My airlock went ape****!!

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brewnskiinvt

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:ban: So...I'm a greenhorn to brewing, and I last Saturday, I brewed and everything seemed to go fine. On the following night, I could hear a hiss coming from the other room, and it was my primary making the noise. The airlock was filled with (krausen??) and foaming over. Not too much though...but foaming nonetheless. I could feel and could see that the cover was protruding upward with pressure, but luckily, nothing ever blew. So anyway, in a panic, I pulled the airlock, cleaned it, sanitized it, filled it back up with water and placed it back on the lid. It happened one more time, though not as violently, and I repeated aforementioned process.

Now, the questions I have are...did I or could I have ruined this beer by doing what I did? Did I do the right thing? Wrong thing? Should I have done something else?

I racked and bottled it tonight, and I'm probably MAKING myself think its bad, but I can't be 100%. I tasted it...and from what I'm hearing, if it was bad I'd REALLY know it. And it doesn't remind me anything of panther piss!! So, maybe it is okay?? I dunno. Sit and wait I suppose.

Thanks for any and all input on this subject. It's truly appreciated!:mug:
 
You will more than likely be fine. But use a blow off next time for the first part of fermentation.
 
Not to worry. That's happened to lots and lots of folks who ended up with great beer.

Next time, either rig a blow-off tube to start with or have one ready to set up just in case.
 
+ 3 .

Blow off tube for the first few days, then go with the airlock.
A blowoff tube is a length of 1/2 in diameter tubing wedged into the top of a rubber stopper with a hole in it. Run one end in the stopper, the other in a vessel with water to keep air out.

I also did this my first brew. Beer still came out great.
 
thanks for the advice guys. Next question is what is a blow off tube? What does it do? And can I get one online/local brew store? God I hate being a rookie lol. thanks for your patience
 
thanks...is that setup something that can be used on a plastic primary bucket? Or would that be for a glass carboy?
 
As long as stuff is coming out, nothing bad can get in. Also, the S airlocks clog up a lot worse than the 3 piece.

I've probably been lucky as I usually ferment on the cool side so the only time I have ever used a blow-off tube was when a friend broke my airlock. It was my very first beer and I didn't have any spares. Luckily I had spent enough time researching on here that I knew to grab my siphon tubing and rig a blow off until I could pick up another airlock.
 
I always use a blowoff until the beer is mostly fermented- I just hate scrubbing yeast off my basement ceiling. Congrats, you had a good fermentation.

Beer needs ageing and love, just be patient, as difficult as that is.
 

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