JAOM - Bubble over after topping off and temperature increase

[ChefPaul92]

Hi guys,

This is my first post on the site, after lurking for a bit. I've followed the JAOM recipe as closely as I could manage, but I've listed my recipe below the post, just in case.

I started last Saturday (12/3), and topped the bottle off with some more distilled (oops) water yesterday evening (12/6). I also moved the mead to a warmer part of my apartment. At the time, the new location was about 5F warmer than the kitchen, but overnight the heat kicked on, and the nearby heating pipes made it even warmer. When I looked at it this morning, some foam had bubbled up through the airlock (3 piece), making the airlock water a bit cloudy, but not creating a total mess - it could have been much worse. I moved the carboy back into the kitchen (room temp) and wrapped it in foil to protect it from light.

My question for you fine folks is, should I bother with cleaning out the airlock, or is this sort of bubble over normal and nothing to worry about?

Thanks!

Brewlog
------------------
Recipe Name
Joe's Ancient Orange and Spice Mead
Yield
1 Gallon

Ingredients
3.5 lb Clover Honey (Jewel Brand)
1 ea Large Orange
25 ea Raisins
1 stick cinnamon
2 ea Whole Clove
1 teaspoon Fleishmann's bread yeast
a/n Distilled Water (Refreshe)
1 sm pinch Fresh ground nutmeg

Brew Notes
2016.12.03 Started bubbling after about 1.5hours.
2016.12.04 Solution has become cloudy and all yeast pellets have dissolved into solution.
2016.12.06 Moved mead to warm area of apartment, wrapped in foil to protect from light.
2016.12.07 Apartment heat increased, mead bubbled into the airlock. Moved mead back to kitchen and wrapped in foil.
-------------------

 

[darigoni]

I don't think there is any reason why you absolutely need to clean out the air lock, other than it will probably bother you for the next several weeks . While it is still fermenting is a great time to remove the air-lock, clean and reinstall it.

FYI. For future meads you may want you think about using spring water. And, no need to top off until rapid fermentation has stopped.

 

[Squatchy]

Please don't use distilled water when you rehydrate your yeast. Because the yeast has solids inside, and the water is void of solids the water rushes into the yeast to try to balance out the equation. Such a strong water flow while the membrane is unable to regulate, actually ruptured the cell spilling out the guys of the cell. Tap water is good. The harder the water the better. Adding Goferm is by far the best way to go.

 

[ChefPaul92]

Thanks for the help guys. I went ahead and changed out the airlock yesterday evening.

Yeah, I goofed with the distilled water. I was standing in front of the bottled water at the store trying to remember if I was supposed to get spring or distilled and chose wrong...