Beer coming out of top of air lock!

[micfiygd]

So this is my third batch that I'm making and anout 24hours after starting the fermening process beer has started to come out of the top of my fermenter!

The lid is securely on and I know the recipe is good.

The beer has risen up and gone through airlock on the top.

What do I do and is this batch ruined?

 

[wyzazz]

Search for Blow Off Tube and get something rigged up. Now that you've learned your lesson you can relax because your beer will be fine.

 

[drummerguysteve]

Clean/sanitize the airlock and put it back on. Check the search for blowoff tube and use one of those next time.

Your batch will be fine. You still have positive pressure which is pushing everything out, and not letting anything in. It happens to us all.

 

[JoeyChopps]

No ur batch is fine sanatize ur racking tube and a cup and put the line in the gromet on the bucket and the other end in the cup.with sanizer and u.got a make shift blow off tube and u will ne fine

 

[NorthRiverS]

No worries. Just get a blow-off tube until fermentation slows. With all the "stuff and CO2" coming out, there is little risk of contamination.

NRS

 

[Brewitt]

Your beer is fine. If you can, hook a hose to the outlet of the fermenter and into vessel of sterile liquid (vodka would be fine but sanitary water as well). The goal is just to maintain a layer of CO2 over the beer. foam coming out the top will not be a problem. Sometimes the fermentation is very vigorous and creates a lot of it. However, next time you might want to get a bigger fermenter. Hope that helps.

 

[Brewitt]

Whoops. For some reason I didn't see all the replies already there. Well, at least you know we all agree. Have fun.

 

[micfiygd]

Thanks so much for the quick response.

Just two quick questions:

1) Should I eventually switch back to my regular airlock?

2) Is there anything I could have done to avoid this? I'm fermenting at at a slightly higher temperature then I should (no choice), could this have been the culprit?

 

[JoeyChopps]

1 yes probably in like 3 or 4 days

2 no most likely u did a high gravity brew that went crazy

 

[unionrdr]

Or a really active starter. I make a 1 1/2C starter for the cooper's ale yeast. This time,it sat for 6 hours,rather than the usual 3-4hrs. That think got dumped in my IPA,& 15-18hrs later,we came back from errands to see the blob coming out of my airlock.
I now have a blow off rig at the ready,should it be needed. Or if I just want to be safe the 1st couple of days during initial fermentation.

 

[Revvy]

I've had only 3 blowoffs in my entire brewing career. They just happens sometimes. It's not really something you can predict, prevent or even worry about.

It happens to all of us. Just clean it up, re-sanitize it (here's where having starsan in a spray bottle with distilled water comes in handy0 and rig up a blow off tube.

we've all had complete bucket blowoffs, and our beers survive. Your beer is protected by a layer, but it's co2 and not oxygen.

Watch these videos of one of my beers...that came out fine. ANd clean up your mess and rig up a blowoff tube.

 

[unionrdr]

Looks like the blow off on my IPA. Crazy man. The first bubble to come out was about the size of my fist! Then bubbling that together sounded like someone hammering on a roof in the distance.
It did that for about a day & a half. Reinstalled the airlock,& it's fermenting quietly now. All this from a small,1 1/2C,6 hour starter...!

 

[Duffman53]

One thing you can do to prevent this is to make sure you don't exceed your batch size when you top off. The cO2 was rising and ran out of headspace in your primary and topping off too much can increase the likelihood of this happening.

Follow the advice you've already gotten and you should be fine. I would suggest using a blowoff tube in the future if you're trying to brew a big beer.

Good luck!
D

 

[statseeker]

Be careful in removing the airlock. I've had blowouts where there was back pressure in the carboy and when I went to take the air lock off, beer shot up into the closet space where the carboy was. Not good to present to the wife.

 

[Aschecte]

Nope your beer is fine this is normal for very active yeast to blow out the fermenter. Easy fox goes like this.....#1 clean and sanitize your airlock then reattach #2 do not fill with water or put cover on airlock you will need to attach a piece of I believe 3/8" vinyl tubing to that center nipple in the airlock #3 place that tubing into a container of water or sanitizing solution. This will act as a little blow off rigging till your most active fermentation subsides. After it slows down fill the airlock back up as normal and put the shield and cap back into place. hope this helps.

 

[mathieu]

This old thread just saved me. Making a an apple ale, and I've never had a beer coming out of a bucket's airlock. Used the siphon hose as blow off tube and am all set now. Thank you!