Ginger Beer bubbling through airlock question

[megasuke]

Hi all first post and my 2nd attempt at Ginger Beer. My first batch was a straight from the can Morgans Beer which I did up in a kit and it worked really well with no problems. With this 2nd go I thought I might add somethings extra

50gms Powdered Ginger
1kg Brown Sugar
500gms Honey
1kg Dextrose
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 can of morgans ginger beer

Heated the lot up with 5ltrs of Water for about 30mins then poured into the fermenter and then added and extra 15ltrs of water. Let it Cool then added the Yeast and Nutrients that can with the can.

Day one after, it was bubbling nicely through the airlock. Day 2 though my brew is now bubbling through the airlock and filling the top of the fermenter. Is this a problem? Can it some how infect my brew? Can the excess brew somehow seep through the grommit of the airlock and spoil this batch? I keep cleaning up the mess and claming the wife that it won't blow up the house but what else can I do?

 

[MCHammo]

Hey there megasuke, welcome to the forums!

I've made a few ginger beers, maybe I can help you out a bit (although I'm sure a few others would be of more use). I've never made a GB out of a kit - what exactly does it contain? I notice you've mentioned 2.5kg of sugars (brown, honey and dex). Does this include whatever was in the can? (or is it extra?) I ask this, because it looks to be a lot of sugar (food) for the yeast in there. Is it possible that the yeast (or infection, perhaps?) has gone overboard in the presence of so much food? I'll leave that question for someone else to answer. But I don't use so much sugar in mine - maybe that has something to do with it. If it's simply hyperactive yeast and an over-abundance of food, it should die down a bit in the next few days.

Re: spillage:
I've not had this happen, so I'm no expert (pure speculation): Any wort that's left the fermenter is probably fine. But clean it up. The fact that the airlock is working means that it's sealed up pretty well. If it's not sealed up properly, your airlock may not appear to be bubbling at all. However, any GB left in the airlock could well be a cause for infection. You've got fermentables sitting in the water there, ready to go if any wild yeasts, bacteria, etc, happen to find their way into your airlock. I reckon that the airlock should probably be taken out and cleaned before you go much further (and you'll need to stop anything getting back into the fermenter in the meantime - try some glad wrap or something until you've cleaned up your airlock).

You might want to ask someone else for some concrete answers. Or try a search for beer bubbling through airlocks, I'm sure it's happened before. Maybe you'll find some good advice there. Good luck with the brewing!

 

[bum]

Wow. Longest "dunno" ever.

This is not an issue in and of itself, megasuke. Clean up any mess and let her go as is. If all of the parts of your fermenter have been cleaned and sanitised properly then there is little to worry about. My kit ginger beers generally bubble up really hard and don't display any noticeable sign of infection (and I tend to hang onto some for extended periods).

For future reference, there's not really any reason to boil up the contents of the kit as it will be perfectly sanitary when it leaves the factory.

Good luck with her.

 

[MCHammo]

Wow. Longest "dunno" ever.

Yeah, I tend of over analyse things a little. Does it show? :lol:

 

[Bats]

What was your OG with all that sugar? Sounds like it's going to be a heavy ginger.

As with bubbling through the airlock, I'm with Bum. Just keep the outside of the fermenter clean and clean/replace the airlock. I clean and spray my bubble overs with sanitizer.

 

[Lincoln2]

Megasuke, like you I make a heavy ginger beer with more fermentables and flavours. My first few blew through my airlock like Krakatoa. I now brew my 20-ish litre batches in my 60 litre fermenter. The krausen ring is massive but it shouldn't make it to the airlock.

 

[megasuke]

Well I took your advice and googled for some help. Came up with the solution to remove the airlock and replace it with a blow out tube. Got some sanitizer and soaked the tube and sprayed everywhere. It should help contain the mess. Got great some advice from local brewshop here in Toowoomba as well.

First time using a hydrometer. The reading was 40?? Am I reading it wrong?

Another question? What are pros and cons of airlocks and blowout tubes?

 

[megasuke]

Just a little follow up.

Replaced the blowout tube with the airlock this morning. It's still bubbling nicely but no were near the amount it was the last few days and thankfully not over the airlock. Everything was cleaned and re sanitized, so hopefully no infection. I think in the future I will start with the blow out tube and then move to the airlock if I think it's gonna make a mess again.

What was your OG with all that sugar? Sounds like it's going to be a heavy ginger.

Learnt to read that hydrometer that should be 1.040 and not 40 :huh: Another lesson learned. What is that like for a starter in Ginger Beer?

Still a way off from bottling this brew but have learnt a lot, thanks for the help everyone. Have kept a day by day diary, be good to look back on it in a years time.

 

[Stuwort]

I'm using a Cooper FV and the krausen on my 28L batch is just touching the lid, making it about 8cm high. I have used a Coopers GB can as a base and SO4 yeast brewing at 19c. I haven't seen it go off like that before either. I have only used 2.2kg's of fermentables (1.7kg raw sugar and 500g honey).

 

[megasuke]

If your worried about mess mate just switch to a blowout tube like I did. It was really simple to do and saved me a lot of clean up.