Is it a problem if my krausen blows straight through my airlock?

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rockout

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(edit: This is about a starter, not a 5 gallon batch of wort)

About a year ago I bought a 1L Erlenmeyer flask to make starters in, and I've made one for every brew ever since, regardless of OG. My next brew is a hi-gravity IPA (about 1.080) so I decided to step this one up, something I've never done before. I refrigerated the starter for a day, spilled out the wort, while sanitizing another 2 oz of DME in a pint of water. Cooled it down, and dropped the new wort into the Erlenmeyer flask, capped it, no problems.

The next day, I check on it, and the krausen overnight blew through the airlock and the vodka in the airlock. Common sense tells me that this shouldn't be a problem, but I thought I would ask here anyway.

Guess I need a larger vessel for the second stage starters, eh?
 
Not a problem at all. Just clean, sanitize, and replace the airlock. The same thing happened to me with my last batch, and I've decided to use a 2L erlenmeyer for even my 1L starters - plenty of room for expansion.
 
yeah, I actually have been making 500mL starters.

Are you saying replace the airlock NOW, while the starter is still fermenting? Can I get away with not doing that?
 
To be honest, I don't bother with an airlock most of the time. When I don't use one, I'll just spray a bit of aluminum foil with a sanitizer solution and loosely cap the Erlenmeyer with it.

Whether or not you re-cap it depends on how highly you think of your yeast starter, and what odds you'd put on something bad happening to it :). I don't see why you wouldn't re-cap it, unless you're worried about cleaning up another mess later.
 
Just sanitize it and stick back on -- or rig a blow off. I only use airlocks on my meads. With beers, I take my 3 piece airlock, remove the two loose pieces (cover and hat) and attach a sanitized tube to go to a jug with some water in it. These handle the blowoffs a little better

Edit: you may be talking about the starter itself and not the primary fermenter?
 
First off, ditch the airlock. The point of airlocks is to let CO2 out without letting oxygen in. With a starter, you WANT oxygen, yeast needs it to reproduce. Sanitized foil is all you need.

Second, a 500ml starter isn't going to do much for growth if you're starting from an Wyeast Activator or WL vial. If you're using a Wyeast Propogator, it's fine for the first stage, but you'll want to step up after that.

Lasly, yes, you will need a bigger vessel to grow up more yeast. Two 500 ml starters is not the same as one 1L starter.
 
First off, ditch the airlock. The point of airlocks is to let CO2 out without letting oxygen in. With a starter, you WANT oxygen, yeast needs it to reproduce. Sanitized foil is all you need.


I've seen people say they use sanitized foil before but I never knew why. Now you've convinced me that that's what I should be doing for a starter.

One question, the description for Star San says "It is not recommended to use Star San on aluminum or copper because of its acidic nature." What do you use on foil, then?
 
One question, the description for Star San says "It is not recommended to use Star San on aluminum or copper because of its acidic nature." What do you use on foil, then?

Interesting, I never really noticed that. I'll let someone else chime in about experience with Star San on foil because I flame mine. I use a gas stove, so I just pass the foil through the flame with a pair of tongs and stick it on the flask.
 
Happened to me. I left the airlock in until I took a sample. I just took it off and cleaned/sanitized before putting it back on. Beer tasted great, no problems.

**Just noticed you weren't talking about your fermenter, mine happened to my carboy**
 
Three (two depending on how shecky counts hyphenation) words. Blow-off tube. Problem solved.

EDIT: Oops. I should really read.
 
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