Blowoff through air-lock

iggy_fenton · Mar 4, 2007

Ok, I just brewed my first batch in almost 5 months. Needless to say I had to knock a little rust off my beer brewing noggin. Anyway, I made a yeast starter on Friday evening and pitched it in my carboy on Saturday. Holy crap! I've never had a fermentation this active! Basically it's blowing right out the top of my air lock. Right now I'm just kinda waiting it out and cleaning up around the top with sanitized water. The air lock has held firm so far. My question is: Will this be ok as long as my bung and airlock remain in place? (my arilock is filled with frothy goodness!) I'm guessing I can just wait until it stops then take the airlock off and clean/sanitize it then replace it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

jdcoffman · Mar 4, 2007

You might not want to wait, I think you should probably rig up a blowoff tube else your stopper and airlock might go airborne without your knowing and spray foam, and more importantly BEER everywhere

Fingers · Mar 4, 2007

There's a thread called, 'Help! My carboy is about to blow' that will answer your question.

Now, about your sig. Have we met? Did we engage in some drunken revery at one time? Whatever I did, it wasn't me!

feedthebear · Mar 5, 2007

You can fit your bottling tube inside the airlock until you can get a larger hose to replace the bung.

I learned that because I recently blew the lid of a bucket because the krausen caked over the holes on the airlock lid.

iggy_fenton · Mar 5, 2007

Well, I didn't have a spare hose and there wasn't much open being Sunday and all. I decided to wait it out and luckily it subsided a couple hours later. I pulled the airlock and cleaned it out and sanitized it and now it's just back to a good old frequent bubbling. All is well! I will however be sure to use a blowoff tube next time just to be on the safe side.