Blow off water

I like to leave my blow off tube on during the whole month long primary. Is it ok if the blow off water gets dirty from the active ferment and I don't change the water. It started off with clean star san water and it is now brown?????

Why don't you just dump it and clean it?

Why not just replace it with a clean air lock?

Are you doing some kind of experiment?

I would change it after the first week, and probably cover it... I typically only use the blow-off tube during the highly active fermentation period. Typically that's over within about a week (sometimes a few days, sometimes just over a week)... Then I swap out for a standard airlock... Last few batches I've not needed a tube at all... Next batch could get interesting, since I might be fermenting in my 1/6 Sanke keg, adding O2 to the wort before pitching the yeast (via an actual O2 system)...

Maybe he's trying to get something to evolve in the bucket...

Because a air lock does not fit in my temp controlled freezer... I just like to brew set the temp and forget about it untill a month has passed

I would probably change it once fermentation does down a bit so that the rest of the month your stuff is clean and not growing. Should only have to do that once.

Take the whole thing off, use a sanitized piece of foil to cover the opening while you clean the tube and tub and replace it.

Build a collar and you won't need to worry about the bucket getting nasty... OR, change it after the first 3-7 days and cover it... I typically use one of my spare 2 gallon fermenting buckets (for 1 gallon batches of mead, originally, now just ways to measure water and for blow-off assemblies)... If you use something else, then get a way to have the opening closed better (if a bucket) and go from there.

I plan on making a fermentation chamber from a freezer at some point too... Most of my fermenting, by that time, will be in kegs. So, chances are, I'll need to build a collar for the chamber. IMO, it's well worth the effort to make the collar, since you'll expand how much you can ferment inside the chamber...

That sounds exhausting

kingjam99 said:

That sounds exhausting

Click to expand...

If it's "too much work" to clean the setup, then have a spare that you can change over to after the first week (or so) and then clean out the nasty one. OR build the collar (a one time item) and not worry about it again...

You're call, but if you're not wanting to put in a miniscule amount of work to eliminate a nasty item in the chamber, then you have bigger issues, IMO...

Haha I was being sarcastic... I think I will just change the water

Come on guys... The likeliness of anything going back UP the blow off (if it aims down) is ridiculously low. I don't change my blow-off's until I get to secondary, at that point I put an airlock.

Just put a little sanitizer in the blow-off bucket.

M_C

Misplaced that's what I want to hear