Brewing my first batch, quick question

Alright guys so I received a 1 gallon brew kit from Craftabrew.com (the American Pale Ale) for my birthday recently and brewed it last Saturday afternoon and have been keeping a close eye on it since then. Everything went well with the brew and I don't believe I did anything wrong as I had a high level of fermentation on Sunday morning. By high I mean bubbles were coming out of the airlock tube around every 7-10 seconds (I didn't measure the interval). But it was bubbling a lot so I feel as though my primary so far is a success, right?

So here are my questions,
1) My airlock has two long cracks running down the majority of one side of the middle piece, and the tops of the cracks are above the water line. Should I buy another air lock?
2) I have water with a small amount of unscented bleach in the air lock right now, should this be replaced with pure water or vodka?

Hopefully these aren't too nooby of questions, but I want to make sure my first batch comes out right. On to the pictures, both of these were taken today (2-5-13).



I put the carboy in the water to lower the temp as it was up around 72 F after two days up fermenting under my sink. Now its down between 68-70 F so I feel safer haha.



Also, are these bubbles in the airlock a problem? Thanks for your help guys.

1. Get a new airlock
2. Get rid of the bleach in there-bad juju..just use cheap Vodka, even plain water is better than bleach!

It's not uncommon for some of the liquid in the airlock to get sucked back into the beer. That's why many use vodka or star san. Get rid of the bleach. Yuck.

dcocch said:

It's not uncommon for some of the liquid in the airlock to get sucked back into the beer. That's why many use vodka or star san. Get rid of the bleach. Yuck.

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This. Bleach doesn't get anywhere near my wort or beer. Star San is great - turns into a yeast nutrient if it gets into the beer. Vodka = slight ABV boost.

BigFloyd said:

+1. Star-San is your brewing best friend. Keep some in a spray bottle. When in doubt, use it.

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Absolutely agreed. It's great for when you realize you forgot to sanitize your stirring spoon or your measuring cups. Only on my second batch now but I'm so glad I learned this tip early on!

Agreed in regards to using StarSan in your airlocks. I would also buy a new airlock. They are only a few bucks. I would not be concerned with infections as you are pretty far along in fermentation, it sounds like, but you don't want the bleach to get into your beer. Not sure what yeast strain came with your kit but I am assuming it was Wyeast 1056/WLP 001/Safale 05. Try and keep your fermentation temps below 70 degrees with these strains, especially within the first few days of fermentation. Add ice and salt to your bowl to try and keep the temps down. These yeasts tend to produce fusel alcohols above 70. Good luck and keep plugging away. There is so much to learn.