tonymont

Recipes 

I pitched my yeast in my first brew last night, and I saw first signs of bubbling in the airlock this morning. I just got back from class and noticed that the liquid in the airlock is now a brownish color and overflowing with foam. The lid to my fermenter is bowing outward. What do you guys suggest I do? I know these are beginner questions, I'll keep researching while I wait on replys. Thanks

Revvy

Recipes 

That happens to all of us on occasion... One thing to do is to add a blowoff tube.

If you are fermenting in the bucket, you can do this.

You do a modified 3 piece airlock blowoff tube with what you have already. If you are using a 3 piece airlock...Do this.



You have to find a piece of long hose that will fit in the center pipe of your airlock...I had to do it in a pinch and found the the hose I had for my bottling wand almost fit....I put a small slit in it, then I soaked it in hot water for a few minutes to Soften and slid it around the tube...

I also found it is a good idea to cut, saw or break off the little criss crossing piece of plastic at the bottom of the airlock. It works great!

If you are using a carboy, make sure you are using a 6.5 gallon carboy for your 5 gallon batches, and you should affix a blowoff tube like this;


(I stole this pic from yooper who stole it from biermuncher)

The other end of the tube goes into a bucket, jar or small pail to which you added sanitizer or vodka.

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tonymont

Recipes 

thanks for the advice revvy. i was finally able to get a blowoff hose attached and it seems to be working alot better now. i did have a little explosion of hop resin into my face and all over the ceiling. should i keep this hose on for the entire fermentation? or replace it and put the airlock back on after the primary is done?

Yooper

Recipes 

You can do either- the blow off tube is just really a big airlock. I switch back to an airlock, just to help save space and prevent messy spills if a dog/cat/person knocks over the sanitizer-filled container. But if you wish to keep the blow off tube on the entire time, that's fine.

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BarleyWater

Recipes 

the hose is essentially an airlock, just bigger. some people only use blow-offs. you can switch back if you want, but you don't have to.

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