Last 2 batches, vigorous bubbling

Hello all,

I've been brewing for almost a year now, and only been doing extract kits so far. I picked up a copy of "How to Brew" by Palmer recently. The last two batches had very vigorous fermentation, to the point of the starsan being pushed out of my 1 piece s-type airlock. Would it be harder to push out with a three piece airlock?

Also, the last 2 batches had two obvious differences to them. The first was a belgian tripel that I simply aerated by rocking back and forth right before adding the dry yeast. The second was "The Innkeeper" kit from Northern Brewer, which I had rehydrated the yeast in sanitized, warm water for about 20 minutes before pitching, with no real aeration of the wort.

The belgian tripel turned out great, so I have no complaints there. I'll be bottling the Innkeeper this weekend, but seems to be going great so far. Is there any concern to fermenting too fast?

Thanks for reading.

How warm is it fermenting? The speed or vigor with which it ferments is pretty meaningless. I would be concerned with proper pitching amounts and even more concerned with fermentation temperature.

Fermenting too fast should not an issue but it sounds like you are bottling fairly quickly after fermentation...be careful (incomplete fermentation will result in bottle bombs)...I lke to let my beer sit for three weeks in the primary carboy before either racking to a second to age, or packaging.

Regarding your air lock...get rid of it for fermentation...I say blow off tube, blow off tube, blow off tube. Use the air lock when you know the fermentation is almost complete or for the secondary.

Good luck!

Well I've converted a mini fridge to aid in keeping my wort cool. I have an external temperature control, generally keep it around 64 degrees. So the temperature is fairly consistent through the primary fermentation.

I appreciate the advice. I'll look into blow off tubes.