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this is a great site!

i put on my second brew and my airlock seems to be bubbling that all the beer from the fermenter is penetrating thru the airlock making it a diff colour.. aside from that the beer is also pouring out from the airlock leaving the lid of the fermenter somewhat wet.. is that ok or is smth happening? the temp of the brew is at around 24 ....

any help will be appreciated!

It's probably a little hot (so fermentation is going too quickly) - ales are best fermented between 18 and 22.

There's also a good reason for the space at the top above the 23 litre mark in the average brew - it shouldn't be filled above that mark - so it doesn't bubble up too much.

It shouldn't make too much difference to the beer though - apart from being a little messy. All you'll need to do is clean the airlock out once the ferment has calmed down a little.

hi!

i am using the morgans pilsner saaz beer concentrate and the temp was kept around 24-25.. was that too high?

i use the two piece airlock.. and when i first put it into the grommet i foudn it pretty hard to stick it in... when i take the airlock out to clean is there a better way than forcing it out? and shoudl i clean the fermenter lid before cleaning the airlock so that the spills wont' fall back into the brew in the fermenter when i clean it later???

will taking the airlock introduce infection to the beer too?

Pilsners, and by extension any other type of lager, should be fermented as cool as possible. I'm currently brewing one - I keep it in an old freezer which I run for half an hour every morning and evening to keep at around 12 degrees (I need a temperature controller/thermostat - any ideas on a cheap way to do it?) I also use a proper lager yeast - Saflager is excellent.

In your case, the Pilsner kit that you've got probably came with an Ale yeast (only Coopers pilsners, and one or two others, come with proper Lager yeasts). It should still be fermented reasonably cool - 18 is probably a good temperature. 24-25 is way too hot. Wet towels are useful. There's no way you'll get a true pilsener out of your kit - high temperatures produce esters that change the flavours dramatically.

On second thoughts, it may not be worthwhile cleaning the airlock. Just make sure you put some water in it once the bubbling subsides, to keep out bugs and oxygen.

If you do want to clean the airlock - and only do this once the bubbling has subsided - soak it in some diluted bleach for 15 minutes, rinse with hot water, and carefully plug it back in, using boiled water. I've got the same type of airlock - if you're careful the grommet will stay in place. Try twisting it in. Maybe use a bit of vaseline for lubricant. Contamination risk will be minimal, just keep everything as clean as possible. Wipe off the lid before you clean the airlock, don't worry too much about anything falling in.

thanks Issac.

to keep the brew cool, the brew a friend once told me he keeps his brew in a spare tub at home....don't know if that helps..

i reduced the temp of my brew now and now the airlock isn't bubblng anymore.. the temp now is around 20 or 22..... is that normal again?

i also cleaned the airlock out... didn't have much problem taking it out from the grommet....

i also read the instructions from the kit and it says to keep the brew at 25 degrees... this is making me confused...

but thanks for ur advice and let me knwo if it is normal for the airlock to stop bubbling after i put the temp down..

thanks

After that vigorous fermentation, it's not too surprising that the airlock has stopped bubbling. How long was it going for? If it's been going for four or five days the fermentation might be over - take an SG reading, if it's below 1010 for two readings a day apart it's time to bottle. Alternatively the fermenter may not be sealed properly - can you see little bubbles rising in the brew itself?

The directions on the kit should generally be ignored. They're mostly for the people who want to spend the least possible time and effort on their brew, and will have results to match. Check out http://www.howtobrew.com/ for an excellent resource on brewing at home. Likewise, the yeast that comes with most kits should be ditched - they're rarely any good.

Keeping the temp around 20-22 is probably a good idea.

hi Issac,

thanks for that excellent advice...

well i only put on the brew on Wednesday night so it is only 3 days now...
i did not open the fermenter when i took out the airlock to clean so i am assuming that it is tighten up properly since i had a fair amount of bubbling in the beginning...

from what i read i seriously think that the instruction booklets are pretty crap cause they are general in almost all brew concentrates i have seen....

i haven't have a look at the brew for bubbles but all i can see from the outside is a layer of white stuff around the top of the brew in the fermenter.... and my airlock isn't bubblign still.. will let u know the progress probably tomorrow..

thanks for your time mate

The best advice is "don't worry". Your fermentation is probably complete. It is just possible that it may restart once the yeast acclimatises to the lower temperature. I suggest you leave your brew in the fermenter for a total of two weeks. That will clear your brew nicely, and it should be ready to bottle. Again, don't worry.

warra, the question is nearly 3 years old.

That's pretty funny hey..........

Hey thanks for upping this thread. I am doing my very first brew - got Coopers kit as a present - and basically am wondering about leaving leaving the brew in the fermenter for longer than "4-7 days" as per instructions from the kit.

The thing is - so far the airlock has not stopped bubbling, and it just has finished its day 8. It has been bubbling at about once every 1-2 min for the last 2-3 days, until then a bit more often ( but nothing like leaking through the seal or even rising all the way to the top, no ). The temp is around +20..22 at night and a bit warmer in the afternoon, no higher than +24 I would say.

I have not touched the fermenter since and generally it is all looking good. I tried to take an SG reading just before and I think it is about 1.012-1.014 ( definitely over 1.010 ).

I do not want to rush, especially with the risk of ending up with exploding bottles ( although they are PET ). If it still looks like the airlock is bubbling does it even make sense to think about bottling at all ? Should I first wait till it stops and then take two consecutive readings and only then bottle it ?

Airlock activity is a notoriously bad indicator of a finished brew. When you get slow action like this at the end of your ferment, it can mean that excess CO2 is coming out of solution. The best way to tell if your ferment is complete is to use a hydrometer, two readings the same over a 24 hour period, and it's complete.

Having said that, I normally don't bother with the hydro readings either, and just wait, though normally I rack after 7 days. It should be fine for you to leave it in the fermenter for a bit longer, but I wouldn't go any longer than 14 days in primary, or you may run into a bit of autolysis.

I'd probably bottle it if I was you.

Thanks, that helps. I know airlock activity is a bad indicator but thought this rule worked kinda one way only - if it stops it does not mean it is over ( hence take a reading ) but that's about it. I thought it should definitely subside in the end. Given the rate it is currently going at if I bottle it now then what would happen to all this CO in a bottle ? as it would have kept going, right .. even with carb drops .. Ok, the bottle is much smaller than the fermenter but still. I guess that's the idea then .. that's where the bubbles come from !

I just took another reading and I'd say it is 1.010 now, definitely is less than it was yesterday. I will give it another day, maybe two.

I noticed quite a few people suggesting ( like warra48 did above ) leaving it for a couple of weeks instead of just one should be Ok if not better.

OK, you asked for it!

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Metho ... uide.shtml

ryan wrote:warra, the question is nearly 3 years old.

rwh wrote:OK, you asked for it!

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Metho ... uide.shtml

Actually, that was much appreciated. I do not have a problem with reading a manual .. or two I will stick to carbonation drops for now. I did bottle mine the other day - did not expect it to come out so clear, whatever it is what now is in those bottles it has no sediment worth mentioning so far.