No blow off hose crap everywhere

Hi all!

I just brewed my second batch yesterday, my first being a German hef in which I got the recipe from a local brew store. The hef recipe stated to put a blow off hose due to high yeast activity,which I did. But the amber ale that I'm currently brewing did not, so I didn't. Two days after fermentation began there is literally crap everywhere..all over the airlock and around the better bottle. How do I fix this? Leave it or clean it? Change the airlock to a new one? It almost seems pointless to attach the hose now. Thanks in advance! Still a noob!

Clean it and replace or add the hose. Always use a blow off if you can.

New airlock, no rinse sanitizer wiped over evrything. No problem!

I now control fermentation temps closely and NEVER need a blowoff.

Consider a swamp cooler and chilling the wort WAY down.

I haven't used a blowoff in 3-4 years. Slow and LOW fermentation is where its at.

always use a blowoff hose. better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it.

if the craziness inside your fermenter has died down, i would recommend taking off the dirty airlock, putting some sanitized foil over the opening (to prevent dust from falling in, cleaning the airlock and the stopper/bung, sanitize and replace. if you have a second airlock, then prep it and simply swap out the old one.

Thank you all!


I have one more question about my first German hef batch. I left it fermenting for 3 weeks, then racked and bottled and let condition for 2 weeks. When using the priming sugar, I added it into the bucket when it was all syrupy and by the time I. Had racked my beer in there it was almost solid..I tried mixing it but was only able to get a small portion of the sugar mixed with the beer. 2 weeks later there was absolutely NO carbonation..I assume that was the problem but I just want to be sure. Bottles conditioned at 71 degrees and where left refridgerated for 2 days before I had opened one. Really disappointing, any way to salvage it?

Never tried it myself, but maybe picking up some of the priming sugar tablets that you just add to the bottle? Pop the cap, drop one in, and re-cap...

FermentedTed said:

Never tried it myself, but maybe picking up some of the priming sugar tablets that you just add to the bottle? Pop the cap, drop one in, and re-cap...

Click to expand...

Thats what i would try. Did you boil the priming sugar ? I just use a clean measure cup with 2 cups of water. Mix the sugar in with a fork and heat it in the microwave untill its clear. I pour the sugar in the bucket first then rack on to it.

Yes we boiled according to the instructions sheet..I even called the brew store and asked the guy if what happened sounded right and he said yes. It just looked like a dark brown solid glassy substance and smelled like creme brûlée, that's the only way I know how to describe it haha. The instructions said let the mixture cool for 5 minutes but by the time we did that it was solid

Pics or it didn't happen

I use a blow off hose for everything unless it is a very small batch (for instance a 3 gallon batch started in a 6 gallon carboy). After the Kraeusen falls I switch to an airlock.

+1 to cluckk

Always use a blowoff.


On better bottles an orange cap works perfectly with tubing into a bucket or jar of water and sanitizer.

Brew_Bear said:

Yes we boiled according to the instructions sheet..I even called the brew store and asked the guy if what happened sounded right and he said yes. It just looked like a dark brown solid glassy substance and smelled like creme brûlée, that's the only way I know how to describe it haha. The instructions said let the mixture cool for 5 minutes but by the time we did that it was solid

Click to expand...

You need to use more water in the future and/or boil using less heat. As you heat sugar and water together, the water evaporates and allows the solution to rise above the 212 boiling point. If the solution goes much above 220, you are going to have some mixing problems. It sounds like yours was way, way over that, possibly 350+ if it was really dark brown and not just amber.

http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics/a/candytemp.htm