Willow Jerry Can - Blow Off Tube

[jacknohe]

This may have already been posted some where but thought I'd share anyway. I've been fermenting in a 20L Willow Jerry can for some time now since I'm limited to using a small bar fridge. I brew 20L batches which means there's not alot of head space for Krausen expansion. After a number of brews I got tired of cleaning up the Krausen spills.

I was looking at drilling the screw on lid and using some sort of rubber bung with a small hose. But I preferred to keep the lids intact if possible. I then remembered the plastic spouts that came with the Jerry can and wondered if I could fit a hose through the spout that was air tight. Headed down to the local hardware store and found a hose (20mm OD I believe) that fit perfectly as it required a little effort to push the hose through the opening.

However, the hose couldn't fit into the bottle I was using for my air lock and krausen collector so I used a smaller hose I had on hand (16-18mm OD) that fit air tight into the 20mm hose.

I also use some plumber's thread tape to get an air tight seal when screwing on the spout. Works great!!! Its bubbling away in the bottle and all the mess is contained.

 

[brad81]

Hi jacknohe,

How's this working out for you? Any other tips since you have employed this method?

Cheers,

Brad

 

[Eggs]

Im also curious. Ive had a search but didnt turn anything up. aside from the overflows, have you seen any down side to fermenting in these?

 

[jacknohe]

Yeah, it works well to contain the mess!!! The only thing is that the thread on the Jerry cans isn't consistent so I've found that I need to use more tape on one fermenter than the others to get a good seal. Just sanitise before you begin.

If I know the yeast isn't a foamer (e.g. Pilsner or lager yeast) I just stick with glad wrap and a rubber band. But the ale yeasts usually need the spout and hose.

I might look into using a container of bottle with a larger neck so I don't need to use two hoses, just one long one to simplify it.

I've found no downside to fermenting in Jerry cans other than cleaning. But I use PBW so its not an issue anymore. Its all advantages to me as it reduces the number of vessels involved. No chill cube, ferment, cold condition all in the one vessel.