Airlock overflowed!

[rjsnow]

Brewed Dales Pale Ale clone on 3/17. Checked on it a few hrs later and airlock had overflowed. Switched it out and wife checked on it later and overflow again. She jerry rigged with duct tape the racking hose into a bucket with water while I was at work. That lasted about 36 hours until foam started seeping thru the tape. Together we got the hose into a stopper-my problem, or question is that's it's still bubbling every 3-5 seconds do we go ahead and rack to a secondary or leave it longer?

 

[m00ps]

look up what a "blow off" tube is then delete the term "secondary" from your mind

I hope you maintained good sanitation through all the switch outs

 

[Aristotelian]

What would be the point of a secondary? Usually there is no point in secondary unless you are doing sour beer, adding fruit, or aging for a long time.

Just let it run until it stops. If it is still bubbling up, you need a blowoff tube. You can also try to slow it by reducing the temperature with a cold water bath, ice packs, etc.

 

[pshankstar]

Let me take a guess... You're airlock looked like the first picture or very similar, right?

If so, install a blowoff tube like the second picture.

When I do my small "test batches" a blowoff tube will always be used now since I am trying to get the most out of my small 3 gallon batch. Good luck and get a blowoff tube installed and leave it be. Also make sure the other end goes into some sanitized solution.

 

[agrazela]

I think the real takeaway here is that your wife attempted to save your beer.

Sounds to me like you're winning!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I think the real takeaway here is that your wife attempted to save your beer.

Sounds to me like you're winning!

Right!? Shes a keeper. :rockin:

 

[MaryB]

Both barleywines I brewed did it, and the Plinian Legacy I brewed did it. Sanitized a hose and replaced the airlock and stuck it in a bottle of sanitizer.

 

[rjsnow]

Ferment at 70° F (21° C), then condition in secondary on dry hops at 60° F (16° C) for at least one week.

Above are the recipe instructions. Everything I've brewed before hasn't taken this long to ferment(bubbled). Do I go ahead to 2nd or wait for bubbling to slow?

 

[Amadeo38]

As m00ps mentioned earlier, you should avoid racking secondary unless adding fruit or aging for some reason. This reduces the chance of contamination (which with your duct tape fiasco, you'll need all the help you can get) as well as oxidation. Consider your "secondary" as some extra time in your fermenter for things to even out after primary fermentation has completed, then add your dry hops for 3-5 days before bottling.

 

[Aristotelian]

Ferment at 70° F (21° C), then condition in secondary on dry hops at 60° F (16° C) for at least one week.

Above are the recipe instructions. Everything I've brewed before hasn't taken this long to ferment(bubbled). Do I go ahead to 2nd or wait for bubbling to slow?

Wait. Again, unless there is a specific reason to secondary, you do not need to do it. You can safely disregard the recipe instructions on this.

 

[lolcats]

I think the real takeaway here is that your wife attempted to save your beer.

Sounds to me like you're winning!

She probably wanted to save the floors not the beer

Oops sorry

 

[Sourz4life]

Yea, blow off tube is the way to go here. Or a if its a 5 gallon batch and you have a 6 gallon carboy you could use that(for next time of course). More room in the carboy will give more room for it to foam up without overflowing your airlock, I usually do that with 5 gallon batches and haven't had any issues. Either way will work though.

 

[PADave]

As already said, blow off tube, and skip the secondary. Always use a blow off tube unless you got a lot of head space. Can then switch to an airlock once things settle down, or just leave the blow off tube.

 

[kh54s10]

Ferment at 70° F (21° C), then condition in secondary on dry hops at 60° F (16° C) for at least one week.

Above are the recipe instructions. Everything I've brewed before hasn't taken this long to ferment(bubbled). Do I go ahead to 2nd or wait for bubbling to slow?

Do not go by time. Get a hydrometer if you don't already have one. Ferment until all visible activity has stopped then wait another couple days to a week or more. Take gravity readings to be sure it is done then bottle. No need for a secondary unless you are adding something or a really big beer with long bulk aging.

Make sure the 70 degrees is the highest that the wort temperature gets. Not the air temperature. Fermentation creates heat and the wort can get too warm easily.

IMO, 70 degrees is too warm for most ale yeasts anyway. And if anything I would be closer to 60 degrees to start then let it warm up to near 70 to finish, not the other way around.

You can dry hop in primary if you want to. I use 1 ounce in a 1 gallon paint strainer bag. More bags if necessary. I can do this in my Better Bottle fermenters and still be able to get the wet hop bags out.

As already said, blow off tube, and skip the secondary. Always use a blow off tube unless you got a lot of head space. Can then switch to an airlock once things settle down, or just leave the blow off tube.

I use a blow off tube for EVERY fermentation. I use a margarine cup with about 1 inch of sanitizer in it. This is enough to keep the end of the tube submerged and little enough that if I get any suck back there is not much sanitizer that could get into the beer.

I leave the blow off tube attached and only switch back to an airlock if I need the tube for another batch.