Replacing an air locking during feementation. Good or bad?

[Babbotts]

Hello all,

I am fermenting a Irish Blonde Ale with an OG of 1.052. I pitched the yeast at 71 Fahrenheit. The yeast became very active quickly.

About 24 hours I had it pour into my airlock. I caught it happening pretty quickly and used a tube submerged in Star-San.

My question is should I just leave the tube or, once activity goes down, should I replace the air lock?

I have added some pictures if anyone was curious or had some other tips about my setup.

 

[Dland]

I always use a blow off tube in starsan, does the same job as an airlock, and will not be overwhelmed by an active fermentation, and less likely to suckback. Those little airlocks more suited for small batches in small bottles.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

You can replace the airlock. It really won't hurt anything. However, I would err on the side of the less disturbance, the better and just leave the tube if it's working.

 

[Velnerj]

What's the reason you'd like to switch back?

 

[mashpaddled]

Whatever is more convenient for you. A blow off tube is just a large airlock. I'm sure somebody is going to pop in to talk about air ingress through the blowoff tube but plastic airlocks are thin plastic and probably subject to similar ingress as a longer but thicker tube. If the airlock makes it easier to move around the vessel, I would swap.

 

[hotbeer]

Airlocks are probably easier for when you have to move the fermenter around. Though I am at loss to know any real reason for moving a fermenter around. They also seem to provide more entertainment if you are a bubble counter and watcher.

Other than that, you can just use a blow off tube. I seem to feel that larger diameter blow off don't seem to suffer the blow out issues during the kraeusen as much as the narrow airlocks and 3/8" ID tubing many use.

My blow off tubes are overkill at 7/8ths ID. I'd have gotten 1/2" to 3/4" ID tube if they'd had them in stock when I went to the store. Since I've started using them, I haven't had a blow out since. Though some have come close.

I also have the tubes go up for about 6" before turning them down into the bubbler bottle. I feel that lets any bubble burst and the liquid run back down the sides of the tube to the FV instead of getting trapped in a small diameter tube and pushed out by the bubbles, crud and gas behind it.

 

[wepeeler]

The biggest issue with replacing an airlock during fermentation is introducing Oxygen to the beer. That being said, I haven't made an oxygenated beer yet, and I've switched out plenty of airlocks during fermentation.

 

[RM-MN]

The biggest issue with replacing an airlock during fermentation is introducing Oxygen to the beer. That being said, I haven't made an oxygenated beer yet, and I've switched out plenty of airlocks during fermentation.

Unless you leave the airlock off for quite a while there won't be much oxygen getting in while the airlock is off as there will be a steady stream of CO2 coming out. Even opening the lid of a bucket fermenter to add dry hops isn't a big deal as it takes a while for the CO2 to escape and oxygen to replace it. Just don't remove the lid entirely or leave it open any longer than you have to.

Most beers aren't badly affected by a little oxygen. NEIPA's are the most sensitive and any beers where hop aroma is an important part of their characteristic are prone to oxidation as it destroys the aroma. My pale ales have good aroma at first but is dissipates within 3 months from the oxygen that gets introduced. No real problem, the beers still taste good and if I really want the experience the aroma I just have to drink them up faster.

 

[youngdh]

I always use a blow off tube in starsan, does the same job as an airlock, and will not be overwhelmed by an active fermentation, and less likely to suckback. Those little airlocks more suited for small batches in small bottles.

I do the same. I also put a couple of drops of defoam in the fermenter which reduces the size of the krausen with very active yeast like Kveiks fermented hot.

 

[wepeeler]

Unless you leave the airlock off for quite a while there won't be much oxygen getting in while the airlock is off as there will be a steady stream of CO2 coming out. Even opening the lid of a bucket fermenter to add dry hops isn't a big deal as it takes a while for the CO2 to escape and oxygen to replace it. Just don't remove the lid entirely or leave it open any longer than you have to.

Most beers aren't badly affected by a little oxygen. NEIPA's are the most sensitive and any beers where hop aroma is an important part of their characteristic are prone to oxidation as it destroys the aroma. My pale ales have good aroma at first but is dissipates within 3 months from the oxygen that gets introduced. No real problem, the beers still taste good and if I really want the experience the aroma I just have to drink them up faster.

That's why I only replace blowoffs and airlocks during active fermentation. I replace my blowoff tubes with a Cold Crash Guardian now, which is a cheap way to harvest CO2 and not get suck back. The bladder fills up so you can clearly see the CO2 escaping the beer and pushing out any O2 that may have gotten in.

And 3 months?! I've never had a beer last 3 months in the keg