Beer in my air lock and a blown fermenter lid?

[pineknot]

About 24 hours after fermentation began, I have beer in my airlock and a slightly ajar lid.
1) What happened?
2) What do I do to prevent this in the future?
3) How do I fix it now?
4) And, is my batch ruined?

Is it sad that I am freakin out?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

1) You likely had a very vigorous fermentation. The krausen (foam) got large enough to go into the airlock. The foam makes it harder for the air to get out fast enough so pressure built up. It eventually pushed the lid off.
2) In the future you can start off with a blow-off tube. Instead of the airlock put a piece of tubing into the rubber grommet. Put the other end in a Mason jar of water (only needs to be enough to cover the end). This produces much less backpressure and prevents blowouts.
3) For now, re-seal the lid. If the airlock is bubbling furiously try to make up a blowoff tube.
4) It is likely fine. If there was pressuring pushing out CO2 then bad bacteria aren't strong enough to get in (bacteria normally fall by gravity or carried by air currents, so CO2 coming out prevents bacteria going in).

Just re-seal the lid and clean the airlock to start.

 

[jrstaples1]

Yep, sounds like krausen in the airlock from vigorous fermentation. This just happened to me on a porter. I found the krausen bubbled through the airlock and plugged the tiny holes in the cap of the airlock. I used rag soaked in warm starsan and a toothpick to keep the small holes clear. I did this every few hours and I could hear the pressure relief each time. In the future I'll use a blow off tube. Also, be sure to change out that airlock once the krausen settles or you could get bacteria going in the airlock.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[pineknot]

Thanks for the input guys! I resealed the lid, cleaned and sanitized a new airlock. Definitely going to try the blow off tube method.

jrstaples1, funny thing, my batch is a porter as well.

Thanks again guys!