fermentation locks and cold chilling

[snickerrby]

Hey fellas,

I have an trappist Ale that is blowing it's goodness straight out of the fermentation lock. obviously i should have thought ahead, but it brought a question to mind. Do i need to change this lock out, or is it alright with the beer and sediment floating around in there to finish out the fermentation? Second, i have never had this happen before. Is it because of the type of yeast i used or because i added extra sugar that caused this 'extra' foam?

My next question pertains the the temperature of the beer while in post fermentation. It's coming up on two weeks since i pitched the yeast and i usually would be kegging and drinking this beer anyday now, but i'm going out of town and thought it would be a good time to get an extended fermentation going. Should i leave the beer at 75deg. which is what whitelabs suggested for fermentation, or should i stick them in the fridge and let everything go dormant and settle to the bottom. And if cold, should i carbonate it or leave it be?

Thanks all. cheers,

Rob

[Rezzin]

I would probably clean out that airlock. If you have beer in there, it's just another place for mold to start growing.

If you had a highly fermentable wort, I can see how you'd have more activity than what you're used to seeing. Fermenting at warmer temps can also cause this.

If the beer is done fermenting and it's been at least 2 weeks, I would personally rack it into another vessel and condition it cold. I like to leave my beers in primary for 2-3 weeks before racking and I no longer use a secondary so I just go straight to a keg. I don't think it matters if you have it on CO2 or not.

I don't brew belgians too often so perhaps someone else can chime in.

Have you had a chance to taste it yet?

[backyard brewer]

I agree with changing out the airlock. I have about 6 of them so that i can always just add a sanitary one if one gets messy.

As to the rest, also not a Belgium brewer so can't help.

[brahn]

Chill it down if it's done fermenting, otherwise leave it at fermentation temps. If it's still blowing off now, I'd say it's probably not done.

To be sure, take a hydrometer reading.