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Mead in the airlock

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C

cabeasle

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 11, 2011
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So, I put together two JAO's two days ago, but I left some room for them to foam up while the began fermenting. I checked on them today and there really wasn't very much foam, and I could tell from the stains in the neck of the carboy that there had been more, but it had since receded, so I figured that phase was over, and I topped off the carboys pretty high.

Well, now both airlocks are filled with mead. Will this hurt anything? Is it better to siphon off liquid, or just let it go for a day and then replace the airlocks with fresh ones? I would hate to lose mead, but I would also hate to replace an airlock just to have the new ones get dirty immediately.

What do you guys think? I'm not really sure of the best course of action here.
 
H

HunnyBunz

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 29, 2011
178
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0
Salem, OR
Did your fermentation perk up again? If so, it might start pushing mead out of your air lock.
If I were you I would probably try to siphon off just a little bit so that the must
or krausen does not touch the stopper. Mead is pretty resistant to infection, but the purpose of an air lock is to allow the co2 to escape while keeping unwanted contaminants out. If the mead is touching the liquid in the air lock it may defeat the purpose.
It's probably not that big of a deal, it's just my 2 cents, FWIW. :)
 
C

cabeasle

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 11, 2011
56
1
0
Bah, I went ahead and pulled the locks and resanitized them. Then I syphoned off a little mead from each jug. I am keeping an eye on it now, and hope that the foam doesn't rise high enough again once the pressure builds. Otherwise, more airlocks to clean :)
 
C

cabeasle

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 11, 2011
56
1
0
Haha, I have in the past, but alas, I didn't this time. It's only been in the fermenter for 2 days now, so I would essentially just be drinking fizzy honey water :)
 
veritas

veritas

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 7, 2007
294
2
0
Wisconsin BEER Capitol USA
you could always setup a blowoff tube. Place a hose of the right diameter in your primary opening then drop the other end into a container with some sulphite water vodka san star whate have you. Then just put your airlock back on once it becomes more manageable.
 
Chevette Girl

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,447
59
48
Ottawa, ON
I usually don't top off for at least a week or two when making JAO... haven't had an issue with it yet...
 
C

cabeasle

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 11, 2011
56
1
0
Yup, I will certainly wait longer next time to top off. I have learned that no visible kraussen does not mean one can't still form with enough stimulation. Probably stirred everything up by the force of new water entering the jug and released lots of latent CO2.

I didn't loose much, though... just a few ounces out of each jug.

As another note, though, one of them is fermenting away with fresh ginger, but some of it is floating on the top and I fear that it will be oxidizing and turning brown soon. Will this harm the quality at all? Or is it just aesthetics and no big thing?
 
Chevette Girl

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,447
59
48
Ottawa, ON
I'd break the warranty and give the one with floating ginger a swirl every day to make sure nothing's exposed for TOO long.
 
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