question about fermenter

[ksvet06]

hello y'all I have a strange question. Do y'all air lock your primary fermenter bucket or cover it with a cloth? I have put a nylon strainer bag over the top of the bucket to allow air in during the fermenting process. Any suggestions lol.

thanks

zach

 

[cintipam]

Hi zach

primary fermenter I use a cloth. Some recipes like Dragons blood say when a certain SG is reached then seal the lid and attach an airlock. In general tho, since oxygen is needed during the primary fermentation phase, most folks do a cloth to keep bugs and dust out. I actually put a tied band of elastic around the bucket to help hold the cloth in place since we have several curious cats.

Pam in cinti

 

[bchilders]

I use an air lock if I am fermenting in a carboy from a kit. Primary fermentation does not require an air lock because of the CO2 off gassing which prevents outside air from entering the must. If the primary is in a bucket I just lay the lid on loosely with a solid stopper in the air lock hole or a filled air lock. I do this with fresh fruit or juice. The biggest issue with an air lock at primary is the possibility of trapping too much CO2 and killing or halting the fermentation and or blowout due to excess pressure.

 

[ksvet06]

thanks for the replies y'all. I'm going with cloth and a band for primary and carboy/air lock for secondary.

 

[bkisel]

With low end kits (e.g. RJS VdV) and DB I ferment to dry in the primary bucket. Lock down @ around SG 1.020 with the kits and SG 1.000 with DB. The higher end kits I've done have all had instructions to rack to "secondary" at around SG 1.020. I'll use a carboy and airlock for "secondary". I do not concern myself with head space until dry and moving on to the next phase.

 

[sly22guy]

I just set the lid on loosely.

 

[seth8530]

During the early stages of fermentation you actually want your wine to get some air. After the yeast enters anaerobic phase then you have no reason to get any air around your yeast.

 

[sour_grapes]

During the early stages of fermentation you actually want your wine to get some air. After the yeast enters anaerobic phase then you have no reason to get any air around your yeast.

The advice is frequently given here to give the yeast plenty of oxygen during the entirety of "primary" fermentation. I've alway worried about this. If they have oxygen, the little bastards won't be making alcohol for you, they will be burning the sugars completely!

I have begun putting an airlock on once SG < 1.060 or so.

 

[seth8530]

I got curious and decided to do some reading on the issue.. It looks like you want to know when you really should be putting an airlock you will need to monitor the rate of fermenation.

http://morebeer.com/articles/lifeofayeast

 

[sour_grapes]

I got curious and decided to do some reading on the issue.. It looks like you want to know when you really should be putting an airlock you will need to monitor the rate of fermenation.

http://morebeer.com/articles/lifeofayeast

Thanks for the link. Very informative, although I see nothing in that article that talks about the rate of fermentation. It only references the assertion that you should deny oxygen to the yeast once they complete exponential growth and begin anaerobic fermentation. (This correlates with the rate, but the rate is affected by lots of other factors such as temperature.)

The article's exhortation to limit oxygen in the latter phases of fermentation completely agrees with my picture of the world (and disagrees with advice given frequently on this forum).

 

[ksvet06]

Okay confused here lol. I'm at .998 s.g. I'm concerned about letting it sit in the fermenting bucket to much longer. But yet I don't wanna hurry it either

 

[sour_grapes]

Yes, you can move on to the next stage now. Typically, this means racking to a carboy with a narrow neck, so that your wine does not get so much air exposure. (By the way, is this your mulberry wine?)

 

[ksvet06]

Yes it's the mulberry wine