Airlock overflowing.... leave it? or?

[cowboysfan1970]

Newebie question. the one thing i wasnt prepared for has happened. My ipa is bubbleing over. do i leave the foam or is it ok to , with sterilized rag wipe thetop of the airlock to clear away the overflow? I dont have tubing and a spare stopper to run a tube. Will this beer be ok or should i get some tubing in the morning?

 

[JoeyChopps]

U should rig up a blow off tube ASAP

 

[iijakii]

Well if your airlock clogs then you have a likely chance that it'll build pressure and pop off. And by pop off I mean a ****in' rocket launch. So if you don't want to clean krausen off of your walls then I'd simply remove the airlock and cover the carboy with some sanitized foil until you can do a blowoff.

 

[Ravenshead]

^^This

 

[cowboysfan1970]

the head of foam fell off and has exposed the cap of the airlock and it still seems to be releasing co2. not clogged. so am i ok till i get a tube in place?

 

[cowboysfan1970]

anyone know what size tubing i need for a standard 6.5 gallon carboy plug?

 

[cowboysfan1970]

the head of foam fell off and has exposed the cap of the airlock and it still seems to be releasing co2. not clogged. so am i ok till i get a tube in place?

and do you know waht size tubing i will need?

 

[Fid]

The biggest trouble is that all its going to take is one little piece of hop particle to get pushed up into that airlock to clog up the airflow and cause the pressure to build. Honestly, foil is going to be your safest bet for the time being. You've got nearly nothing to worry about as far as contamination goes. With that much stuff getting pushed out its pretty unlikely that anything nasty could find its way in.

 

[Fid]

and do you know waht size tubing i will need?

What are you fermenting in?

 

[cowboysfan1970]

6.5 glass carboy

 

[amandabab]

anyone know what size tubing i need for a standard 6.5 gallon carboy plug?

remove the plug and put 1"ID hose in it.

 

[Fid]

Get a tube with a 1" interior diameter... I think the exterior diameter on them is 1 1/8" which fits snugly into the carboy's opening.

 

[cowboysfan1970]

thanks guys , i will do.

 

[sj_engr]

Do you have a 3 piece airlock or the S shaped one? You can push tubing right onto the 3 piece to create a blow off tube but sticking the other end into sanitizing solution.

 

[Biobrewer]

Blow off tube installation would be ideal here.

 

[cowboysfan1970]

ok thanks everyone. I got the blowoff in place and everything looks fine and working like it should. I just hope i didnt get any bugs in. its late here so i went to walmart and snagged a fish tank vacume and took off the tubing and worked it into the hole the airlock goes in. worked out fine in a pinch. I think i might be using this method from now on. Thanks again.

 

[JoshJoshua]

I wouldnt worry, my first brew blew up like a rocket. Scared the crap out of the girlfriend who was napping, she was too afraid to touch the fermenter thinking she'd mess it up, so all it had was a ziplock bag over it for 8 hrs. It was fine two weeks down the road, considering it was exposed for 8hrs.

Also never ferment on carpet, dont plan on getting my deposit back.

 

[cacaca86]

I know thisis old, but im exp the same issue. Can the blow off tube be placed in a jar with water? I have the s shaped air lock on a 1/2 gal glass bottle

 

[Fid]

Jar with water is ok but not necessarily ideal. Jar of sanitizing solution would be better. Vodka would work just fine as well.

 

[cacaca86]

How much fluid so be in the jar? Just a enough to cover the tube an inch or so? We only have some expensive vodka here lol hate to waste it!

 

[william_shakes_beer]

How much fluid so be in the jar? Just a enough to cover the tube an inch or so? We only have some expensive vodka here lol hate to waste it!

You want enough liquid to create an airlock. The co2 pushes out the end of the tube, bubbles up througth the liquid and is released at its surface, elimninating a poath back through the tube into the woret for bacteria. I use a 2L soda bottle half filled with sanitizer, but I have an ale pail so my blowoff tubing is much smaller.