More than just bubbles in my airlock

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BeerLeBaron

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Hey there, this is my 1st post and am in the process of making my 1st batch of brew. I keep reading here about bubbles in the airlock. My question is that I have a lot of bubbling going on in my airlock about 18 hrs. after I added everything to the fermenter, but I also have some brown sludge appearing in there and the water in it is starting to turn amber. I am brewing with the True Brew American style Wheat kit. I was just wondering if this was normal, or should I just be seeing bubbles and nothing else.

Just concerned that my brew might be contaminated if I have some kind of air leak, not a tight seal around the air lock or something.

Thanks for any responses and or advice. Cheers.
 
It sounds like you've got a good fermentation going on and the krausen inside of the fermentor just got to high and pushed it's way into the airlock. Just clean and sanitize the airlock then replace it.
 
Keep an eye on it,though. The last time a started fermenting a brew with an airlock,I saw The Blob coming out of the airlock cap by the time we came home from running errands. I had to put a blow off on it asap. It then went into full swing,so it's a good thing I caught it when I did. Lesson learned,always start with a blow off rig the first 3-4 days.
 
Ok, excellent. I'll take it off and sanitize and put back, thanks for the help. Was nervous this morning when I saw more than just bubbles this morning when I woke.

Also, I had another question. According to the recipe for this kit the beginning sg for this brew was supposed to be 1.049-1.051. I didn't have a tube to test this, so took some wort out before I added the yeast and put it to the side. I then went to the store and bought a tube and last night I tested the sg and it was only 1.04. Is this because of something I did wrong while making my wort, or does the tempature of the wort change the sg. Or does the fact that I left it sitting out for several hours change the sg? Just nervous that I screwed something up.
 
There is a correction for temps at test time. I don't remember off the top of my head,though. Anyway,the reading may be low if you didn't get the wort & top off water well mixed,typically.
 
BeerLeBaron said:
Ok, excellent. I'll take it off and sanitize and put back, thanks for the help. Was nervous this morning when I saw more than just bubbles this morning when I woke.

Also, I had another question. According to the recipe for this kit the beginning sg for this brew was supposed to be 1.049-1.051. I didn't have a tube to test this, so took some wort out before I added the yeast and put it to the side. I then went to the store and bought a tube and last night I tested the sg and it was only 1.04. Is this because of something I did wrong while making my wort, or does the tempature of the wort change the sg. Or does the fact that I left it sitting out for several hours change the sg? Just nervous that I screwed something up.
Click to expand...

SG is dependent on temp, but I'd bet the wort wasn't fully mixed when you drew that sample. Did you do a partial boil and top off in the fermenter?

As long a you have the correct water volume and you added all of the ingredients, you have the proper OG. No worries there.
 
Wow, thats exactly what I did, I had to top off about 3/4 of a gallon of water after adding my wort to fermenter, don't think I stirred or mixed after. Sounds like I should be good then. Thanks for the quick responses, feeling a little more confident that I didn't screw it up all that bad.

Thanks again for the help, this site is great.
 
this is a great site ... Baron pm when this is done we can exchange homebrews im right here in rockville centre
 
Sounds good, can't wait to get a few batches under my belt using some kits so I can start experimenting with other recipe's and some of my own concoctions.
 

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