S airlock ran backwards

[Biergarden]

It was wierd. At the end of fermentation I noticed that the fermenter somehow developed negative pressure. I use a 15.5 gallon keg with a #11 rubber stopper and vodka in the airlock.
I thought maybe it was temperature changes, but since there is only 11 gallons in the fermenter and the temperature is stable at 72f I'm a bit confused. I've never seen that before.

 

[govner1]

Are you using a ferm chamber or other means to control temp?
72 seems a bit high for an ale.


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[acidrain]

I assume you mean ambient air temp? The fermenting beer produces it's own heat, so the actual fermenting beer is probably more like 80F.

When the fermentation stopped, it cooled down to 72F and thus the reverse bubbling.

 

[tagz]

It's probably a glitch in the matrix.

 

[day_trippr]

Well, there was a massive solar flare right about then...

Cheers!

 

[Biergarden]

I know. Its the oddest thing. A temp shift of a degree or two shouldn't, I don't think, make an air lock run backwards. In any event, I'm racking into a secondary later today. I gravity has dropped from 1.020 to 1.018 from an OG of 1.086. One thing I'm taking to the trash is chocolate malt in favor of roasted malts.
The beer I made is my version of a Russian imperial. I've always thought of chocolate malt tasting like Maxwell house coffee, which to me tastes like something from a truck stop.

 

[acidrain]

I know. Its the oddest thing. A temp shift of a degree or two shouldn't, I don't think, make an air lock run backwards. In any event, I'm racking into a secondary later today. I gravity has dropped from 1.020 to 1.018 from an OG of 1.086. One thing I'm taking to the trash is chocolate malt in favor of roasted malts.
The beer I made is my version of a Russian imperial. I've always thought of chocolate malt tasting like Maxwell house coffee, which to me tastes like something from a truck stop.

You never confirmed... do you ferment in a controlled chamber, or a 72F house?

 

[Biergarden]

No fermentation chamber. Its a fermentation room that is climate controlled to 70f for this beer. But it does fluctuate a couple of degrees.

 

[MikeInMKE]

As the weather changes, your barometric pressure changes as well.

You could fill that carboy with water, or nothing at all, put on an airlock, and it'll run one way one day, and run the opposite a day or three later.