Crack Myself Up

[Bulldog]

I am experimenting with using 5 gal water cooler jugs as Carboys. I need a airlock I could use, I spent a couple hours redesigning the wheel and came up with a elegant solution that cost me about 5 bucks a bottle to build. I only built one, I said to myself, Self what if I just stuck a weenie wrapper over the neck of the bottle and secured it with cord. So I am thinking I am going to have 4 or 5 Carboys sitting on the back porch with giant inflated condoms. This would lead the wife to ask " Those CO2 condoms are big, whats your problem?

I decided to save face and use Exam Gloves instead, they seem to work fine, I poked a pinhole in one finger. Come to find out I did a search and found a thread about useing a baloon for the Airlock. All this to say, There is way more info here than you can read in weeks.

[smokerscully1]

I use a plastic sandwich bag with a rubber band on top of my carboys. I ain't makin high class wine here and I ain't got any air locks.

[rad14701]

I used a sandwich bag on my 5 gal water cooler jug too after my air lock setup started acting quirky... Thought about using a condom but don't have a need for them so I'm out of stock...

[alwaysannoyed]

Personally i am not comfortable with plastic water bottles as fermentation vessels, but if that's what I had i would use them. Yeah condoms and gloves work, but if you have a source for lab stoppers and a little vinyl hose it can be much better. The size of the stoppers you need are #10's. Otherwise good luck.

[olddog]

here is an easier way, a bit of poly tubing and the end of an old ballpoint pen, a drop of water in the tube and away you go.

[alkoholics]

i have just used a balloon in the past, put the balloon on and poke a few holes in it soon the balloon will fill with gasses and will release through the holes in the balloon, and doesn't let contaminants in.

[Mr.Spooky]

uuuuuuuhhhhh,,, arent airlocks only about a couple o dollars? i found this to be the cheapest part of this whole process. hell, i even bought more than i needed caws they were so cheep.

[Dnderhead]

most times don't use one ,just throw the cover on loose.

[pro65]

uuuuuuuhhhhh,,, arent airlocks only about a couple o dollars? i found this to be the cheapest part of this whole process. hell, i even bought more than i needed caws they were so cheep.

What he said. .75 cents

[olddog]

$5 in OZ

[Aces High]

I dont bother with them... the CO2 seems to keep the whole thing sterilised.. i just have the lid sitting on loosely, then tighten it up a bit when the fement is coming to an end.. haven't had any problems yet, but i dont let it sit around for too long after its fememted out either

[Mr.Spooky]

$5 in OZ

DANG!!,,,,, are they made of gold? i guess that i would do something like the picture above or something.
i wander if you could make like a manifold out of a 3/4" pvc water trap,, and run 3 or 4 in it at the same time. this way yer getting as many airlocks as you want for the price of 1.

[Mr.Spooky]

$5 in OZ

DANG!!,,,,, are they made of gold? i guess that i would do something like the picture above or something.
i wander if you could make like a manifold out of a 3/4" pvc water trap,, and run 3 or 4 in it at the same time. this way yer getting as many airlocks as you want for the price of 1.

i just thought about that,,, and if you got 3 goin on the same airlock, and ferment # 3 stops wile #1and 2 are still going would this cause gasses to backflow into#3 ????? would that even matter? somebody help me out here.

[Dnderhead]

Back flow whould not be the problem. disconnecting the one that was finished whould be
the old stand by "blow off tube" works.

[Aces High]

I was reading an article. Apparently some of the big distilleries actually bottle the CO2 coming off the fement and sell it off on the side. If you've got 3 going into 1.. maybe its time to work what you can do with all that wasted CO2

[heynonny]

Got this at th' local brew shop, it fits on OUTSIDE and inasmuchas the opening is many times (in my experience) not necessarily round or consistantly the same size, this fills the bill for me. (I have 3 or 4 glass and maybe 20 plastic carboys) The neat thing is that this cap fits perfectly on my 2" sankey fitting (15 gal keg) I dont know why the second offset opening is there but I use it with a 'turkey fryer' thermometer to get an approximate temp of the mash. It cost $1.98 w/o the airlock. fwiw -hey-

[Dnderhead]

"" I dont know why the second offset opening is there ""
Your supposed to use one for siphon tube and blow or add air to other to start siphon.

[rad14701]

uuuuuuuhhhhh,,, arent airlocks only about a couple o dollars? i found this to be the cheapest part of this whole process. hell, i even bought more than i needed caws they were so cheep.

What he said. .75 cents

Doesn't really matter how cheap things are if you don't have a local vendor, don't want to order online, or you'd rather use resources you have on hand... Heck, they sell booze, too, but I'd rather make my own...

[minime]

most times don't use one ,just throw the cover on loose.

nuff Co2 coming off that it sure don't need an air lock. Most of my ferments are done in a couple/three days. Loose cover works for me.

[rad14701]

I actually use the air lock more as a fermentation speedometer than anything else... The bubble rate tells me how aggressively the wash is going and allows me to monitor the drop in fermentation rate over time... I don't use them to fend off infections... All that said, the reason I used a sandwich bag for the last ferment is because the air lock setup started leaking and I wanted a visual indicator for when fermentation dropped off to nothing...

[draco]

+1 with Rad. Not only does it let me know when it is done it also lets me know if it is progressing normally.

[Mr.Spooky]

uuuuuuuhhhhh,,, arent airlocks only about a couple o dollars? i found this to be the cheapest part of this whole process. hell, i even bought more than i needed caws they were so cheep.

What he said. .75 cents

Doesn't really matter how cheap things are if you don't have a local vendor, don't want to order online, or you'd rather use resources you have on hand... Heck, they sell booze, too, but I'd rather make my own...

yea im feelin ya now RAD i just moved smack dab in the middle of no where and the days of going 2 blocks to the brew store are over.. glad i bought extra!

[absinthe]

$5 in OZ

where you buying them from :O they are about $2 maybe $2.50 where i get em.. not that i use em anymore i use good old glad wrap

[HookLine]

good old glad wrap

Definite +1