Foam erupting from airlock!!

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Tonibee

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I arrived home the other night to find my red wine erupting through the airlock. It's in a 30ltr bucket filled to 22.5, so that's a heck of a lot foam!! It's fermenting at 21 deg C, less than the kit says (25-30 deg).

Luckily the mess had stayed on the lid but, to my surprise, it was the consistency of a really thick blancmange!! I'm guessing it went like this as it settled on the bucket lid and the water evaporated away. Have y'all seen this before? It won't be like it inside the bucket will it?

Anyway, I read some other threads on the same topic and found that some members had trouble cleaning their airlocks. I changed mine straight away forcing water through it using my mouth, which cleaned the gunk easily. I then put it in sterilising fluid along with my bottles. I've changed it three times now and fermentation is slowing so I think I won't have to change it again.
 
I always use a blow off tube on my FV as i have also found some kits are more vigarous than others my airlock also kept emptying as the water was blown out, here is my guide on how to make one that can be found in full here -
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48970


Blow off tubes are used when fermentation is so vigorous that your Beer, Wine or Cider looks like it will enter the airlock.

I originally made a blow off tube because the water in the small airlocks i use kept getting blown out.

The how to bit -

Cut the bottom off an airlock then get a short piece of syphon tube and soften one end in boiling water, insert the airlock tube leaving enough sticking out to get a good seal in the FV grommet.

Pour enough water or steriliser into a container (i used a small vinegar bottle - see below) so the other end of the tube is just covered and that's it, you can now empty the container if it gets messy which is a lot easier than cleaning airlocks.

I used some blu-tac to seal the top (leaving a small hole) which keeps the end of the tube in place under the water.

I saw this mentioned in another thread after i posted the how to above -

You can also use a standard syphon tube if you have one with a tap as the longer side of the tap is a tight fit in the grommet.

I have also seen people push the syphon tube over the inner part of a Wilko handy airlock.



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airlock.jpg
 
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