I am not really a newbee. I have made over 100 gal. of different recipes. But today I experience my first mead explosion. It was impressive. I was home so that was good. I was not close to it so that was good. I can't imagine the pressure to blow the sealed top off a bucket. The airlock had filled with foam,and small ingredients preventing venting. Fortunately this 5 gal was squeezed in between the wall in a corner beside a piece of furniture. That limited the area that had to be cleaned. I did notice yesterday that another 6 gal of a different type was bubbling a little over zealously. I wonder if the sudden increase in temperature outdoors got the yeasties more excited than usual.
First MEA
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A LOT. That's why I leave an area around the top cracked a little in a couple of spots...just in case. After I know fermentation is dying down and it's going to behave, then I lock it down in place.
Been there, done that.. with a hop-heavy, malt-heavy ale that clogged the airlock with krausen. My wife said it sounded like a shotgun blast when it went. Rattled the windows on the opposite end of the house, left one helluva mess on my computer monitor, keyboard, all over the floor... Looked like a malt-blooded animal had been slaughtered in there. Of all days, our realtor was there in preparation for selling the house.
Went with blow-off tubes for a time, until I learned how to keep a lot of hops out of my fermentation carboys. They were called strainers; who knew, right? ;-)
And yes, an increase in temperature can cause both an increase in yeast activity AND a decrease in how much dissolved CO2 the must can hold.
I always bag my fruit and if I have a batch that's not going to leave me enough headspace, I split it into two fermenting buckets for safety's sake, and so far, so good, never had a MEA in a bucket.
I always bag my fruit and if I have a batch that's not going to leave me enough headspace, I split it into two fermenting buckets for safety's sake, and so far, so good, never had a MEA in a bucket.
