o all wine kits need an air lock during fermentation

[sampvt]

I am on my 3rd kit now and the first one went great and it was in a 27l fermentation drum fitted with an air lock. It came out great.

The second one was a 6 bottle demijohn kit and it went mental over the first 2 days, I had to change the airlock 10 times and I lost loads of foam out of the top as it was so active. Its settled down but wont drop past 1010 sg.

The third was a fruit berry 30 bottle kit and its going bonkers as well with the air lock in. I read on here tonight that a cloth should be put over the bung hole after agitating the mix on a daily basis. Is this right and when do I have to put the bung and airlock in.

I guess my question is .....is it necessary to bung and airlock all wine brew kits or is a cloth over the open top all that's needed

 

[sour_grapes]

You really don't need an airlock during the early part of fermentation, as it chugs down from 1.090 or so down to 1.010 or 1.005 or so.

 

[sampvt]

You really don't need an airlock during the early part of fermentation, as it chugs down from 1.090 or so down to 1.010 or 1.005 or so.

I am so glad you said that. I have 3 mixing buckets with lids and now I can use them, I hate those blooming glass carboys. I can now use one after racking and no need to worry about the brew bubbling over. lol.

 

[Bergmann]

You got it exactly. Do your primary ferment in a bucket with a loosely fitting lid, or tea towel cover. Stir for at least the first few days to introduce some Oxygen into the must to promote healthy yeast development, when SG gets below 1.010 rack into carboy and attach airlock, or snap down lid and attach airlock.

 

[Dhaynes]

I think it is more a matter of personal preference. We made 34 kits so far and we've snapped down the lid as soon as we cast the yeast with all of them. We've had maybe 3 or 4 that had a little bit of foam that made it into the air lock and 1 that blew enough out to make a little bit of a mess but that's it. Now if we start to see wine in the airlock we just leave the lid snapped down and remove the airlock and cover the hole with a cloth for a day or two.

To me it is more of a safety and sanitation issue that a technical issue. If you don't snap the lid down there is always a risk of bumping into the bucket and sloshing out wine. If you have a dog or kids or grand kids an unsealed container is an invitation for disaster and / or an intoxicated pet. An unsealed container also makes it much easier for spoilage microorganism to get into the wine as well as insects (especially fruit flies).

If you are making wine from fresh grapes or fruit you may need to stir or punch down the cap daily but with kits I don't think there is any need to stir the wine once fermentation begins. There is clearly enough oxygen already in the must and the headspace in the bucket for the yeast to establish a good, strong colony. To me stirring daily just introduces more risk of contamination. I do realize it is fun to play with the wine every day by measuring the SG and stirring it but that's really for the winemakers benefit, not for the wine. Bottom line, I think either approach is perfectly fine just pick the one that works best for you. Being the lazy cautious type, I think I'll continue to snap down my lids and use an airlock. If I get a particularly rambunctious batch, I'll remove the airlock for a day or two and then replace it.


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[Bergmann]

Your ideas are fine for you but the risk of contamination is no greater than the risk of developing off flavors. Although most wine kit manufactures take into account that many users will have little serious knowledge wine making, thus they select yeasts that are most adeptly suited to that means.
Yeast is a living organism that requires oxygen to reproduce, and develop in a proper healthy manner. Yeast ferments aerobically in which it develops, then anaerobically at which point it produces alcohol. When snapping the cover down and affixing an airlock at the outset of fermentation the Oxygen is very rapidly driven out of the fermentation vessel. forcing the yeast to develop Aerobically immediately. As a result the yeast develops poorly both in capacity and volume. The fermentation then is being done by yeasties that are inadequate in numbers and poorly formed. The result is wine that is lacking.
You may very well have made wine that is satisfactory for your taste. However, by doing so in the manner you described you may never drink a wine that has achieved it's full potential. And very well could be facilitating fermentation with yeast in various degrees of stress that could contribute to off flavors in an otherwise great wine.

 

[joeswine]

what works?????

THIS is what works for me and very little chance of boil over , a towel crossed the top ,not to much can get in sometimes fruit nets but they like to drink and swim.. with a food grade bucket there is a lot of surface area for you and the wine base, yeast and oxygen to work without over crowding.