Slight airlock overflow (with video)...should I be concerned?

[cpferris]

Got my first batch of all grain IPA fermenting. Started out slow yesterday but here's what I've got now:



Should I just let it go? Or should I vent the conical an replace the airlock?

The water with sanitizer I added was clear yesterday, now it's obviously a different color.

Just trying to be over cautious!

 

[ColoHox]

Can you add a blow-off tube to your conical? That would be better than a mucky airlock. It will likely calm down soon, so it wouldn't be needed for long.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Yes, that's a danger sign that you're coming close to having a blowout.

If this were my rig, I'd remove the airlock and the rubber grommet, and find some tubing that fits snugly inside the hole where the grommet went. Then I'd stick the other end of that tubing down into a mason jar one-third full of star san. And make sure to keep the mason jar lower than the top level of the beer inside the fermentation vessel so as to avoid suck-back.

 

[cpferris]

I've never done a blowoff before, but I can I take a second 3 piece airlock, and shove a piece of tube down into the shaft that the cap rests on top of? Then I don't have to worry about finding a hose that fits snuggly in the stopper. Then I just run that hose into a container on the floor with a starsan/water mix?

Then once the intense fermentation subsides go back to a regular airlock?

 

[m3n00b]

I've never done a blowoff before, but I can I take a second 3 piece airlock, and shove a piece of tube down into the shaft that the cap rests on top of? Then I don't have to worry about finding a hose that fits snuggly in the stopper. Then I just run that hose into a container on the floor with a starsan/water mix?

Then once the intense fermentation subsides go back to a regular airlock?

Yup.

 

[cpferris]

So I think I have made about every possible error I can with this beer. So I take the airlock off to put in a blow-off tube then proceed to push the stopper all the way into the conical. So I take the lid off an tried to find it with a sanitized spoon, but it was not floating on the top. I left it in there (luckily it was sanitized) and put a new one in with a blow off (which is bubbling away).

Hopefully I didn't ruin the beer.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I've never done a blowoff before, but I can I take a second 3 piece airlock, and shove a piece of tube down into the shaft that the cap rests on top of? Then I don't have to worry about finding a hose that fits snuggly in the stopper. Then I just run that hose into a container on the floor with a starsan/water mix?

Then once the intense fermentation subsides go back to a regular airlock?

You can, but it kinda defeats the purpose, since the bottleneck is still that narrow passageway of the inside piece of the airlock. Other people do it with success, but I've never been a fan of it.

 

[LandoLincoln]

So I think I have made about every possible error I can with this beer. So I take the airlock off to put in a blow-off tube then proceed to push the stopper all the way into the conical. So I take the lid off an tried to find it with a sanitized spoon, but it was not floating on the top. I left it in there (luckily it was sanitized) and put a new one in with a blow off (which is bubbling away).

Hopefully I didn't ruin the beer.

You didn't.

 

[GASoline71]

I've done the same thing in a fermenting bucket. I sprayed my arm and hand with Star-san and went in after the gromet, and fished it out of there. It was in a hopped up Amber Ale... it turned out amazing.

Also there is no need to go back to a regular airlock once you switch to a blowoff tube. Just leave the blow off tube there until fermentation is complete.

Gary

 

[Oaney]

So I think I have made about every possible error I can with this beer. So I take the airlock off to put in a blow-off tube then proceed to push the stopper all the way into the conical. So I take the lid off an tried to find it with a sanitized spoon, but it was not floating on the top. I left it in there (luckily it was sanitized) and put a new one in with a blow off (which is bubbling away).

Hopefully I didn't ruin the beer.

HAHAHAHAHA! I don't laugh in jest, I laugh because I can relate. I promise! Fishing around with a sanitized spoon just conjures bad/funny memories; Bad when it happened, funny in hindsight. Maybe I was just lucky when it happened to me, maybe fermenting wort is much more forgiving than we give it credit for.

So it's brew day and I'm sitting there with my long sanitized spoon fishing around. I've almost got the bugger and as I bring it up to the surface it floats away and sinks again. This goes on for a good 2-3 minutes as if the damned thing is mocking me, and I finally give up! This spoon isn't going to work! Time to sanitize the salad tongs!

I did finally get the thing with the salad tongs, and my beer turned out just fine. If your stopper was sanitized I would guess there will be no infection. At the worst you might have a very slight off flavor if a rubber stopper was fermenting for weeks, but you said conical right? How many gallons, and just imagine the ratio of gallons to a little stopper.

I vote you will be fine!