Potential Disaster Averted!

[Mozart]

I come home from work today to check on my hefeweizen that I brewed on Sunday, so it's been about 2 days in the fermenter.

Sure, I'd read that Hefeweizen IV yeast (WLP380, I think) can be vigorous, but I thought, "The last hefe, different yeast, wasn't that vigorous, besides, I bet all those folks on HBT who say use a blowoff tube for this yeast are probably fermenting in glass carboys with less headspace than my fermenting bucket."

So, I come home to discover my S-type airlock full of krausen, and some more krausen on the bucket lid. Luckily, gas was still escaping through the airlock.

Needless to say, I put a blowoff tube in immediately!

My only question is.....

Any tips on cleaning out a krausen-filled S-type airlock?

Cheers!

 

[Mozart]

Well, it seems a quick soak in an Oxyclean Free solution does the trick!

Nevermind. ;-)

 

[chays99]

What temp are you fermenting at? I'm using the same yeast right now and only had about a day of decent activity. I set the controller at 65 but came home to find my probe had slipped out and my ghetto chamber was down to 61.

 

[SIXFOOTER]

S types are hard to clean, I never use them except for tame ferments for just that reason. 3 piece airlocks are way easier to clean, drill out a few of the holes to 1/4" to keep them from stopping up with hops.

 

[Mozart]

What temp are you fermenting at? I'm using the same yeast right now and only had about a day of decent activity. I set the controller at 65 but came home to find my probe had slipped out and my ghetto chamber was down to 61.

I have my insulated temp controller set to 64. This is my first time with this yeast, and I know opinions differ as to the best temp for this strain, but in any event, I don't think that's particularly warm.