First Brew: Move Better Bottle to Water Bath & Risk Airlock Dump?

I brewed an all grain Brown Ale last night for my first brew since a Mr. Beer kit attempt in college 8 years ago. I cooled my wort to about 68* before transferring to my primary and pitching my yeast. I'm storing in a cool place with ambient temp of 67*. It's been about 18 hours since I pitched the yeast and everything looks to be going well, the air lock is bubbling away and the kraeusen looks good. However, the temp has risen and stabilized at 77* which I feel is too high. I'm using a Better Bottle as my primary and have read about the risk of the water in my airlock dumping into my beer if a Better Bottle is lifted up when full. I'd like to lower the temperature of my fermentation by placing the better bottle in a water bath, but don't know if I should risk my airlock dumping. Is fermenting at 77* going to cause harm to by beer? I'm already 18 hours in, is it too late to lower the temp and better to just keep it stable at this point?

I'm not sure what I should do, if anything?

-Should I remove the airlock and quickly place the better bottle in a water bath and then replace the airlock.
-Move the better bottle into a water bath with airlock in place and risk the airlock dumping
or
-Do nothing and let ferment at 77*


Sorry about the long post & thanks for any help!

Sanitize your hands, remove the airlock, move the better bottle to where you want , re-sanitize airlock and place back in with bung. No worries, do it all the time, the gasses pushing out prevent anything from getting in for the few minutes it takes to move

I think your instinct to get it lower than 77 is a good one, even 18 hours in. While I wouldn't be too worried about the airlock water, might as well be safe and take it out you're picking it up and putting it in a water bath. Nothing's going to get in in the brief period it's exposed, especially with co2 pushing out.

Although now that I think of it - is the ambient temp in the space 77, or the liquid? While fermentation will raise the temp, 10 degrees is a lot.

I'm thinking the beer temp has risen. Place it in water bath to stabilize, then when it drops (and krausen drops) move it back out of the water and let it ride at room temp for a few days.

yancydc said:

I think your instinct to get it lower than 77 is a good one, even 18 hours in. While I wouldn't be too worried about the airlock water, might as well be safe and take it out you're picking it up and putting it in a water bath. Nothing's going to get in in the brief period it's exposed, especially with co2 pushing out.

Although now that I think of it - is the ambient temp in the space 77, or the liquid? While fermentation will raise the temp, 10 degrees is a lot.

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I just took another ambient temp reading at it is at 68.

Thanks for the answers!

Is there any risk of lowering the temperature of the fermentation too quickly if I move it to a water bath? Or should I just go ahead and move it to a bath with some ice?

tre9er said:

I'm thinking the beer temp has risen. Place it in water bath to stabilize, then when it drops (and krausen drops) move it back out of the water and let it ride at room temp for a few days.

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The temp has been stable at 77 for 10+ hours now. Is the only advantage to moving to the water bath at this point stabilization? Or will I get a better beer if I lower the temp?

putting a wet towel over your fermenter with a fan on it can lower the temp by 5-10 degrees without having to move it or **** with it at all.

I say let it ride where it is. Use it as a learning experience. Maybe brew another batch with the exact same ingredients and this time control the temp better. Make good notes of both and compare. You are not going to really screw it up either way.

2 things, may or may not help.

I learned here on HBT to put cheap vodka in my airlock. That way if I get suckback (and I have, with a better bottle by moving it), then I just boosted my abv. (to quote edwort)

Also, I just moved my better bottle of apfelwein yesterday. It was in my closet, stinking up the place with rhino farts, so I elected to move it to the 38DD to help with the smell, and lower the temp to 66ish, as opposed to mid-70's ambient. What I did, was slowwwwwwly lift the neck of the better bottle. So slow, that the bubbles still came out the airlock. Once it wouldn't "flex" any more, I just rocked it back, got the other hand under the bottom of the carboy, and lifted it up. It blew like hell when I released the "pull" of the neck. (make sense? not sure if I worded that right)

Probably way more work than it's worth, but I didn't wanna remove the airlock. LOL.

naga77777 said:

2 things, may or may not help.

I learned here on HBT to put cheap vodka in my airlock. That way if I get suckback (and I have, with a better bottle by moving it), then I just boosted my abv. (to quote edwort)

Also, I just moved my better bottle of apfelwein yesterday. It was in my closet, stinking up the place with rhino farts, so I elected to move it to the 38DD to help with the smell, and lower the temp to 66ish, as opposed to mid-70's ambient. What I did, was slowwwwwwly lift the neck of the better bottle. So slow, that the bubbles still came out the airlock. Once it wouldn't "flex" any more, I just rocked it back, got the other hand under the bottom of the carboy, and lifted it up. It blew like hell when I released the "pull" of the neck. (make sense? not sure if I worded that right)

Probably way more work than it's worth, but I didn't wanna remove the airlock. LOL.

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Dude, what's the 38dd lol

Cool it, if you want a better tasting beer. Ten hours at 77 isn't ideal, but it's better than 3-5 days at 77!

If you are worried about anything getting in after you take the airlock off before moving it, sanitize some aluminum foil, place it on top and fold it around the neck. It's not airtight, but it keeps most of the critters out.

MotorcycleMatt said:

Dude, what's the 38dd lol

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Fermentation chamber. Uses Ice blocks to keep fermentation temps in the right range.

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD-Mother-of-a-Fermentation-Chiller

I built mine to those specs, and used a temp controller from coolerguys.com

here's mine:

naga77777 said:

Fermentation chamber. Uses Ice blocks to keep fermentation temps in the right range.

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD-Mother-of-a-Fermentation-Chiller

I built mine to those specs, and used a temp controller from coolerguys.com

here's mine:

Click to expand...

I'm glad you explained. I thought it was a bra size.

-a.

schittbreff said:

putting a wet towel over your fermenter with a fan on it can lower the temp by 5-10 degrees without having to move it or **** with it at all.

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Thanks for this tip! Followed what you said and my temperature has dropped 2 degrees in about 45 minutes.