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I have a wine bulk aging. I went to check it today and I noticed the airlock full of wine. It is a kit and it is stabilized. Could very little head space do that? Will the wine expand going from a cooler temp to a warmer temp?
Likely just temperature change. Was it cooler when you racked to your current vessel?

I noted a significant amount of expansion in my wines. I left an inch or so and after a few weeks and only a couple degrees temperature increase they were pretty well touching the bung.
 
Likely just temperature change. Was it cooler when you racked to your current vessel?

I noted a significant amount of expansion in my wines. I left an inch or so and after a few weeks and only a couple degrees temperature increase they were pretty well touching the bung.
Definitely what happened than. Its fine to leave or should I clean out the air lock and add vodka back?
 
Clean the airlock, as it is a place where mold can grow.

Like @heatherd, I use water. I check airlocks weekly and swap them periodically.
Really? I'm shocked. I just changed to K-meta.

When I first heard people were using k-meta or vodka I thought it was silly. Over the top, water is a fine barrier. I pulled an airlock once and somehow some water pulled back into the carboy. Now that I am getting up to the 3 month rotation in adding K-meta I noticed some of the air locks were slimy when I rinsed them out. SO, I started adding k-meta. I didn't want anything that could contaminate the wine.

To me it was an 'Oh, that's why they do it' moment, and I just assumed most of you were.
 
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Temperature will certainly affect the density of the wine.
So will barometric pressure. Watch out for that stormy weather!
That's something I am going to pay attention to. They say if you don't like the weather in Alberta, wait 10 minutes. Thundershowers pop up out of nowhere, and often.

I'm gonna have to have a looksee, just to see.
 
Now that I am getting up to the 3 month rotation in adding K-meta I noticed some of the air locks were slimy when I rinsed them out. SO, I started adding k-meta. I didn't want anything that coul
Airlocks can get slimy with K-meta solution.

I swap them out monthly or bi-monthly, and check water levels weekly. I learned to do this the hard way.
 
Airlocks
I think they are a learning curve
keep an eye on them
use water
swap them out frequently
those are all good advice
My advice is to keep learning, I have done some stupid stuff like not checking my airlocks before going on a 3 week vacation.
 
Each style has its proponents, all for good reasons. I prefer 3 piece as they are easier to clean.

And in the last couple of years, I've switched to vented bungs for bulk adding, which eliminates the, "what do I fill it with?" question.
 
Each style has its proponents, all for good reasons. I prefer 3 piece as they are easier to clean.

And in the last couple of years, I've switched to vented bungs for bulk adding, which eliminates the, "what do I fill it with?" question.
I agree, again!
They are SO much easier to clean.
As long as they work I don't really care. ALTHOUGH, I'll grab the s-type first because I like to watch the bubbles. 😄
 

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