Fermenters Can Be Dangerous

Carboy bomb

Yesterday, I came home to a site that no brewer wants to see, but all brewers expect to happen.

A carboy bomb.

Now, brewers will know that preventing this type of occurence is the very reason why we use blow-off tubes for a primary fermentation. A small airlock can get filled with pulp and clogged. A tube into a bucket is relatively save.

Relatively.

Bad things can still happen when you have 10 lbs of fresh press pear juice and you see skins and large pieces floating in the carboy and think “Eh, what the hell, it’ll just drop to the bottom anyway.”

Sometimes, it doesn’t drop to the bottom. Sometimes it floats on a pillow of carbon dioxide and pear pulp, and is carried up into the neck. Sometimes it efficiently blocks the blow-off tube, preventing the carbon dioxide from escaping and eventually building up enough pressure to pop.

All things considered, this was relatively minor, and a quick clean-up session got us back on track. I consider myself lucky. I once had a carboy of mead blow and become a fountain of syrupy liquid that shot over my head, coating everything from ceiling to floor. You have no idea how difficult cleaning sugar water can be until you have to clean it off the ceiling. The ants bugged us for quite a while after that. I hope I never make THAT mistake again.

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