Newb here, what am I doing wrong?

[reallyoldbooks]

The residue at the top is rising, is it from the stopper? if so will it last until tomorrow for me to buy a stopper.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

No its krausen it's a natural product of fermentation. Mostly created by co2 being released during fermentation. do not put a solid stopper on it. It will only blow out making a higher mess. Look up blow off tube that should help you for the first few days of fermenting. Then add your standard airlock.

 

[passedpawn]

Is that cider? Doesn't look like beer fermenting to me.

You're doing everything right if you came to this forum and asked for help. You will prevail. Gil, above, is right: all is well. If it's cider, you don't need to do anything. If it's beer, which has a much thicker head, it might block and expel that stopper, so you'll want a wider orifice.

 

[Brownalemikie]

Me thinks you're gonna need a blow-off tube before that airlock propels about 20 ft.

 

[Smellyglove]

You are doing great!

Like mentioned above. Blow off-tube. Basically it's swapping that airlock for a hose which leads down to a bottle with star san, or the likes, tube submerged, so all gunk will end up there through the tube. After high krausen, put your airlock back in.

 

[Brew_pops]

Like what everyone else has said about a blowoff tube. Next batch I would find a larger fermentation vessel or go for a smaller batch so there's more room for the process without the tube, which works just fine but is a bit messy.