I've pitched many a monster starter on high gravity wort and escaped unscathed mostly in thanks to the experiences of others on the board. I was always diligent to attach a BBOT when things were close and then later I discovered Fermcap Foam control
.This morning however I made a minor miscalculation. Last week I bought a smack pack of Wyeast 2782 Staro Prague Lager Yeast and made a 2 quart starter in a gallon glass jug with intent to brew a lager on Sunday. Well it snowed a foot last saturday and I didn't feel like brewing in the snow on sunday so the brew got postponed. My starter had finished completely and settled out so I figured step it up! So last night I boiled up another 2 quarts of starter, chilled it, decanted off the first starter wort, and threw the fresh wort on the yeast and went to bed. This morning I get up and as i'm getting ready to go to work I remember I should give my starter a little swirl. I wander into my wine cellar, pick up the air locked starter, give it a swirl, and realize I just made a huge mistake. What was an occasional little *blurp* from the airlock immediately becomes the sound of machine gun fire as foam rapidly beings ascending inside the jug. I turn, starter in outstretched arms to try and get out of the wine cellar as quickly as possible to avoid an even bigger mess, I bound over the door threshold just in time for the inside pressure to overcome the resistance of the rubber stopper on the glass. I narrowly escape loosing an eye to the now rocket propelled airlock and stopper only to over run the now fountain of foam ejecting from the gallon jug in my hands. So at 5AM this morning there I was, standing in my basement, covered in foam, beer dripping from the ceiling, and a beer volcano in my hands. I then went to go take my
third shower of the morning. What a way to start the day.
