pyth

Recipes 

So I started an apfelwine brew yesterday, and I used starsan solution in my airlock. After checking on it today,m the fermentation is coming along great, very vigerous, but it's pulled some of the starsan foam from the airlock back into the carboy, and the foam from the apfelwine has turned the solution in the airlock yellow.

Should I change out the airlocks fluid? Will the starsan foam in the carboy hurt anything?

helibrewer

Recipes 

Sure, freshen the Star San and no, it won't hurt a thing

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badbrew

Recipes 

Do you know there is suck back or are you assuming by the color? The color part is normal. The suck back is probably from cold drops which is not great. Try to keep the temps consistent.

pyth

Recipes 

Temp is very constant, I'm assuming the suckback by the layer of what seems to be starsan foam on top of the apfelwine. Almost like the vigerous bubbling in the airlock made the starsan foamy, which then got back down into the carboy.

plumbob

Recipes 

I doubt you had any suck back. Even if you did with Starsan you've got absolutely zero to worry about.

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badbrew

Recipes 

I doubt it too. Wait until the bubbles stop coming up through the air lock tube and swap out the air lock if you have another or remove it, place foil on the hole and clean and return it with hard clear liquor inside.

edit: by bubbles I mean wet beer bubbles not normal co2.

plumbob

Recipes 

Oh, and go to the hardware store, buy yourself 4' of tubing for a blowoff hose. Just shove it in the airlock hole and fill an old 2L soda bottle with sanitizer solution for the other end. Instant airlock, no more suckback and no repainting the walls.

Actually, my starters usually live in a 2L bottle and once pitched the 2L bottle ends up as the bottle for the blowoff tube. Better yet if it is the summer time and you are swamp cooling, just shove it in the pool for the swamp cooler.

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On Deck:

Satisfaction

Recipes 

If you are in doubt, use cheap cheap vodka that comes in the large plastic bottle. It costs 7-8 bucks for a 750ml, that's a whole lot of air locks.

JLem

Recipes 

If it is actively fermenting and CO2 is being pushed out through the airlock, I don't see any way that the airlock liquid can be sucked in - this tends to happen only when active fermentation stops and temps drop, causing the headspace in the carboy/bucket to contract, creating a vaccum and pulling in the airlock liquid.

Regardless, a little star san will not hurt your apelwein. But like Satisfaction suggested, you can also use vodka instead

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