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Foaming and aeration

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Berliner

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 26, 2011
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Quick question for the experts: I've been aerating this strawberry melomel regularly, and it seems that it took a bit of time to get fermentation going. This evening it went sort of nuts, with the foam and must flowing up and out the top of the airlock (see this post if you want more info).

Is it safe to assume that further aeration will only make foaming a bigger problem? Any tips for avoiding this problem in the future, aside from "not so much fruit next time"?
 
Open fermentaion.

Start off stirring slowly.

Aerating is needed up to the 1/3 sugar break. After that a gentle stir once or twice a day is good as long as it's fermenting
 
I fill my fermenter dangerously close to the top (less than an inch) and use a sanitized cloth instead of a cover. I gently stir 3 times a day up to the 1/3 sugar break. The fruit cap is always being pushed up over the fermenter, but not so far over that it causes a mess. I just slowly mix the cap back into the mead and then aerate well with a big 2 foot plastic spoon.

The only drawback to this is my sterile cloth gets stained by whatever fruit happens to be in there. It makes for a lot of washing. But Ive never lost any mead/fruit this way. I am going to take Medsens advice and get a 10 gallon plastic bucket though, it just makes more sense to do it that way.
 
1 gallon ferments get done in a 2 gal bucket (available from Lowes and other places)

3 gallon batches get done in a 6 gallon bucket.

so far I've not done a 5g batch, but perhaps I should find a 10 gallon bucket to stay consistant...
 
Fisher kel Tath said:
1 gallon ferments get done in a 2 gal bucket (available from Lowes and other places)

3 gallon batches get done in a 6 gallon bucket.

so far I've not done a 5g batch, but perhaps I should find a 10 gallon bucket to stay consistant...
Click to expand...

is it safe to ferment them in the home depot/lowes buckets? My guess would be they aren't food grade. Maybe since they don't hang out in said bucket for more than a couple weeks at most?
 
MondayHopscotch said:
is it safe to ferment them in the home depot/lowes buckets? My guess would be they aren't food grade. Maybe since they don't hang out in said bucket for more than a couple weeks at most?
Click to expand...

"Food grade" plastic is HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), also called #2 plastic. Just look for the 2 in the recycle symbol. And make sure you clean it thoroughly.
 
mmclean said:
Loews will order the white Brute container for you. 10/20/33 gal.

Only the white ones are rated food grade.
Click to expand...

According to NSF/ANSI Standard 2 (listed here - scroll down), it looks like just about all of the Rubbermaid BRUTE 2600 series “trash cans” are food grade plastic. The 2610 series (10 gallon) is listed as “containers and lids available in gray, white, and yellow”. So can save a few bucks in shipping if any of the 2610 series colors are available locally.

I’m about to place an order at restockit.com for a pair of 2610 containers plus lids. They state “All colors are NSF/USDA Approved for food contact and NSF tested/certified.” It seems their delivered price is one of the lowest around. Shipping costs for two are the same as shipping costs for one. But I'll probably order white just because it's easier to see scratches and things that need to be cleaned off the sides.
 
In general, you can't tell "food grade" by its color. But it is true that the BRUTE series 2610 from Rubbermaid are food grade in white, grey and yellow. I use the white ones. You can even get larger sizes (20 and 32 gallon) if you're so inclined. ;D
 
wayneb said:
You can even get larger sizes (20 and 32 gallon) if you're so inclined. ;D
Click to expand...

If I start contemplating a 32 gallon fermenter, things will have definately gone TOO FAR! Ill need an intervention or something :D
 
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