So Thursday I brewed a batch of IPA. Friday morning everything was good, bubbling away. This morning I check it and beer is coming out through the air- lock. I cleaned it up and put water back in the air- lock. So my question is what can I do if anything. Do I leave as is and clean up as it spills out. What made this happen?

An airlock is a device used by nearly all wine makers and some beer makes. Its purpose is to allow gases released from the fermentation to escape while preventing oxygen from the atmosphere from entering the container and potentially spoiling the wine / beer.

I've done about 10 batches between my dad and I, never had this problem. This was my first batch I kinda created between me and the guy at the home brew store. Thanks for any help. I'm gonna be the stick in the mud here, and since nobody else has said anything I feel I have to. You said you put water in your airlock, I don't suggest using water in airlocks. I persoanally use star san and I have friends using vodka.

Surviving high school documentary trailer. You want to use something that will:1. Kill bugs in the air.

Your airlock is exposed to ambient air and all the nasties that float in it.2. Won't ruin your beer. If there is a change in temp or atmospheric pressure your fermenter may have a vacuum created inside, effectively sucking airlock fluid in. If you use bleach you ruin your beer.

Star san and vodka are beer safe. I'm gonna be the stick in the mud here, and since nobody else has said anything I feel I have to. You said you put water in your airlock, I don't suggest using water in airlocks. I persoanally use star san and I have friends using vodka. You want to use something that will:1.

Kill bugs in the air. Your airlock is exposed to ambient air and all the nasties that float in it.2. Won't ruin your beer. If there is a change in temp or atmospheric pressure your fermenter may have a vacuum created inside, effectively sucking airlock fluid in.

If you use bleach you ruin your beer. Star san and vodka are beer safe. Yeast strain also has an effect.

I've used US-05 more than any other yeast and never had blow off. For example the beer that I had the most blow off was with Wyeast 1007(no starter). It was under 1.060 and blew off for days. Last week I brewed a stout right under 1.100 with US-05 and didn't use a blow off tube. I got a lot of sanitizer foam coming out of the airlock but that was it.

Both had fermcap added to the boil and used pure O2 to aerate. The 1007 fermented at 59 and the US-05 at 63.But the safe way to go is just use the blow off tube from the start. So Thursday I brewed a batch of IPA. Friday morning everything was good, bubbling away. This morning I check it and beer is coming out through the air- lock. I cleaned it up and put water back in the air- lock.

So my question is what can I do if anything. Do I leave as is and clean up as it spills out. What made this happen? I've done about 10 batches between my dad and I, never had this problem. This was my first batch I kinda created between me and the guy at the home brew store.

Thanks for any help. Click to expand.ambient temps in the AZ winter are too high to produce really good beer. When I lived in Phx, and before i had a fermentation fridge, I would fill up an extra bathtub with cool water and add frozen bottles of water to it to keep the temp around 6068-70F ambient air temps means you beer is a good 5-10F hotter when its fermenting, next time try to keep it a bit coolerBTW, which brewstore were you at? Brew your own brew, brewers connection, or What ales ya? - I definitely had my own preference. I'm gonna be the stick in the mud here, and since nobody else has said anything I feel I have to. You said you put water in your airlock, I don't suggest using water in airlocks.

I persoanally use star san and I have friends using vodka. You want to use something that will:1. Kill bugs in the air. Your airlock is exposed to ambient air and all the nasties that float in it.2. Won't ruin your beer.

If there is a change in temp or atmospheric pressure your fermenter may have a vacuum created inside, effectively sucking airlock fluid in. If you use bleach you ruin your beer. Star san and vodka are beer safe. Click to expand.Definitely.

A couple minutes won't matter. If you're really neurotic you can sanitize some foil or plastic wrap and cover the opening, but as long as it's just a quick trip to the sink, and a quick dunk/spray with sanitizer to sanitize the stem of the airlock, that amount of time isn't anything I'd worry about. If you're drawing off samples to test gravity (which you should be around the 14-day mark, depending on the beer), your beer gets more exposure then than it would by changing an airlock. qote='ryane, post: 2148282, member: 174251'ambient temps in the AZ winter are too high to produce really good beer. When I lived in Phx, and before i had a fermentation fridge, I would fill up an extra bathtub with cool water and add frozen bottles of water to it to keep the temp around 6068-70F ambient air temps means you beer is a good 5-10F hotter when its fermenting, next time try to keep it a bit coolerBTW, which brewstore were you at? Brew your own brew, brewers connection, or What ales ya? - I definitely had my own preference./quoteI have always went to brewers connection.

What was your preference when you lived in phx? Click to expand.If you still have active fermentation going on, then taking the airlock off won't harm your beer. CO2 is currently coming out of solution with the beer, pushing whatever air particles get near the hole in your fermenter lid or carboy right back up and away from your beer. An airlock mainly protects your beer before fermentation starts and after it finishes. If you are paranoid about stuff falling in through the hole while it is open, then put something over it while it is open.Even if fermentation was over, a minute or 2 without an airlock almost certainly would not harm your beer, but if it's bubbling, then there is definitely no harm in switching it out. Click to expand.You can't begin to prime your beer for bottling until you are certain that fermentation is complete.

Time in the fermentor is not a good way to determine if it is finished unless you're talking an extended length of time, like 4-6 weeks to be safe.The best way to determine if your beer is ready for bottling is to take a couple of specific gravity readings over a 2-3 day period. If these two readings are very close, and if they are also close to your target gravity reading for your recipe, then fermentation is done. If the two readings are different, then you need to wait a couple more days and take another reading. Keep doing this until two readings match.But don't get over-anxious and start the readings too soon because all you're doing is messing with your beer and subjecting it to potential infection.

Wait at least two weeks before staring your readings. Even after fermentation is finished as based on the gravity readings, it's a good idea to let the yeast have another week to allow them to clean up behind themselves.Once you have primed the beer and bottled it, you'll begin to see carbonation in the bottle in about 10 days.