Cleaning an airlock

[Tar_Heel]

Hey everyone!! I'm new to the boards and recently re-started brewing after a 10 plus year hiatus. As a result I’m a bit rusty and I could use some advice. I just brewed a porter which had very aggressive fermentation between 24-36 hours. During this time the airlock had a ton of krausen pass through it. Since fermentation has now settled down to about 5-10 bubbles per minute is it ok for me to remove the airlock (probably the bucket cover as well) and clean it out or am I going to end up with beer everywhere and/or create a larger issue by exposuring the batch to the air?

Is it necessary to clean the matter and beer out of the airlock? Am I exposing my batch to potential bacteria etc..if I don't? Is there a right way to go about doing this if I should?

Thanks in advance for the responses!

[Mill Rat]

There's nothing inside the bucket that wasn't there already in one form or another when fermentation started. The mess in the airlock, though, can attrack unfriendly microbes and "bridge" them over into the beer. Recommend that you take a freshly-washed and dried drinking glass, use it to cover the hole in the bucket while you clean out the airlock, and then put the cleaned airlock back in place. You can clean the bucket once you transfer to secondary.

[Tar_Heel]

Thanks Mill Rat! All worked out well.

Have a great New Year!

[barleyburps]

Not that I'm trying to lead you down a path few want to go, but I never use an airlock. I ferment in food grade plastic buckets and simply place a piece of glad wrap over the predrilled bung hole to keep any bugs from crawling in. In 16 years of brewing steadily, I've never noticed a problem with contamination regardless if I'm fermenting an ale in my basement, or a lager in my fridge.

[dparsons]

For only $2, an airlock is much cooler to watch. :cool:

[dparsons]

Originally posted by barleyburps
Not that I'm trying to lead you down a path few want to go, but I never use an airlock. I ferment in food grade plastic buckets and simply place a piece of glad wrap over the predrilled bung hole to keep any bugs from crawling in. In 16 years of brewing steadily, I've never noticed a problem with contamination regardless if I'm fermenting an ale in my basement, or a lager in my fridge.

What do you do when you get material blowing through your hole from an intense fermentation?

[barleyburps]

Time to get the mop out!. . . .

[barleyburps]

I try to utilize enough buckets to leave adequate headspace that the krausen will typically rise at the most to the lid and then recede. There have been a few episodes in the past where the fermentation has taken off so aggressively as to raise the lid off the bucket and run down the side.

Yes, it is a PITA to clean up. . . .but the end result is always worth the inconveniences. . .

[zoom6zoom]

If it looks like it's going to be that active, I use a blow off tube rather than an airlock, until things settle down

[De Hooter]

Since I have a surplus of airlocks, I just swap out a fresh sanitized airlock for the nasty one, or swap in a blow off tube...