Liquid in only 1 side of the airlock...Problem?

Northern Brewer General
1

Folks:

First attempt yesterday with Deluxe Kit and American Wheat Extract kit. Everything is honky dorry, fermentation is occurring; however, I have noticed that there is liquid only in one of the two airlock vials.

It is still sealed and the fermentation gas is bubbling through the airlock without any kreusen residue Should I be concerned that only one of the vials has liquid in it?

Second question, does this kit normally ferment in one week or two?

Thanks,

DOC

2

I’m assuming you mean a bubbler airlocK : http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/bubb … -lock.html?

If so, yes, when fermentation is going on the CO2 pressure will generally push all of the liquid in the airlock into the chamber closest to the “out” or top of the airlock. This is a good thing.

Most average gravity ales will be done in 1-2 weeks, yes.

3

yes, thank you for the reply. This is the airlock on the top of the carboy. It’s bubbling away…hoppping tp bottle the batch by Christmas.

Good times…brewing your own beer.

DOC

4

I always get this even in my secondary. no matter how i push the airlock in it will push my sanitizer to one side. i dont see it as the end of the world but if i were to buy an airlock im going for the ones that can be dissassembled.

5

[quote=“DOCatRU”]yes, thank you for the reply. This is the airlock on the top of the carboy. It’s bubbling away…hoppping tp bottle the batch by Christmas.[/quote]If you brewed on Monday then it won’t be ready to bottle on Christmas, or rather, you might be safe to bottle it then but it won’t be the best beer possible at that point. Once active fermentation slows and the krausen drops, give the beer at least another week on the yeast cake before even thinking about racking/bottling - your beer will be cleaner and taste better if you do. Rushing beer to the bottle can also lead to bottle bombs if there are fermentable sugars that are consumed in the bottle rather than the fermenter, raising the pressure inside the bottle to the point where it breaks.

6

Shadetree:

Thanks for the response.

Just to clarify my rookie head…I should let the batch sit in the primary carboy for the 2 weeks after pitching yeast…even if the kreusen has fallen?

Thanks,

DOC

7

At least. I’m pretty sure my beer got better after I started getting lazy and letting it sit around in the primary for a month or more instead of promptly racking/bottling it exactly 14 days after pitching.