Beer Bubbled up into airlock... Problem?

[RabbiEitan]

Hi, this is my first home-brew. On the first night of fermentation the beer bubbled up into the airlock and apparently pushed out the water. I added a bit of boiled water and now it's working normally, but does this indicate a problem? Should I take it off, clean it up and put it back on?
Thanks!

 

[Conan]

It's no problem, but it could lead to a mess down the road. Are you using a 3-piece or S-bubbler airlock? On my 3-piece I trim the "X" off the bottom of the stem that goes into the fermenter. Hop bits like to clog the X and will blow the whole airlock off.
You can, and probably should, rig up a blowoff tube. Take a length, several feet or as much is needed, of vinyl hose- your transfer hose should work fine- and replace the airlock with the hose. If you're using a 3-piece airlock you can take the top disc off and remove the dome thing that moves, and slide the vinyl hose over the stem. Anyway, the other end of the hose goes in to a vessel of water (water jug, water bottle, pot of water, whatever). Make sure the end is submerged and you're good to go! Kyle

 

[brewkinger]

Blowoff setup is very good advice. I start every beer off with that setup an then put airlock in after 1 week.
As far as what to fill the airlock with?
Best to use cheap vodka or sanitizer/water mixture.

 

[sappnasty]

To the OP,

I had the exact same issue yesterday. My brew was bubbling within 4 hours of being transfered into the carboy. As I am new, like you, I have been watching it like a hawk. It bubbled great Since Friday, but when I woke up Sunday morning, I noticed that the Krausen rose all the way and there was a nasty foam in airlock and most of the water was gone. I posted it up here and member seven advised to do what the others are telling you. Because I didn't have a way to set up and actualy blow off hose at the moment, I did what Conan is advising to do. I pulled the top off of my 3 piece airlock and slid a 1/2" tube over the center piece that sticks up inside of the airlock. It fits over that stem perfectly. I then filled one of my other primary buckets with 2 gallons of sanitized water and ran the tube down to it. But one suggestion I was given that I didn't see stated here is to make sure that your carboy is higher than your bucket with water to make sure suckback doesn't occur in the event in temp changes. Here is a a few pics of what I did. Love this forum...if not for members here, my airlock was almost clogged and would have almost certainly blown off with the aggressive fermentation I was having.

-Sapp

My airlock when I checked it Sunday morning:





How I rigged mine:

 

[K5MOW]

Yes use a blowoff.

Roger

 

[unionrdr]

I saved a bunch of 1/2 gallon plastic jugs from the cheap vodka I get for the airlocks. Fill 1/3'rd of the way with water & a splash of Starsan with the tube just off the bottom of the jug. That way,the tube is at about the same level as the bottom of the fermenter & works fine.

 

[RabbiEitan]

Oops, just tried to post without being signed in, so excuse if this shows up twice. I'm using an 'S' shaped airlock. It seemed to have died down a bit, so I just took it off, cleaned it up, sanitized, and put it back. Working fine since. Next time I will use a blow-off setup as suggested here. Thanks all for your excellent advice!