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Hi,

I'm new to this board and to home brewing. I brewed a Coopers ale which came out good and I've got a Coopers pilsner going since 10/18 which is still in the primary and I plan to bottle tomorrow but the problem is with my third batch. Here are the details.
Irish Red Ale

Various grains-Crystal 90, Flaked Maize, Munich, Roasted Barley.

6.5 lbs Munton's amber malt

Bullion Hops

The name of the yeast slips my mind but I have the empty pack at home.

I finished brewing as per the instructions and pitched the rehydrayted yeast when the wort reached 74f at about 2pm on 10/26. This morning (10/27) I found the airlock clogged and the top of the fermenter lifted up on one side. I popped the top all the way and covered the wort with my clean brew pot lid while I cleaned things up. The temp of the brew was about 77f. I put the cover and airlock back on and put the fermenter outside to cool down to to about 69f. Now the airlock lets loose with a little bubble only every 40 seconds or so. Am I in trouble?

Thanks in advance for your help

It sounds like the combination of a rehydrated yeast and the 77f has given you a very vigorous fermentation. If the lid was only open a small crack I probably wouldn't be too worried as the positive pressure of the CO2 being produced should have prevented anything from drifting in. The 69f sounds better, a lot of people here would recommend 65f for ales. To prevent it from happening again, for pitching at 77f I would just pitch the dry yeast and not rehydrate, or I would rehydrate and pitch at 65f.

A vigourous starter is not a problem in the slightest! Don't worry about it, it'll be fine.

And a rehydrated yeast is always a better option in my opinion.

Thank you gentlemen!