Airlock bubbling crazy fast

[bnewmane]

Yesterday I brewed my second brew ever. I ended up using the Dead Ringer IPA brewkit from Northern Brewer. I hit OG perfectly (1.064) at 5 gal and double pitched with Wyeast American Ale yeast. Within 1 hour of pitching yeast my air lock would bubble approximately once every minute. I checked it today and it's now bubbling like crazy, about 20 times every 10 seconds. Is there any such thing as your beer fermenting to fast? Also should I worry about the possibility of my airlock drying up before fermentation is complete?

 

[flars]

Aggressive fermentation is one of the signs of to warm of fermentation. Best results for most ales are achieved when the fermenting wort temperature is in the low 60° to mid 60° range.

 

[SteveHeff]

It may not all be a temperature related. It's likely, but it may also be due to the double pitching of yeast. The more viable yeast you pitch, the more vigorous the fermentation will be. Although, don't overlook the temp. Try to get a reading on it. I fermented an ale in 68 degree ambient temp and the beer ended up fermenting at 78 degrees. I've never made that mistake again. Makes for some pretty gross beer.

 

[bnewmane]

I checked earlier and room temp is at a steady 69 degrees and the thermometer on the side of my fermenter said 74 degrees. I guess that's a little hotter than I want it but should I get any bad off flavors from it being a few degrees to high?

 

[flars]

I checked earlier and room temp is at a steady 69 degrees and the thermometer on the side of my fermenter said 74 degrees. I guess that's a little hotter than I want it but should I get any bad off flavors from it being a few degrees to high?

You will have some off flavors. Hops may make some of them less noticeable. Wouldn't hurt to get the fermenter into some cold water to cool the wort down into the high 60° range as it finishes fermenting.

 

[BansheeRider]

Aggressive fermentation is one of the signs of to warm of fermentation. Best results for most ales are achieved when the fermenting wort temperature is in the low 60° to mid 60° range.

I disagree with this statement because I've blown airlocks fermenting at 65 degrees.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I disagree with this statement because I've blown airlocks fermenting at 65 degrees.

A blown airlock can be caused by an overfilled fermenter.

It IS true that an ale will (generally) ferment cleaner and with far less chance of off flavors closer to 60F.

In my experience, fast airlocks and blown airlocks on properly filled fermenters are almost always temp related.

 

[agcorry00]

It wouldn't hurt to try using a swamp cooler - you can search the forum for a how-to.

 

[BansheeRider]

A blown airlock can be caused by an overfilled fermenter.

It IS true that an ale will (generally) ferment cleaner and with far less chance of off flavors closer to 60F.

In my experience, fast airlocks and blown airlocks on properly filled fermenters are almost always temp related.

Gravity of the wort and viability of the yeast also plays a major role on fermentation. Like I said earlier, I have blown the airlock off fermenters when the beer was at 65°, and the fermenter was properly filled.

 

[unionrdr]

If it's WY1056,the upper temp is 72F,so you need to bring it down. I never liked the fact that it's low to medium flocculation yeast. I've fermented at 74F with US-05 & got no fruity esters or other off flavors. But in all fairness,that was a temp spike.

 

[bnewmane]

Thanks for all the comments. I was able to get my wort down to 71-72 degrees. At least that's what my fermometer strip on my carboy says. The airlock is still bubbling at a decent pace but has decreased by half of so. Next time I'll do a ice bath before I pitch my yeast so I can pitch around 65 degrees.

 

[SteveHeff]

Good luck on the brew, bud. Report back on the thread when you have results. I'd really like to hear if you ended up with any off flavors or fusels from the higher temp ferm.