foam in airlock

[fekoljabut]

Obviously there is not enough head space in fermenter, so foam (krausen?) is going to the airlock. It's bubbling fine, but i'm little bit worried about that brownish foam, because it has a nice tendency to go all the way to the water in the airlock... I don't know what to do...to leave it like that untill it settles down or to do something?

 

[brandonhagen1]

put a tube in where your air lock is put the other end in a bottle or jar of water it is called a blow off

 

[fekoljabut]

Problem is...airlock is fixed, i can't remove it. What can happen if i leave everything like it is? Maybe i can remove airlock cap and somehow connect the tube to the fixed part of the airlock...but what is the point of it? Foam will just go through the tube then...probably?

 

[brandonhagen1]

Maybe but it will make less a mess and yes you can put the hose on the airlock lots of people on here use blow off tubes me included

 

[Spargster]

The big thing your trying to avoid is one, allowing air to get to your fermenting cider and possibly introducing infection. Second thing your trying to avoid is making a huge mess and or rupturing your femtation vessel(should the airlock get plugged). So if your unable to remove your airlock due to the way it's made or rigged up then the next best thing is to attach some clean tubing/hose to the top of your airlock and place the other end of the tubing/hose in a bucket of sterile solution like SanStar or similar product.

 

[fekoljabut]

Maybe you all understood me wrong...it's not a problem with airlock, air cannot got to fermenter, instead of water i filled it with 90% alcohol and it functions perfectly...i doubt i can get infection through the air. The only thing that interested me was the foam going out from the fermenter to the airlock into the alcohol that's inside it. It's only going out because co2 is pushing it. I was afraid that something can happen, but juice inside the fermenter stopped foaming and airlock is bubbling like always now. The only thing now is that airlock is little bit dirty because of the foam leftovers. I think everything will be ok. Sorry about my writing... English is not my native language...

 

[fekoljabut]

This is the type of airlock i have, i don't see how can i attach a tube without letting the air going through the airlock into fermenter.

 

[Hello]

I get what you're saying. You can get blow off or out, from what I've read.
Something like this thread...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/when-you-think-you-should-use-blow-off-use-135775/

So while you may not get an infection because it is not going back into the fermenter, you'll have a mess on your hands. Basically I would stick it in a bucket or bathtub to make for easy cleanup. That is, if there is no way to prevent it from getting out of hand.