How To Use An Airlock

Do you put water in an airlock?

You should fill a three-piece airlock approximately halfway up with water. The advantage of three-piece airlocks is that they can be taken apart for cleaning and are less prone to getting blocked with krausen during periods of very active fermentation.

Do you leave the cap on the airlock?

The cap is meant to be left on. If your airlock is like the ones I have, there should be four pinholes in the red cap that lets air (and C02) through. In any case, it should be able to vent around the edges of the cap.

Do you have to use an airlock when fermenting?

Can you ferment without an airlock? While airlocks are certainly super helpful, they aren’t required. As long as you have a safe way to let the CO2 escape while also preventing excess oxygen from entering then you’ll be good to go.

What liquid do I put in my airlock?

Bottled spring water or filtered water are best and recommended to use as liquid in the airlock. Vodka will certainly keep the lock sanitary too. There is no real trick to it, follow common sense and good process control. Using a straight sanitizer is vehemently not recommended.

When should I see bubbles in the airlock?

Sign up & see all the assignments! By this point — a day or two after your brew day — you should start seeing bubbles popping up through the water in your airlock. This is a sure sign that fermentation is off and running, and that your first batch of homebrew is well on its way to officially becoming beer.

How do you use the airlock on a Demijohn?

How to use an airlock Fill the airlock halfway with water, as shown on the image above. Insert the airlock into a bung or grommet at the top of your demijohn or brewing bucket. Leave to ferment. Once the fermentation has started you will see bubbles rising through the water.

Should I stir my mash during fermentation?

You should not stir your homebrew during fermentation, in most cases, as it can contaminate the beer with outside bacteria, wild yeast, and oxygen which leads to off-flavors or spoilage. Stirring can have disastrous potential to ruin your beer in a variety of ways.

What should my airlock look like?

The airlock is that funny little bit of plastic that affixes to the top of your brew bucket or carboy and bubbles away during fermentation. Except sometimes it doesn’t bubble when you think it should, and sometimes it bubbles when you don’t expect it to.

Can I use a balloon as an airlock?

Using a balloon with a pin hole over the neck of a jug for making ale, wine, cider or mead is a simple way of air locking the process. The balloon will fill with gaseous byproducts of the fermentation process, and excess pressure will leak out the pin hole.

Should I stir my wine during primary fermentation?

It is important to stir the ‘must’ during the primary fermentation. The yeast requires a good supply of oxygen during this ‘aerobic’ fermentation, meaning with air. It also helps keep the fruit in solution if you are fermenting on the fruit, grapes, or whatever kind of fruit. You don’t want a solid cap forming on top.

Why is it important that air does not enter the fermentation tank?

It prevents air from entering your fermentation vessel while still allowing the CO2 made during fermentation to escape. If your system didn’t have anywhere for this gas to go, the pressure would build up.

How do you know when your wine has stopped fermenting?

It should settle down within a few hours. If the bubbles continue for days, chances are you’ve woken the yeast up and they are happily eating sugars again. If you take successive readings days or weeks apart and they all show the same value, then your wine fermentation is finished.

Do you need sulphite solution in an airlock?

During the fermentation it’s really not important whether you use a sulfite solution or just plain water in the airlock. But once the fermentation settles down it would be beneficial to have sulfites in the airlock. This would keep any bacteria, mold, germs, etc. from growing.

Which type of airlock is best?

In general, most homebrewers use either a S-shape airlock or a 3-piece airlock. The 3-piece airlock is the most popular choice overall since it’s easier to use and clean. However, you can also use other household utensils, like tin foil or plastic bags with rubber bands as an airlock.

Can you use vodka in airlock?

You can use water, vodka or starsan. The purpose of the liquid in the airlock is to prevent gas transfer into the carboy, keeping out floating contaminants, like bacteria and wild yeast, and to also provide a deterrent for bugs like fruit flies. If you don’t overfill the airlock, then there is no chance of suckback.