Krazy Krausen!

[bhaslip]

Brewed an IPA on Saturday, pitched a 1 quart starter of WLP001 that I had made the night before. Last night when I got home from work, my wife said there were weird noises coming from my carboy. I checked it and krausen was spewing out the top of the airlock. I replaced the airlock with a clean, sanitized one. This morning when I checked it, I had krausen filling the airlock again. I have never had this happen before. This is also my first time using WLP001, I usually use Wyeast 1056. Is a fermentation like this pretty normal with this strain? Do I have anything I need to be worried about? Thanks.

[bsegroves]

Happens to me all the time.
Take the airlock out and replace it with your racking tube.
Put one end in the airlock hole and submerge the other in a bucket with some star-san in the bottom.
You might even want to cut it so that it's not so long.
Good luck.

Brannon

[Dubba_Brew]

What temp are you fermenting at? That could have a good bit to do with it. I've used WLP001 a bunch of times with a pretty big starter, but I've fermented in the 66 - 68 F range. Never had any crazy issues.

But I agree with bsegroves... go to a blow-off tube instead of an airlock for the first couple days of ferment. Then switch to an airlock.

[crupp]

It happens all of the time. I normally experience it with wheat beers and stouts...
This is a picture of a Dunkelweizen I brewed last weekend. It's ten gallons in a 14 gallon fermenter. I'll be damned if I didn't forget the foam control!

[ApresSkiBrewer]

It happens all of the time. I normally experience it with wheat beers and stouts...
This is a picture of a Dunkelweizen I brewed last weekend. It's ten gallons in a 14 gallon fermenter. I'll be damned if I didn't forget the foam control!

Crupp, what are you using as your 14 gallon fermentors?

btw, wlp001 and wyeast1056 are essentially the same thing. Definitely just rig up a blow off hose - looks like you're getting a nice strong ferment. Do your best to keep it at the proper fermentation temp!

[bhaslip]

I am fermenting at a steady 68 F. I also brewed an APA the same day and used another 1 quart WLP001 starter. That one isn't spewing (yet).

[ApresSkiBrewer]

If you have no signs of fermentation on your APA you could oxygenate/shake a bit if you felt the need. I would assume that your APA is a lower gravity than your IPA... so it surprises me that the IPA took off faster.

Did you make one big starter and split it into each batch, or were they individual flasks?

[crupp]

ApreSkiBrewer wrote: Crupp, what are you using as your 14 gallon fermentors?

Sorry...it's 15 gallons. I got it from Minibrew:http://www.minibrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=8.
I really like it, but next time I'm going with stainless.

bhaslip wrote: I also brewed an APA the same day and used another 1 quart WLP001 starter. That one isn't spewing (yet).

Question: Did you mash the APA at a different temperature? Perhaps the other wort you made is more fermentable?