New member with some newby questions.

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

Moderator: slothrob

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Cappy
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Location: Delaware

New member with some newby questions.

Post by Cappy »

Hi Gang,

My first brew, an IPA, is bubbling away and I got a couple of questions.

1. The wort has bubbled up into the airlock and filled it with brown fluid. So should I take it off, clean, sterilize it and put it back in? Or let it alone?

2. How should I clean my plastic fermentation pail. I've been told not to use dish soap. I was told by my the owner of my local brew store to use diluted, unscented bleach (which I can't find). One of the postings here said to use Oxiclean. Any advice?

3. The water I used was from a new, 5 gallon bottle. I boiled half and used the other half at room temperature. Should I try to use unopened one gallon bottles for the top-off or is what I did OK?

Thanks,

Eric
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Legman
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Post by Legman »

Hey Eric,

I would clean out that airlock and put it back. Keep an eye on it though. If it clogs up, it will shoot a geyser of beer onto your ceiling and everything around it. Or a second solution would be to use a blow off tube.

As far as cleaning your Ale Pail, I don't see why you couldn't use dish soap if needed. Just don't ever use anything abrasive on it. Use a soft cloth or sponge. After fermentation, I usually just use some left over one-step sanitizer that I've used to sanitize a keg or bottles, and just wipe it out good with a soft dish rag.

When I was using bottle water, I would only top off with an unopened jug. You may want to boil the opened one, or just save it for your next brew day.

Good luck!
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slothrob
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r.e. questions

Post by slothrob »

1) Yup, clean it. Cooling the beer down into the mid-60's can help reduce the chance this will recur.
2) Oxiclean is a great brewery cleaner, and it avoids problems associated with dish soap and bleach.
3) You should boil all the water you use in beer. Bottled water isn't sterile. You'll probably get away with it most of the time, but you're adding microorganisms to the brew that could affect the flavor.
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Cappy
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Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:02 pm
Location: Delaware

Post by Cappy »

Thanks for the replies and the good information. I am taking your (collective) advice.

Eric
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