Some questions from a new home brewer

So my sister gave me a Mr. Beer kit for christmas and i really enjoyed it. I recently stepped up to a True Brew Kit, and i made my first batch yesterday. Right now its sitting downstairs fermenting away and I've got a couple of questions kicking around in my head.

1. Should I/can I clean the airlock?
Right now the active fermentation is going on, and the airlock is filled with a fair amount of muck. Is it a good idea to clean the airlock DURING fermentation?

2. What should I be filling the airlock with?
A guy at school told me Vodka would work fine, but i'm just wondering if rubbing alcohol or other solutions would work better. Also, should I refill the airlock as time goes on, because the original solution will evaporate away, or is it no big deal?

3. How important is having a secondary fermenter?
The kit only came with one fermenter bucket. Should I try and find something else for a secondary fermentation, or is it not needed. Also, if I have only one fermenter, what is the longest time I should leave the beer-to-be in there? (I made a brown ale, if that helps).

4. Finally, what is the best temperature for ales?
The fermenter is currently in the coldest room in the house, the cellar. At last check, the room is 69.5 or so degrees. Should I move the bucket to somewhere warmer?

Sorry this is such a long post, just had a couple of questions. Any responses are much appreciated.
Jon

1. You can pull the airlock off, clean it, sanatize it and return to the fermenter. If your paranoid, place a piece of sanatized allum foil over it.

I clean mine when they get dirty with no ill affects.

2. I use vodka for my airlock. I used to use the good stuff (all I had) and then got a giant bottle of generic and use that. I refill as necessary to maintain that airlock.

3. Most beer doesnt need a secondary and/or just leave it in another week in primary and then bottle. I had one beer in a primary for 4months (scotch ale).. then bottled it. It's upto you how long you want it in three but for the most part unlessyour lagering or a really heavy beer, 2-3 weeks is enough time for fermentation.

4. Temperature scale sticker thing on my one carboy says 62-74 with a bracket around that range for Ale. I keep it as low as I can given what I have to work with and how lazy I'm feeling. I have two in high 60 rang and 1 in the low 70 range (room temp).

If you want a lower temp put it in a modified 60qt cooler with the head sticking out the top (do a search for it, cant remember who posted it) and fill 2liter bottles with water and freeze them. Swap out twice a day to keep temps down fairly cold. If I remember to take pics tonight I'll post themof what i'm talking about.

hope this helps.

Welcome to HBT! I'll take a shot:

1. You should clean the airlock between brewing sessions, and also if it gets clogged with krausen. Be sure to sanitize it before replacing it, and consider using a blowoff for a few days until the fermentation calms down a bit.

2. Vodka is fine, I use sanitized water myself. Just don't use anything you wouldn't want in your beer (no rubbing alcohol) in case you get a little suckback.

3. Some of us like to secondary, but it's not necessary. A 3-4 week primary will accomplish the same thing. The secondary is nice for dry hopping, or adding fruit, or for styles that need a long aging - but not a necessity.

4. Temperature - I like to ferment most of my ales in the low-mid 60's for a cleaner taste, you want to at least try to keep it under 70 if you can - at least for the first 5 days. In your case the cellar seems best, it's common for your fermenter to go 5-10 degrees above ambient when the yeast is really cranking and you can get some undesirable flavors if it ferments much above 70. Fermentation temperature has some of the largest impact on the flavor of the final product IMO.

Hey man, welcome.

1 - It's OK to clean the airlock if it's gotten gunked up mid-ferment. The yeasties are producing enough CO2 to keep the nasties out of the beer while you clean it.

2 - Fill it with vodka. If some should get sucked back into the beer due to a drop in pressure, it won't ruin the taste of your beer. Rubbing alcohol tastes nasty. Top off the airlock vodka if you need to, but it likely won't evaporate too fast.

3 - Secondary isn't necessary. At some point, Revvy will pop in here and post about how secondaries are only used when adding flavors, blah blah blah. A secondary fermenter is really about clearing up the beer, allowing the yeast to fall out of suspension. That same process can take place in your primary just as well, and you have less risk infecting your brew if you leave it where it is. Your beer can sit in primary for several months before you need to be concerned about off-tastes (autolysis).

4 - 69.5 is at the high end of what most yeasts work well at. For example, Nottingham's range is 59-74, but most ale yeasts like it in the mid-60s. So if you were to put your bucket in a water bath and keep that water cool using ice packs or whatever, you might be even better off than you are now. But 69.5 is OK.

