What to do when your airlock is full of wort.

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Drunken Monk

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So last night I brewed up a Goose Island Nut Brown Clone, cooled to about 80 degrees, pitched some dry muntons yeast that I rehydrated in about a half cup of wort and went to bed.
This morning the airlock was ful of wort and there was foam coming out of the top of it. It wasn't bubbling. I pulled the bung out of the carboy and I heard a bunch of gas hiss out. So I run to the sink and wash up the three priece airlock thinking I could put it back on and go to work. No dice. The Carboy was oozing krausen so I grab some paper towels and wipe it off. The krausen keeps coming. This is when I wish I had a blowoff tube that would fit my carboy.
After about a quarter roll of paper towels it hits me. I have evrything I need to make a blowoff. My siphon hose fits perfectly in the drilled stopper! Just add a bucket of water and there you have it. Crisis averted!
I guess it goes without saying that I will be using this blowoff system for Primary from now on. I'll save the airlock for Secondary.
I figured I would share this story since there are probably a bunch of brewers out there that have everything to make a blowoff like this but never really thought of doing it like this. I always saw people use the 1 inch tube and never thought I could use the things I already had until I absolutely had to.
 
So last night I brewed up a Goose Island Nut Brown Clone, cooled to about 80 degrees, pitched some dry muntons yeast that I rehydrated in about a half cup of wort and went to bed.
This morning the airlock was ful of wort and there was foam coming out of the top of it. It wasn't bubbling. I pulled the bung out of the carboy and I heard a bunch of gas hiss out. So I run to the sink and wash up the three priece airlock thinking I could put it back on and go to work. No dice. The Carboy was oozing krausen so I grab some paper towels and wipe it off. The krausen keeps coming. This is when I wish I had a blowoff tube that would fit my carboy.
After about a quarter roll of paper towels it hits me. I have evrything I need to make a blowoff. My siphon hose fits perfectly in the drilled stopper! Just add a bucket of water and there you have it. Crisis averted!
I guess it goes without saying that I will be using this blowoff system for Primary from now on. I'll save the airlock for Secondary.
I figured I would share this story since there are probably a bunch of brewers out there that have everything to make a blowoff like this but never really thought of doing it like this. I always saw people use the 1 inch tube and never thought I could use the things I already had until I absolutely had to.
I you have some foam control drops handy, you can just drop 5-6 drops down through the drilled hole. That'll clear things up pretty quick.
 
Remove airlock + stopper, replace with aluminum foil.

And spend a half hour cleaning up all the krausen that spills out?
I'm pretty sure my little blow off tube will work just fine. I know its not the absolute best option out there but its what i have an so far its working a heck of a lot better than my airlock. I'll probably use it on my next few batches as well and monitor it to see if it poses any problem. I hardly doubt its going to blow up.
And why do people bother putting the other end of thier tube in sanitizer anyway? I'm pretty sure fermenting wort is incapable of sucking on the hose to start a siphon.
 
I would worry more about pitching at 80 degrees. If you pitched at 65 to 70 you propably wouldn't have the this issue. But this way fermentation should be done in 2 days if you force carb you can be drinking this beer by monday. Only problem is it won't taste very good.
 
I hardly doubt its going to blow up.

Your correct, probably not. But oh if it does...boom...wort geyser! You can fashion an emergency blow off out of a kitchen trash bag, cut the bottom out of the bag and tightly tape it around the fermenter w/ the other end of the bag in a bucket, the beer will drip into the "catch can"

Anyone who has ever experienced a pressurized fermenter due to a plugged airlock would advise against this!
 
Here's what I don't get. I use carboys and the first week I use a blow off tube, extra hose from my racking cane pushed directly into a stopper, and haven't had any issues. One thing is why push the stopper in so hard? I put the stopper in but without pressing it in so if for some reason the tube does get stopped up the cork just pops out. And if there's enough pressure to push the cork out I'm not worried about crud getting in.
 
Here's what I don't get. I use carboys and the first week I use a blow off tube, extra hose from my racking cane pushed directly into a stopper, and haven't had any issues. One thing is why push the stopper in so hard? I put the stopper in but without pressing it in so if for some reason the tube does get stopped up the cork just pops out. And if there's enough pressure to push the cork out I'm not worried about crud getting in.


+1 The first beer I brewed I put the stopper in too tight and had a difficult time getting it out after fermentation. Now I loosely put it in. It still has a good seal and everything still comes out the airlock but if it got clogged it will push the stopper out before blowing something up.
 
I use a length of 3/8th tubing and a drilled stopper. I just drop that sucker in there, no pushing. Works fine and never had a problem. I've had the stopper pop out and krausen push out, but I keep my fermenters in a large rubbermaid bin, so I don't worry about making a mess. I can fit 2 buckets or BB's along with a 1/2 gallon jug of star san.
 

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