Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 4 Days of Fermenting & Replacing Air Lock

As expected when I got home yesterday, the air lock was still full of bubbles and foam.

I stopped at Home Sweet Homebrew during lunch and picked up a new stopper, 3-piece air lock, blow-off tube, and a carboy handle (the carboy handle was added to the purchase because I needed to have a 15$ minimum to use my credit card, oh well!).

I decided to put the 3-piece airlock on top of the carboy instead of the blow-off hose and tin foil. I've read both the blow-off hose and tin foil are good for the beginning stages of fermentation when the yeast is very active. After the fermentation seems to slow down, it is best to put an air lock on the carboy. Being it has been 4 days of fermenting now, and the activity has died down (about 1 bubble every 5 seconds), I went with the air lock.

Before replacing the air lock, I sterilized a piece of tin foil, the rubber stopper and the 3-piece air lock.

I took off the old air lock and put the piece of sterilized tin foil on top of the carboy to keep out any bugs that might try to get in. During this time, I assembled the new 3-piece air lock and filled it with water (about half way up).

I cleaned around the carboy mouth with a sterilized paper towel and put the new air lock on. I also assembled and attached the handy-dandy carboy handle (how sexy).

Everything is back to normal. I checked this morning before I left work, and the air lock is still bubbling about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. It is also clean and foam-free! Tonight I will drink like a fish so I have enough bottles to fill the Weiss in on Sunday.