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Beer/froth in airlock

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Expert: - 1/15/2008


Question
It's Tues. I brewed a Belgian with White Labs 530 Abbey Ale yeast on Sat night - there is yellow froth 3/4 of the way through and in my airlock.  Is this a problem?

Also, I have an IPA I brewed Weds and the water in the airlock has turned a light whiskey brown and there are some greenish solids in the airlock.  Is it trub, contaminant?

Thanks a lot!

Answer
Well, Max, as long as nothing in the airlock gets back in the fermenter you should be fine.

Also, once stuff gets in the airlock there is the possibility that it can get blocked and blown out of the fermenter.

Just to be safe, when that happens to me I replace the airlock with a freshly sanitized one. Before removing the dirty one I spray the area with Star San, wait a couple of minutes, then gently pry the dirty on off and insert the clean one. I want to make sure nothing fall back into the fermenter in the process.

The green solids you mention are most likely pieces of hop.

Also, you mention using water in the airlock. That's OK as long as it is sanitary water. I prefer to use vodka instead of water as a further safety measure.

Brew Strong Max
Chris Bushman
North Hollywood, California

Beer

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Chris Bushman

Expertise

I've been homebrewing beer and mead for about 15 years. I've made beer trips to the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany, and Belgium.

Experience

I've brewed a couple of hundred all-grain beers and a few dozen meads. I'm a member of the Maltose Falcon's Homebrew Society, the oldest homebrew club in the US. I've attended the Homebrewers Fantasy Camp at American Brewers Guild. In real life I am Optical Effects Supervisor and Laboratory Supervisor for a large movie visual effects house in Hollywood. I've been a fireman, a teacher of English in Okinawa, a personal computer tutor. Other hobbies include orchid culture, koi keeping, photography, sausage making, pickling, and ham radio.

BS Zoology, UC Davis

Member, Society of Motion Picture/Television Engineers http://www.smpte.org/ - Member, American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ - Member, Quarter Century Wireless Assn. http://www.lockport-ny.com/radio.htm - President, Zen Nippon Airinkai, So Cal Chapter http://home.earthlink.net/~filmlabrat/ - Member, Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society http://www.westval.com/mfalcons/ - Alumni, American Brewers' Guild http://www.abgbrew.com/

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