Wild fermentation

Cooked up my third brew today - made an American Pale Ale. Got my wort cooled down and pitched my proofed yeast about 4:00 this afternoon. Here it is 9:30 and my airlock is going nuts. I'm getting lots of foam and flotsam from the krausen in my airlock. Is this going to hurt anything? Should I pull the airlock and go with a blowoff hose? Just looking for a little input from those who know. After the fermentation subsides somewhat should I pull the airlock and clean it, resanitize and reinstall? I am seeking some input to ease my worried mind.
Thanks!!

I've read a few stories of airlocks getting blown off the fermenter when a bit of krausen clogged the little holes. If I were in a similar situation, I'd swap out the airlock for the blowoff hose with the other end in a jar of water (I think that's what is used). As for re-installing the airlock; I may be wrong, but I think there are many who just use the blowoff hose through the entire fermentation process.

MariaAZ said:

I've read a few stories of airlocks getting blown off the fermenter when a bit of krausen clogged the little holes. If I were in a similar situation, I'd swap out the airlock for the blowoff hose with the other end in a jar of water (I think that's what is used). As for re-installing the airlock; I may be wrong, but I think there are many who just use the blowoff hose through the entire fermentation process.

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Yep, what she said. I'd do a blow off because in the morning when you wake up, you don't want any surprises! Put one end in the hole that the airlock is in, and put the other in a container/jar/pitcher of sanitizer. You can leave the blowoff tube until major fermentation stops, then stick the airlock (properly cleaned and sanitized of course) back in.

You will probably want a blow-off tube. If you don't have one, and you have one of the airlocks with the strait tube coming out of it, covered with a removable cap you can attach a santized hose (bottling or racking are usually about the same size), and feed it to the overflow container containing water/sanitizer.

As for re-installing the airlock after blow off, just make sure you sanitize it first and you will be good to go.

Thanks y'all!! In the nick of time I might add - I went in to check it again (I have my primary in the bathtub - having a separate shower stall is very convenient) and the lid on my primary bucket was bulging upward from the pressure - I cracked the lid to release some pressure and then pulled the airlock - got a nice krausen spray for my efforts. I put my sanitized tubing into the rubber grommet in the airlock hole and put the other end of the tube into a one gallon jar half full of sanitizer. We now a have a happily bubbling blowoff tube and far less potential for having to get up in the middle of the night to clean up what would be a hell of a mess - not to mention having to pacify a p-o'ed wife.
Thanks for your input everyone!!

blow-off tubes will be your best friend! now you just need to come up with a system that returns the beer to your wort instead of into a jar of sanatizer.