I am brewing my second batch of beer, it's a belgian wit with an OG of 1.042. I started it yesterday and it has been coming out of the airlock since this morning. Should I take the airlock out and clean it or just leave it alone?
overflowing through the airlock
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jayhuff
Well-Known Member
At this point, just leave it alone unless you have a tube and can attach it to make a blow off tube. Once the tube is attached, take the other end of the tube and put it in a in a jar (I use a cleaned out milk jug) so the end is under water.
If I don't have a blow off tube should I get one, or is it ok to just wipe up the overflow and leave wort in the airlock? Do I need to clean it once the fermentation slows down, or is it better to just leave it there unitl I rack it to my secondary?
this is not uncommon
just leave it alone and when no more goo is coming out of the airlock, switch to a different airlock if you have one, or quickly clean the one you have and replace.
airlocks are relatively cheap and it is good to have a few on hand.
just leave it alone and when no more goo is coming out of the airlock, switch to a different airlock if you have one, or quickly clean the one you have and replace.
airlocks are relatively cheap and it is good to have a few on hand.
Thanks, I have 2 airlocks but one is on my primary and the other is on my secondary. I haven't even drank my first homebrew yet and have 2 buckets going in my closet. I think I will invest in a blowoff tube and an extra airlock.
I will just leave it until tonight or tomorrow and then clean the airlock. Thanks for the advice.
I will just leave it until tonight or tomorrow and then clean the airlock. Thanks for the advice.
scinerd3000
Well-Known Member
its happened to all of us. Set a towel around the base of your carboy and let it run its course. +1 let it ooze and then when its done replace the airlock. It should be done oozing in a few days or so.
jayhuff
Well-Known Member
+1 on what Chris said. Leave it alone until it all stops and then clean it out.
It is good to get some tubing (~ $3 at Home Depot) if you have an active yeast or don't have a lot of head room in your fermentor. I always start out with one because I ferment by an air vent on carpet, so messy blow off would = angry wife
It is good to get some tubing (~ $3 at Home Depot) if you have an active yeast or don't have a lot of head room in your fermentor. I always start out with one because I ferment by an air vent on carpet, so messy blow off would = angry wife
I have a question of my own. I have a IPA sitting for 32 hours at 72 degrees and had a blow out. I changed the airlock and wiped it down. Is there anything else I should do? Is there anything wrong?
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davygoat2
Well-Known Member
Lower the temp of the fermentor. Swamp cooler, Fermentor in another tub, add water and toss in some frozen water bottles, 72f. is too high for me, I like 60-65f.
ZombieBrew83
Well-Known Member
+1
Fermentation temperature control is often overlooked by new brewers. I know from experience. If the room temp is 72, then your fermenting beer will be closer to 80 degrees inside your bucket. Most yeast strains will put out off flavors in this range. I agree with Davygoat, mid 60s is where the sweet spot is for most ale yeasts. Get yourself a swamp cooler.
Adding a swamp cooler to my process was the single greatest improvement over any other equipment/treatment/process upgrade I've made. I have the competition medals to prove it.
Gameface
Well-Known Member
Since this has many new brewers concerned about excessive blow off...Just a word of warning, spring is around the corner, followed closely by summer. I started my adventures in home brewing late fall and felt like I was a pretty good home brewer...until my first summer. A few pretty horrendous batches took place, then I started controlling fermentation temps.
Yeast metabolism is controlled in very large part by the temperature they are at. Hotter and yeast get more active. Cooler and they slow down a bit. For homebrewing you want active yeast that consume all the sugar you've worked so hard to provide for them, but you want them to pace themselves. Hot yeast will consume enough to make themselves literally explode. In the process they will cause funky flavors in your beer. Fermentation is a marathon (well, more like a 1/2 marathon) not a sprint. You want the yeast to get up to speed and maintain that speed for the duration of your fermentation.
Hot yeast produce more krausen. Big Krausen clogs airlocks. Clogged airlocks don't allow CO2 pressure to escape. CO2 pressure blows lids off buckets or stoppers out of carboys. When the lid blows off a bucket or the stopper out of an airlock krausen gets on the ceiling and the walls and the carpet and your wife's nice things. Don't get krausen on your wife's nice things... control femenatation temps...and use a blow-off tube.
^impersonating a Direct TV commercial.
Yeast metabolism is controlled in very large part by the temperature they are at. Hotter and yeast get more active. Cooler and they slow down a bit. For homebrewing you want active yeast that consume all the sugar you've worked so hard to provide for them, but you want them to pace themselves. Hot yeast will consume enough to make themselves literally explode. In the process they will cause funky flavors in your beer. Fermentation is a marathon (well, more like a 1/2 marathon) not a sprint. You want the yeast to get up to speed and maintain that speed for the duration of your fermentation.
Hot yeast produce more krausen. Big Krausen clogs airlocks. Clogged airlocks don't allow CO2 pressure to escape. CO2 pressure blows lids off buckets or stoppers out of carboys. When the lid blows off a bucket or the stopper out of an airlock krausen gets on the ceiling and the walls and the carpet and your wife's nice things. Don't get krausen on your wife's nice things... control femenatation temps...and use a blow-off tube.
^impersonating a Direct TV commercial.
I had the same thing happen to me in my first summer brewing. If you are serious about this hobby, you need a repeatable, reliable way to control fermentation temps. Period.