1. Wouldn't be a bad idea to clean off the airlock. I'm hoping/assuming that the muck came from an active fermentation rather than just being dirty when placed on. Just take it out, sanitize it, refill it (question 2) and place it back on.

2. Vodka is fine, but don't put anything in the airlock that you wouldn't want in your beer, because they will occasionally drip. I think the vodka may evaporate a bit faster than water, but you probably won't need to refill it unless you keep it in the primary for a long time. I sometimes used sanitized water in mine (sanitized with one-step sanitizer) and sometimes I just use tap water. Never had a problem with either.

3. You don't need a secondary. It might be a good idea in the future if you are really concerned about your beer's clarity or you want to add hops or fruit after fermentation is over, but its not a necessity.

4. Your package of yeast should tell you its ideal range, but low to mid 60's would be ideal. 69 degrees isn't bad, but the fermenting beer inside the primary will often be about 10 degrees warmer than ambient temp. You could put a wet t-shirt over it and point a fan on it to get some evaporative cooling.

1. Should I/can I clean the airlock?
If it's getting plugged up, yes clean it. Just take it out; rinse it under the sink; resanitize it; put it back on and fill it up. The short time it's off isn't enough to create serious risk of contamination.

2. What should I be filling the airlock with?
It doesn't make much difference. If you open the tap later and forget to take out the airlock, it will suck the solution into your beer. Vodka is nice because it's safe to drink, and it kills the bacteria.

3. How important is having a secondary fermenter?
It depends. If your just using no boil kits (eg Cooper's or Muttuns) you don't really need a secondary, because there isn't much else floating in the beer besides yeast. However, if you start doing any thing with actual grains or hops, you'll have a lot more junk, you'll want to let settle down before you bottle.

4. Finally, what is the best temperature for ales?
You should really check with the yeast your using. Each strain has it's own "best temperature." Some strains of yeast are very forgiving about temperature, and others will make a terrible beer if you get the temperature wrong. If your concerned about having the right temperature, you may want to try Cooper's ale yeast, it's very forgiving. It has a large temperature range already, and I made great beer outside their recommended range.

Hey Winderbrau, welcome and cheers!

Looks like every is chiming in on your questions. You gotta love the speed and thoroughness of these guys!!!

Lastly, RDWHAHB. I see some of the responses to No. 4 express some concerns with your fermentation temp. You're fine. True, yeasts fermenting at temperatures outside of their optimal range can impart some undesired flavors. As a beginner, don't worry about this. As long as you aren't really warm or cold, you're good. Also, if you can, use a robust, clean fermenting yeast. You can't go wrong with Safale US-05 for just about any brew. Worry more about perfecting your basics and becoming consistent in your techniques. When you can reproduce the same beer, then things like fermentation at 64° vs 70° will be noticed.

1. Should I/can I clean the airlock?
Yes. Make sure you sanitize before putting back on though.

2. What should I be filling the airlock with?
I use my sanitizing solution (StarSan). If you use bleach or iodophor, vodka or tap water will do fine. Isopropyl would work, just make sure you don't get suckback. I wouldn't want to end up with iso-alcohol in my beer.

3. How important is having a secondary fermenter?
No worries. I rarely do a secondary for most ales. 3-4 weeks is perfect. I only secondary if I'm planning on dry hopping, adding fruit, adding oak or aging for an extended amount of time.

4. Finally, what is the best temperature for ales?
Every yeast has an optimal range. I'd generally say that 65-72*F is good. Any warmer and you have a chance of producing a lot of fruity esters. Much cooler and the yeast will work slower.

Clean the airlock??? - It sounds like you need a blow off hose first! Try a piece of tubing plunged into a tub of water (growler, large bottle, whatever) next time, for the first few days. I still soak the airlocks, but they're never full of gunk...

just my .02

welcome to Brewing!

Hey everyone, thanks for the welcomes/speedy responses. Just logged back on and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who commented. I guess its time to go clean out the airlock. Once again, thank-you to everyone for the advice, it really helps.

I'll put my 2c in about using a secondary. I use one for two reasons; I brew beers with a lot of sediment, like 4" sometimes and since I like to bottle from my fermenter that has a spigot I pretty much need to siphon off the beer from all that junk so I can do so. If I were going to siphon the beer off the top when bottling then I would keep it in the primary the whole time but I like to control I have with a spigot when bottling.