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.

Fat Tire Amber Ale (Clone) - 3 Days of Fermenting

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! I got home from work yesterday and checked on the fermenter and I seen a giant foamy mess in the air lock.

This is not the first time I have had this happen. The first brew we made had the stopper and air lock completely blown off the carboy. Thankfully this time, the air lock has kept itself in the carboy. I did my best to clean around the air lock to prevent any type of infection. I decided to leave the air lock on for the night. I took the cap off the top of the air lock as the small holes were all clogged up (seen below).

I read several posts yesterday about clogged air locks. Most of the posts said to throw away the air locks as they are pretty much useless during primary fermentation. As for the one I have, the S-shaped air lock, experts say it is impossible to clean out properly once clogged.

The best method I read that is used for primary fermentation is to wrap aluminum foil around the top of the carboy, or use a blow-off hose for the first few days. Once fermentation seems to die down, then put a air lock on the carboy (I can see why...). I will be doing one or the other with the next batch (maybe even tonight).

The good thing... this happens all the time, and it does not ruin the batch. This happened because we have a very active fermentation and very active yeast. There is so much CO2 coming out of the carboy, that there is no chance of any contaminates entering the carboy. Since fermentation should be nearing its end, I think it will be ok leaving the air lock on top, as long as it does not clog more.