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1
vote
2answers
87 views

Which is the superior air-lock liquid: Vodka or Star-San?

I've had a life-long fancy for using vodka to clean sanitize and naturally use it in my air-lock. Given that it is only 40%, however, and I live in California where pure grain alcohol is illegal, ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views

How to Sterilize Bung and Hole while Maintaining a Strong Seal?

How do you sanitize and prepare a bung for stopping a carboy? While making sure that it will maintain a good seal and not POP off sometime later. In depth I removed and sterilized my bung and ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views

Fruit Flies in Airlock. How can I Test if Mead is Okay?

In short After approximately 5.5 month my airlock full of vodka has lost 60% of its volume and now has trapped a couple dozen of fruit flies. Should I be concerned for my batch of Mead? What methods ...
6
votes
3answers
210 views

Airlock: vodka, water, or

I've just started making my first brew, and am using vodka in the airlock, but am hoping for some more detailed info about what is best practice, or if there is not really any difference between using ...
4
votes
1answer
94 views

airlock ran dry, should I be concerned?

I'm very new to this all, and just bought a noob-starter-kit. I'm using a can for my first brew (to learn the basics) So I just started the brew (Coopers Real Ale) a few days ago. I'm keeping the ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views

Best way to clean an airlock

I recently did two ale brews in two separate fermenters and in both cases my airlocks got sediment in them, which then dried in. I can't find a way to clean out these airlocks, as I can't get around ...
0
votes
5answers
142 views

Can I bottle when still bubbling a little?

I made a beer from extract (amber dryed malt extract). Recipe says OG is 1.040 FG is 1.010. Used Safebrew S-04 (english ale yeast). The wort has been sitting in primary fermenter for 10 days now. ...
2
votes
2answers
182 views

3 Piece Airlock without Liquid

I was talking with a fellow brewer who has been brewing for many years and found out that he does not put any liquid in his 3 piece airlocks. He claims that next to nothing can get in even without the ...
4
votes
4answers
203 views

handling shrinkage from crash cooling

I just crashed 5 gallons of German Pilsner for lagering and I noticed that my airlock starsan level was significantly lower after cooling. I presume this is due to the liquid (beer) shrinking after a ...
3
votes
2answers
252 views

Airlock required for lagering or conditioning?

If I put some beer in a secondary vessel for medium-term condition (e.g. lagering or dry hopping), do I need to put an airlock on it or can I just close it up with a stopper or put it in a keg and ...
3
votes
3answers
508 views

Airlock re-sanitization after minor blow-off

I had some minor blow-off enter (and exit) my airlock during the most active part of fermentation. The krausen has since gone down significantly, and there is no worry of the airlock getting clogged. ...
3
votes
4answers
486 views

after fermentation (carboy) if I put it in the fridge what do with the air-lock?

listening to an interview with John Palmer he suggests putting the fermentation vessel in the fridge (after fermentation is complete) to drop out some left over trub and yeast. I figured I would give ...
3
votes
3answers
543 views

Is it normal for one side of a two-piece (s-shaped) airlock to be empty during fermentation?

I have always used either a blowoff tube or a three-piece airlock (one with the small, floating cap on the exhaust tube) for fermentation. Today's batch is my first using the two-piece (S-shaped) ...
3
votes
3answers
800 views

Forgot 1 piece to a 3 piece airlock, is this recoverable?

Last weekend I brewed my first batch of beer. I ordered the kit back in April because there was a Groupon and stuck the yeast in the fridge until I needed it. Its been a week and I haven't seen any ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views

Will it harm my wine to shake the container?

This is probably a really dumb question, but is it bad to shake or swirl the container my wine is in to encourage the release of CO2? I accidentally found out that jarring the container results in ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views

Homemade airlock

I recently moved to a place that doesn't allow brewing equipment to be imported (But it is legal to brew... don't ask me). I've built a lot of my stuff, but I have a question about airlocks. I've come ...
2
votes
4answers
736 views

Airlock gasket on primary fermenter fell in when reinserting airlock

I was checking the gravity on my fermenting beer and took the top off my bucket to do so. When reattaching the airlock, the black rubber gasket on the bucket fell in. I tried to fish it out with a ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views

Using StarSan in Airlock

Just getting started on home brewing and I used boiled water in my airlock. I've seen that some places recommend using sanitizer as the airlock "fill". Is it ok to use straight up StarSan in there or ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views

No bubbles in the airlock - should I still bottle the brew?

I'm attempting my first brew using a kit with all the provided ingredients (it's a lager). My brew is still in the big tub and has been there for about 2 weeks now. Initial SG was 1.040 and it's now ...
7
votes
6answers
927 views

Why do my airlocks lose liquid?

This has happened with a few batches now. My three-piece airlocks are drained of the sani inside them repeatedly. Even after a few days, when fermentation doesn't seem as rapid (and therefore the ...
5
votes
3answers
662 views

Krausen During Primary

I'm wondering what other peoples' experiences are with krausen at the start of fermentation. I've had some beers that have bubbled along happily without producing huge amounts of foam, and others ...
2
votes
1answer
417 views

Wine overflowed through airlock

I've had two demijohns of blackberry wine fermeting for about 3 weeks. One of them was slightly over filled and frothed through the airlock, leaving winey yeasty liquid in the airlock. Rather than ...
3
votes
2answers
289 views

Did I Break My Airlock?

I don't really know what I did here. I cut off the bottom little cross guy on the stem of the airlock because it was getting clogged up during vigorous fermentations. Now the middle piece just kind of ...
2
votes
2answers
652 views

homemade wine problem

My question is in my primary fermenter. If the airlock is not bubbling does that mean its not fermenting. I have two on the go one is bubbling and the other one is. What should I do?
5
votes
2answers
2k views

What do I do about beer coming out my airlock?

Brewed a Northern Brown extract kit on Saturday, hit the target OG. Pitched yeast a little cold (63F), but activity was in full swing by yesterday morning. Woke up this morning (Monday) to find that ...
5
votes
5answers
2k views

Airlock Alternatives

Imagine that brew-day rolls around and you find yourself without an airlock for your carboy or bucket. What other things can you use in it's stead? Further imagine that you do not have the ...