Over Active Fermentation

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peterlonz

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I have just put down a 23 litre brew with 3.4 Kg of stout malt.
Actually it comprises two 1.7 Kg Coopers Stoat beer kits, this is an old favourite of mine, it ends up very close to Guinness.
I pitched two yeast sachets at 26 Deg C & after 4 hours saw activity commence.
After an overnight sleep, I arose to find 22 hours after the pitch, my brew was spewing foam out the airlock & creating quite a mess on the floor etc. I guess the overnight temp had fallen to around 22 - 24 Deg C.
I live on Queensland's Gold Coast, & I have put off till now brewing this stout because in summer it's been even worse!
BTW at the same time I put down a Pale ale with pilsner yeast which is behaving normally (it took about 2 hours longer to commence activity).
I know these temps are not ideal but the weather is unpredictable & I am out of brew & desperate!

I have some obvious remedies:
Use the air conditioner.
Brew in two fermentors to allow much greater head space.
Wait till the temp falls to winter levels of 16 - 20 Deg C.
Brew with fermentor immersed in water with evaporative cooling provision - IE wet towels draped over.

Right now I have attempted to control by immersing the fermentor in a large plastic "garden bucket" & surrounding with chilled water. I used about 10 litres at about 5 Deg C.
Well it's taken about 2 hours, it's back "under control", & I think I can replace the air lock now, even though room temp has now climbed to 28 Deg C!!
I guess I can expect a slow resumption of prior activity, but I am not concerned about infection because nothing could compete with this yeast.

I do not know if all the lost foam contained ingredients which would otherwise be vital in allowing a good head to form, but stout is normally foamy anyway.

So please any practical ideas; I need a workable solution.
How do you Aussies go about controlling temp?
Thanks.
 
2nd hand fridge - $50
Temp controller - $50 - $100.

Keep it 18-20 degrees.

If money is tight the water + towels is probably your best bet.
If you can keep the room at 20 using the air con without family complaints, that will work too.
 
even if you keep it down at 20deg, you can still have a krausen explosion... (Try using 3068 sometime!!)

No need to worry, next time, install tubing into a bucket/bottle to catch the overflow...
 

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