Overflow into airlock

[Supernaut1985]

I have a 5gal batch of Coopers Stout in my carboy right now. This one is more active than I'm used to. The beer has been flowing out of the air lock somewhat. It has slowed down but the airlock still fills with beer. The other night I took off the airlock and sanitized it, only for it to refill.

My question is, should I just leave it till bottling time? Or would beer sitting in the airlock that long maybe decompose and cause a risk of infection? Maybe I should keep cleaning the airlock until the fermentation settles down?

 

[Spica66]

Sanitize a piece of aluminum foil. Remove the airlock. Put the foil loosely over the neck of the carboy. Clean the airlock. Remove the foil. Replace the airlock. If you leave a dirty airlock, it can become plugged and will spray yeast all over the room when it finally builds enough pressure (which it will - I have photos to prove it!!).

 

[rasconza]

Use a plastic tube in place of an air lock and run the tube into a large bottle a wine bottle or bigger with about half water this will work as a air lock and prevent explosions. Make sure the tube is completely submerged in the water

 

[FullDraw]

Gotta love it. Wait until it blows! The mess is great to clean up.

The blowoff tube ^^ is the way to go. You just need a 3 foot piece that'll slip right into the mouth. Most hardware places will have it. Mine is a tight fit. I have one setup for my glass carboy and it works well.

 

[aiptasia]

Blowoff tubes are fine. Using fermcap in your beer can also prevent krausen explosions.

 

[bad67z]

I always use some type of blow off tube for the first week or so.