Is my beer ruined?

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KMKsuburbannoise

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I made it Sunday. So it has been fermenting for 48 hrs now. When I woke up this morning, the head of the fermenting beer had reached the air lock and had started to come out of the air lock. (i imagine this is because it has been unseasonably warm in chicago) I took the air lock off briefly and a lot of the head came out. I shoved it back on, but now my air lock is full of foam and no water. What do I do? Do I take the air lock off and fill it half way with water again? Leave it? Is it ruined now?

I should mention that it is in a glass carboy
 
It's tough to say if it got infected or not. All the pressure and foam coming out of the top could have prevented any bacteria from entering, but you will know when you taste it! What I do is use a blow off tube to let the kreusen leave the fermenter without exposing it to the ambient air. Once the kreusen levels drop i replace it with an airlock.
 
take your airlock off. clean it, sanitize it.
clean your carboy, sanitize it.

determine if you need to attach a blow off tube (use the search field above).

If not,

replace your airlock onto your carboy. fill with cheap vodka or sanitized water (not just plain old water)
 
A small amount of open air isn't gonna ruin anything, there is such a thing as open fermentation. It's happened to my buckets if I have re used yeast all the time and I haven't had any issues.
 
Ok one more question...sorry

Can I make a blow off tube with my syphon hose by sticking in the top of the air lock plug and sticking the other end in a santized bucket of water?

If not, what is a quick way to make one?
 
That's just fine and exactly what most people do.
If you are not familiar with a strain of yeast or recipe, usually is better to be safe and start using the tube and a bucket, then replace with a airlock if foaming is not huge.
 
That's just fine and exactly what most people do.
If you are not familiar with a strain of yeast or recipe, usually is better to be safe and start using the tube and a bucket, then replace with a airlock if foaming is not huge.

+1

I almost always start my brews with a blow off.
 
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