question about airlock

[IrregularPulse]

I'm fermnenting my first batch. I'm not expecting Pub quality ale here, just wanted to go through the motions once and see what all I will need to add, take away, and modify to make the whole process work for me.

I have the 3 peice style airlock. Within 12-15 hours I noticed small bubbles in my airlock and am now getting a nice little violent bubbling every 10 seconds or so and lasts about 2-3 secods each. The question I have is that when it bubbles there are little holes on the top cap that a few drops escape from, I notice some drops will then run down the side of the airlock into my bucket through the grommet. This kind of worries me. I sanitized my airlock but it is of course exposed now due to being outside the bucket. Do you think this will be ok? or somethng I shoudl DEFINTELY correct for next time.

I look forward to brewing and all the help this forum will give me in the future.

 

[david_42]

Not a big worry, but you could wrap a bit of cloth around the base to soak up the drips.

 

[EamusCatuli]

Yeah you should be fine, no worries. Plan for it next time.

 

[eddie]

It sounds like you have overfilled your airlock. You can remove it, dump it out and refill it if you want to but leaving it shouldn't cause any harm. Try using vodka in your airlock next time. That way, if anything gets in your brew from the airlock it'll still be sanitary.

Happy brewing!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Thanks for the replies. I looked closer and the grommet is not loose like I thought so I should be good. The vodka is a good idea. Removing and refilling is ok?

That was the only other concern/question I have at this point.

I've been reading people saying they were taking hydrometer readings, then letting it go. I am assuming this means it's not a big deal to remove the lid of the fermenting bucket to have a peak on the progress as long as you're not doing it all the time? I didn't know if the pressure releasing would do anything guessing not it's just about not letting contaminents in. I' will try my hardest not to be paranoid and just let it be till bottling instead of asking questions every 5 minutes.