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So it happened again. The beer blew out the airlock leaving a water and beer mix behind. The airlock still bubbles as per usual. Now I'm wondering what I should do next.

  • Leave it as is
  • Replace the airlock with another sanitized airlock and sterile water
  • Just replace the water in the airlock
  • Replace the airlock with a blow out tube

Any of these the options make as much sense as the next one.

Beer airlock blow out

I might have over-pitched with a 1.4 pint (0.66L) starter for a 2 gallon Belgian golden strong ale batch.

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  • You need to leave much more head room in the fermenter,
    – Robert
    Mar 11, 2018 at 0:13
  • Yes, it's been a while since a pitched a yeast starter. It added a little bit of volume that i didn't quite take into account.
    – Martin
    Mar 11, 2018 at 0:42

1 Answer 1

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Just clean it up and replace the airlock sanitizer fluid.

If you have a second airlock just prep it and swap. If not just cover with sanitized foil while cleaning.

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  • Also. Just a good rule of thumb. A blowoff tube is always a great idea. I recommend that simply being the standard instead of airlocks. Mar 12, 2018 at 12:47
  • @ÞórgnýrThoroddsen each have their pros and cons. I don't use a blow off system when doing 1g batches. Mar 12, 2018 at 13:59
  • I'll have to give a blow off tube a try then.
    – Martin
    Mar 13, 2018 at 13:38
  • @Martin a blow off tube wouldn't prevent this. And should still be cleaned up all the same when it happens. In fact a blow off may even be worse by creating a siphon sucking out a lot of krausen and yeast with it. Headspace is the only thing to prevent this. Mar 13, 2018 at 13:54
  • Ah, yes. I'll will not make the same mistake again; Forgetting to account for the starter.
    – Martin
    Mar 13, 2018 at 13:57

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