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Beer/froth through airlock

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Expert: - 7/6/2008


Question
I have been brewing for about 15 years and recently I've had a brew that frothed out through the air lock.This has only happened to me twice that I can remember,can you tell me the reason or reasons that this occurs please????
The brew that I was making at the time had dextrose by one kilo and a can of malt 1kg. All my gear was sterilized as I usually do it,so there was nothing unusual about my procedure. Most of my beer is top quality and I'm a bit flustered as to why this occurred.
Thank you
Wayne

Answer
Well, Wayne, I think it all boils down to happy yeast and perhaps a little more protein than usual. Does not necessarily indicate a problem with sanitation.

Anything that encourages yeast to grow rapidly, high temperature, good aeration, and ideal levels of fermentables will do the trick.

Protein makes the froth last longer so if there was more protein than usual in your wort, it would froth more.

Different yeasts react differently too. If the yeast you used was more viable than usual, it could cause more rapid growth.

I occasionally have the same problem, usually with brews with wheat malt in them.  I just clean it up and keep fermenting.

Hope this helps, Wayne,

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

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