Burped my krausen all over the ceiling after a starter mishap

I was trying a new yeast strain from Imperial and pitched it straight into a 5 gallon batch of NEIPA at 68 degrees. The blowoff tube clogged around hour 36 and I woke up to beer dripping from the light fixture in my basement. Anyone else switch to Fermcap-S after a similar disaster or just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_henderson2mo ago

Came dripping from the light fixture"? That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? A little cleanup and a new starter never hurt anyone.

blakem372mo ago

Did you actually see the water come out of the fixture itself, or was it more like dripping from the ceiling around the base? I've chased a few ceiling leaks over the years, and sometimes what looks like a light fixture problem is actually a roof or pipe issue that just happens to drip in that spot. The new starter might fix the light, but you could be covering up a bigger problem if there's moisture getting into the junction box. Just something to watch for before you button it all back up.

cora_scott771mo ago

Yeah, you really had to yank that yeast starter out of the light socket with a pair of pliers while standing on a step stool to finally get it to stop dripping? I've been there with a saison that popped a bung and painted my drop ceiling tiles a nice shade of brown. You have to clean that junction box real good, like with a wire brush and some isopropyl alcohol, because dried beer will get crusty and attract every fruit fly in the basement. I finally switched to a big 1-inch blowoff tube right into a bucket of sanitizer, and I swear by it. But honestly, that Fermcap-S stuff is gold for aggressive strains, just a drop or two in the boil and it kills the foam before it even starts.