Over foaming.

[Fisher kel Tath]

So I figured my mead had switched gear and was done foaming (both 4 and 5 in the brewlog) and topped them off, well I was wrong...

I have one in a blow off tube type set up, my syphon tube leading into a mason jar of half dead sanitizer.

The other one I'm just switching out the airlocks once a day.

Should I be worried about anything with this set up?

 

[Medsen Fey]

That sounds fine. I use a blow off tube sometimes, but I've finally just started using really large primary fermenters - you're not having an MEA when you ferment a 5 gallon batch in a 10 gallon pail. Antifoam drops smeared around the inside neck of the carboy can also dramatically lessen the problem .

 

[Brad Dahlhofer]

I'm with Medsen. I never ferment in a carboy. I like a lot of headspace. The 8 gallon fermenting buckets are great. They're cheap, and you don't usually have to worry about foaming over. Even with a 6 gallon batch.

 

[Fisher kel Tath]

I'm with Medsen. I never ferment in a carboy. I like a lot of headspace. The 8 gallon fermenting buckets are great. They're cheap, and you don't usually have to worry about foaming over. Even with a 6 gallon batch.

I honestly doubt I'm ever going to brew a 5g batch let alone higher...

But wasn't sure if I could trust a JAO style mead in a plastic bucket for fermentation....

 

[skunkboy]

You can brew JOA in a bucket, you just don't want to age it in one...

 

[dr9]

You can brew JOA in a bucket, you just don't want to age it in one...

I have 1.7 gallons in a 5-bucket going on 2 months. I will probably bottle it this weekend, but I still would like to know why it's bad. If I like the JAO, I will make it again, but would like to know why it's bad to sit in a bucket instead of glass.

 

[Medsen Fey]

There is an extensive discussion of the issue in a thread called "Bucket aging" in the Patron's area. The short answer is that too much oxygen penetrates the HDPE plastic to safely age things long term.

 

[dr9]

But I imagine that would be over years, not months. Am I correct in my imagination?

 

[Medsen Fey]

No, the amount of oxygen exposure is enough that damage could be done in months - and that's not even counting any leaking around the lid seal. Now some meads (esp traditionals) are quite resistant to oxidation, and some fruit melomels oxidize quite rapidly, so the time necessary would depend on how sensitive the particular mead is to oxygen. Still, a plastic bucket is a great primary fermenter, but not a great aging vessel.

 

[Brad Dahlhofer]

I honestly doubt I'm ever going to brew a 5g batch let alone higher...

Really? In the same amount of time you put into making 1 gallon batches, you can make 5.

 

[Fisher kel Tath]

Really? In the same amount of time you put into making 1 gallon batches, you can make 5.

time is cheap.

honey is not, nor is space given the size of 5g carboys...

 

[Prolific_Praxis]

There is an extensive discussion of the issue in a thread called "Bucket aging" in the Patron's area. The short answer is that too much oxygen penetrates the HDPE plastic to safely age things long term.

The longest I have let anything it in a plastic bucket has been a month and only because it was still bubbling regularly every 17 seconds after three weeks. It was a tropical fruit melomel with tons of fresh fruit, pure nectar and 12 lbs of honey.