Beer Forum

So I brewed a Scottish 80/- (with WLP001) on Saturday. I'm donating 5 gallons for a club event, so I went ahead and brewed up 5.5 so I'd have a sixer to taste. This went into my 6.5 gallon carboy, and this morning I check on it and it had krausened up into the airlock. The krausen has now subsided, and it's still bubbling away, but now there's yeast/krausen mixed in with the Starsan in the airlock. My first inclination was to change the airlock, but then I couldn't come up with a particularly good reason to. So, what do y'all recommend--new sanitized airlock, or just let it ride?

I personally change the airlock out any time it is breached. I just don't trust it when there's more than just solution in the airlock. I use Rum though.

I just clean and resanitize the airlock and pop it right back on.

You never know what will start growing up in your airlock and if it gets drawn back into the beer somehow it can bring all sorts of fun stuff. I would remove and resanitize it.

+1

When the airlock gets filled with krausen, sanitize another one while the first is still on. After thorough sanitation, pull the airlock off and plop the other one in there! Be prepared for some projectile yeast in the face!

SunkenBier wrote:You never know what will start growing up in your airlock and if it gets drawn back into the beer somehow it can bring all sorts of fun stuff. I would remove and resanitize it.

Well, I would hope nothing would grow in Starsan. I had a spare that I sanitized and stuck on there earlier as per y'all's recommendation. Thanks.

Go ahead and change it...but 2 things to consider the future:

1- Use Ferm Cap
2- Sanitized Aluminum foil over the carboy opening for the first 2 days or so then pop a bung and airlock on.

brewinhard wrote: Be prepared for some projectile yeast in the face!

Learned THAT one the hard way last week on my hefe weizen. That CO2 is DYING to throw some shit at you.