both carboys into a large tupperware-type tub filled with water and then place a fish tank warmer into the water to keep the temp of the water in a safe range. It worked! Our beer went from sitting there and doing nothing (too cold) to dancing around and beginning to ferment (perfect temp)! We were very glad for this since the alternative would have been to bring them inside and put them up on our dining room table for the next couple of weeks.
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| Red Chile Chocolate on the left, Belgian on the right |
However, on Tuesday, upon returning home from work, we found that one of the carboys had exploded (the Belgian). Literally. There were huge chunks of glass strewn throughout the garage and a very large chunk of what remained of the carboy still in the tub of water. Super scary!
The best we can figure is that, in the fermentation process, the grains bubbled up and got stuck in the airlock which then didn’t allow the pressure/gasses to release, so they built up and built up until the glass could no longer contain it and it exploded.
So, what’s the lesson here? Well, we think it’s don’t over fill your carboy so your beer has room to dance! We’re also thinking that we need to invest in a better airlock. Second lesson? Always keep your fermenting beer in a place where, if it does explode, humans and animals will not be harmed!
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| Here is the exploded top and the airlock that was jam-packed with hop pellet residue |
Thank goodness it was in the garage and away from our cats and dogs when it exploded! Ugh…I don’t even want to imagine…
Now, I wonder what our neighbors heard? Probably a pretty loud bang, you think? Geez…
xoxo,
M
Thanks for sharing you experience with us. it give us the lesson which we should followed.
It’s possible that it got too warm, but regardless, if it had a blowoff hose it could ferment more freely. Belgians ferment like crazy, and the airlock likely isn’t enough. (This advice is from my home brewing husband – he blogs at http://www.giantslotbrewing.com. I’m the gardener, the regular reader of your blog 🙂
Please thank your husband for us! And thanks for giving me a new blog to peruse! The guy at the home brew store said the same thing yesterday and gave us a length of hose to use. Nice to have the info coming from two separate sources! Hopefully round two will be less explosive 😉
At least it exploded when you weren’t near it. We had a near-injury when a bottle of infected beer (also a Belgian) explode right in the middle of our kitchen. I hope the next time works out well for you!
That’s great that you’re making your own beer! I’d like to try making it someday. So far I’ve made wines and fruit liqueurs but never a beer.
That’s a pity that your carboy exploded; but the good thing is that you know how to avoid such surprises in the future.
Yes! Lesson learned 🙂 Just glad everyone’s safe!