Material appearing in airlock

[RealToast]

I'm about 4 days into fermentation. 5.5gal of beer in a 6.5gal bucket. This morning, I noticed that sterile (Starsan/water) airlock water has become cloudy and there's a small amount of debris. Is this a concern?

I'm thinking that all is fine, as long as the pressure doesn't overwhelm the airlock.

Would it be advisable to drain off, say, a half-gallon of beer to relieve pressure?

Thanks!

 

[BargainFittings]

If you are worried just dump the liquid and refill it with fresh starsan.

Is it actively blowing off krausen from the ferment?

 

[Kent88]

More than likely it is stuff (krausen) trying to get out. Like BargainFittings says, clean and sanitize it and return it, or swap out the airlock with one that you've cleaned, sanitized, and prepped.

You shouldn't need to drain any away, just keep an eye on it, and be prepared to replace the airlock with a clean one when it starts getting too full of stuff.

I've had carboys where I should have used a blowoff tube but I just kept swapping it out and everything worked fine. You have to pay attention though, if you wait too long and it really gets plugged up, you can have a mini-explosion with yeast and foam flying everywhere when you finally do pull the airlock to clean it.

 

[Hopper5000]

I would put a blow off tube on now and/or for future beers. Cleaning krausen off the ceiling is no fun

 

[RealToast]

Kent88,

Thanks for the quick reply! This is what I'm going to do. Picking up a new airlock right now. Will sanitize and switch out, as needed. My concern was mostly oxygen as I cleaned the existing airlock. But, with the clean, alternative airlock always at the ready, and the positive pressure at the blow hole, the quicko-change-o should be fine.

 

[RealToast]

I would put a blow off tube on now and/or for future beers. Cleaning krausen off the ceiling is no fun

I'm considering this. Noob question: Does the tube act as an airlock, too? Or, is the outflow replaced by oxygen returned to the fermenter?

 

[Newsman]

I'm considering this. Noob question: Does the tube act as an airlock, too? Or, is the outflow replaced by oxygen returned to the fermenter?

Tube goes into a starsan/water solution, preferably BELOW the level of your wort/beer so that it doesn't suck back. Thus it acts as an airlock as well

 

[PADave]

Use a blowoff tube for every brew, then you can switch to an airlock once fermentation slows down.

 

[petrolSpice]

Yep, blowoff tube until krausen starts to fall, then switch to air lock. This is assuming you don't have gobs of headspace which most of us never do.

Also, it's not a big deal to remove the airlock for a reasonably short period of time. During active fermentation air isn't going to get in, at least not enough to cause any harm.

 

[Kent88]

Kent88,
My concern was mostly oxygen as I cleaned the existing airlock.

A little bit of oxygen exposure during krausen should be fine, the yeasts should use that up pretty quick.

Tube goes into a starsan/water solution, preferably BELOW the level of your wort/beer so that it doesn't suck back. Thus it acts as an airlock as well

I at first read this wrong, but now I see, you mean like how with a siphon you don't want to raise the thing you are siphoning into above the level of the liquid of what is remaining in the thing you are siphoning from.

Also, @RealToast you might want to look into fermcap-s. I'm just starting to use it myself so I can't provide a great testimonial yet, but if it does what it says it does, it could help you with this in the future.

 

[ncbrewer]

What has the beer (not ambient) temperature been? How much head space is there? These can affect blow-off or lack of it.

 

[RealToast]

What has the beer (not ambient) temperature been? How much head space is there? These can affect blow-off or lack of it.

I don't know the beer temp. But the headspace is smaller than past batches; 5.5 gals in a 6.5 bucket. Or, about 3" of space.

I'm good-to-go now. Airlock is still percolating, but slower. After initial alarm, I'm finding that keeping a fresh, sterile airlock at the ready and quick-changing as needed, has resolved the issue.

Thanks!