Cloudy Airlock

I'm trying my first brew out. It's a Lefse Blonde. Been in the fermenting bucket about 5 days now. The airlock appears to be cloudy now and still bubbling a little bit. Any thoughts on this?

busta98 said:

I'm trying my first brew out. It's a Lefse Blonde. Been in the fermenting bucket about 5 days now. The airlock appears to be cloudy now and still bubbling a little bit. Any thoughts on this?

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Did you put star-san in your airlock?

No, but the airlock was sanitized right before it was put on,

Whats the room temperature where it is located? - perhaps it could be condensation?

Either way, if you are still seeing bubbles, then nothing is getting into your beer. Shouldn't worry too much about it.

I've seen this when I've had a very vigorous fermentation--in my case, the bucket was full enough and the yeast was active enough that wort got up into my airlock.

Any idea when it started? It's probably not a big deal... I'd just refill it (I usually use vodka).

The room temp is around 70 degrees or so. The recommended temp on the yeast was 65-75. The bubbling had slowed way up but picked up a little bit and is still going. I just noticed it last night 9/30. I'll try the vodka method. My airlock has 2 chambers on it do I need to fill both?

busta98 said:

I'm trying my first brew out. It's a Lefse Blonde. Been in the fermenting bucket about 5 days now. The airlock appears to be cloudy now and still bubbling a little bit. Any thoughts on this?

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Sounds like some yeast/krausen got pushed up in there. Happens to me on every batch.

Sanitize another stopper/airlock fill with vodka. Drink some beer.

It's ok,

forget about it for three weeks.


Too much care increases the risk of infection.

Leave it ferment for 3 weeks?

Everyone has different ideas on fermentation time. Many are of the 3-4 week primary persuasion. It won't hurt. My own rule of thumb is 3 days after gravity readings have normalized, but too long is far better than too short.

Agreed on teh 3 week method. And jsut because it's done fermenting doesn't meant eh beer is ready. The yeast do more than just convert sugar to alcohol. They produce a lot of off flavors and smells during that process and if left alone, will go back and basically clean up after themselves leaving you with a better beer. Ever hear of "green beer".
It's easier to wait as you brew more. For my I'll often leave primaries for 4-5 weeks or more until I get a chance to rack to a keg.

IrregularPulse said:

It's easier to wait as you brew more. For my I'll often leave primaries for 4-5 weeks or more until I get a chance to rack to a keg.

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That's what I mean.

I Brew every two weeks, I leave it in primary (or is it sayd primari?) for four weeks, so everyday I brew I bottle the beer I brewed four weeks before and that way I get 20 liters (more or less 5 gallons) every two weeks.

The most important ways to improve your beer are (in this order):

Aging beer propertly.
Controling fermenteation temperatures.
Good ingredients and a right brewing process.

Marius said:

That's what I mean.

I Brew every two weeks, I leave it in primary (or is it sayd primari?) for four weeks, so everyday I brew I bottle the beer I brewed four weeks before and that way I get 20 liters (more or less 5 gallons) every two weeks.

The most important ways to improve your beer are (in this order):

Aging beer propertly.
Controling fermenteation temperatures.
Good ingredients and a right brewing process.

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+1 I agree with these three things....and if you read in the forums, they seem to be the chief causes of concern and problems......and in that order. I think #1 is discounted by too many brewers. There are many people who have no pipeline, or backlog of beer, and then feel compelled to drink the beer they do have, which is often green. Then come the posts, wondering about off-flavors. Aging / conditioning beer properly is frequently underestimated, in my opinion.