put anything in air lock?

[indydave]

I have just started my first batch of wine. Its just started its primary fermentation stage. The instructions with the wine making kit indicate to put sodium methabisulphite in the airlock. The instructions with the wine just say to use the air lock. Do I need to put the sodium methabisulphite in the air lock?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Wade E]

There are many things you can do while its in the primary. I use k-meta solution in my airlock which consists of 3 tbls of k-meta to 1 gallon of water and keep the extra in a gallon jug for sanitizing anything that will enter my wine. Keep a seal on the jug and it will last 3-4 months. You can also use vodka which is even better as it doesnt evaporate much so better for when you get to bulk aging point. plain old water can be used but change it frequently as water can go bad and become unsanitary and accidently get sucked into your wine. Or at this point you can loose the primary lid altogether and use a clean towel over your bucket with an elastic or something to keep the towel from falling in to your wine. It is actually good for your wine to get lots of air at this time for your yeast to develope a healthy colony.