Airlock question

So, every couple of hours, I have to replace water in my airlock. it keeps being sucked up into the little plastic hat thing. I haven't seen this happen with either of my other two batches.

Does anyone know why this is happening?



It is hard to see, but the water was at the fill line earlier.

Did you just brew your batch or move it to a cooler location? Or is fermentation complete now and the yeast are settling out? Maybe there has been a temperature change in the beer that is causing a pressure change in the bucket, making it suck back through the airlock.

I just brewed it last night. My first partial boil actually

Are you sure it is getting sucked in? It would do that because the temperature inside the bucket is dropping, or you are moving it around/squeezing it. It is possible that a change in outside pressure would do it, but that is unlikely. Did you seal it up while the wort was warmer than the room temp?

Foil man, just use foil.

EDIT: To further clarify, with sanitary practices, an airlock is not necessary during ongoing primary fermentation. Dust and wild yeast and all that good stuff still won't get through foil. Airlocks also create unnecessary head pressure on the fermentation that can lead to stressed out yeast and stalled fermentations. I only switch to an airlock when the krausen drops.

Sounds like you wort is still cooling off. What was the temp when you put it in the bucket?

Yes I sealed it when it was warmer than room temp. lol it was 11:30PM and I was anxious to get some sleep, being that I have a new born son. So I need all the sleep I can get.

Ah, then as PseudoChef said. Just take the bubbler peice out of it and cover the top with aluminum foil at least until the temperature equalizes.

spriggan486 said:

Yes I sealed it when it was warmer than room temp. lol it was 11:30PM and I was anxious to get some sleep, being that I have a new born son. So I need all the sleep I can get.

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Did you pitch the yeast while it was still too warm? This could cause some problems depending on the temp of the wort at the time.

What temperature did you cool the wort to?

Well the wort was 90 when it was pitched. Like I said. It was 11:30 at night and I got impatient as drowsiness set in.

So in the likely event that my yeast is toast... I have a packet of Saflager W 34/70 to pitch as backup.

Yeah, it was way too hot, that's all. I think 80 or below and you shouldn't get any suckback, though most people shoot for 70. The yeast is probably still ok, but they will be slow to start.

spriggan486 said:

Well the wort was 90 when it was pitched. Like I said. It was 11:30 at night and I got impatient as drowsiness set in.

So in the likely event that my yeast is toast... I have a packet of Saflager W 34/70 to pitch as backup.

Click to expand...

That was a LAGER and you pitched at 90!!! The yeast is probably fine, but good god, that is about twice the temp you should be pitching at. Get ready to have the strangest tasting fruity lager you've ever had.