Airlock has come off twice now

I brewed a Centennial Blonde and twice now I have walked in and the stopper that goes in my carboy has blown out and the top is wide open.

I've got it secured now with tape, but I'm curious what damage could have been done to the beer?

Probably zero. Was this during fermentation, and the krausen (foamenting beer foam) pushed it off? Or was this right after you put the wort into the carboy?

I had a new stopped that kept slipping out, I taped it down as well, after already using a blowoff tube for the first 2 weeks. If this blew off during active fermentation, you may want to look into using a blowoff tube.

Beer is tough to spoil, all should be great.

I moved to blowoff tubes last year for all brews during active fermentation, and switch to an airlock after a week.

usfmikeb said:

i moved to blowoff tubes last year for all brews during active fermentation, and switch to an airlock after a week.

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+1

poislb said:

+1

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It has been in the first 2 days of fermentation. A few months back I bought a second carboy and decided to try the better bottle. Well, the top of it isn't the same size as the glass carboy (that I just use blow off tubing in) so I had to buy a stopper that the tube goes in the center. So, it is still a blow off tube but it is in the center of a stopper.

That means that you need a bigger diameter hose. Drill out the stopper so that it will hold larger tubing.

Only had one airlock blow off that was enough for me ... Go to the hardware store and grab a couple feet of tubing, worth the couple bucks.

usfmikeb said:

That means that you need a bigger diameter hose. Drill out the stopper so that it will hold larger tubing.

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The entire stopper came out, not just the tube.

yep, that's why I recommended a larger diameter hose. The stopper came out because the tube size you're using isn't big enough to relieve all the pressure. I think I'm using 1/2 inch hose, and if you're using something with an outside diameter that fits into the hole in the stopper meant for an airlock, then you're using something along the lines of 3/16.

usfmikeb said:

yep, that's why I recommended a larger diameter hose. The stopper came out because the tube size you're using isn't big enough to relieve all the pressure. I think I'm using 1/2 inch hose, and if you're using something with an outside diameter that fits into the hole in the stopper meant for an airlock, then you're using something along the lines of 3/16.

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Got ya! - thanks

Glad to help! I'm sure your beer is fine, you've got pressure from the fermentation pushing air out of the carboy, and we all had to learn these things at some time!