Bulk Aging - airlock or cork?
Trevor Hennessey
With the recent debate on not stirring the wine to remove carbonation I
would assume that you use a airlock to allow the CO2 to slowly escape but
wouldn't this allow O2 to slowly enter?
What should I use for my 6-12 month storage? A airlock or a rubber bung?
Thanks,
Trevor
Bryan Fazekas
Airlock.
Unless you have an absolutely stable environment, there will be
variations in temperature. These variations will affect the volume of
the wine, so air will need to able to move in and out of the storage
container. A solid bung doesn't permit this.
BTW: Some people fill the top of the carboy with an insert gas, CO2
or Nitrogen. I don't believe this is effective for the above reason.
It sure doesn't hurt, but I don't believe it helps. You're better
off topping the carboy up to within about 2" of the bottom of the
stopper.
---
Bryan Fazekas
--faze...@mindspring.com
AllanD
If for only ONE reason that being If you forget
about a trap and it dries out...
Allan
henn...@sfu.ca (Trevor Hennessey) wrote on 25 Jan 1999 00:18:08 GMT:
> When bulk aging wine in 5 gal carboys what do you cap the carboy with?
> With the recent debate on not stirring the wine to remove carbonation I
> would assume that you use a airlock to allow the CO2 to slowly escape but
> wouldn't this allow O2 to slowly enter?
>
> What should I use for my 6-12 month storage? A airlock or a rubber bung?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Trevor
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Brian Lundeen
AllanD wrote:
> No question a rubber bung...
>
> If for only ONE reason that being If you forget
> about a trap and it dries out...
> Allan
Unfortunately, someone being that neglectful of their wines would also likely not
notice a rubber bung that's been popped out by a change in pressure. My vote is
for airlock, specifically the S-type which do not dry out as quickly.
Brian
BUnique
Use a bored out rubber bung with half a cotton ball stuffed down the hole.
I had to do this out of necessity because I was running short on airlocks. A
book I have suggested cotton balls all by themselves, but I didn't like the
fact
that cotton fibers got stuck to the rim of the carboy when doing that, so I
came up
with this hybrid. It has worked great so far, the cotton allows air through
and you have airlocks freed up for fermentation duty! Just don't pull the
bung out too fast, it can suck the cotton down into the carboy like it does
the water in an airlock. Use plenty of cotton so that there is a comfortable
fit
in the bung hole, but not too much such that the airflow is all but stopped.
Berry
getcomputing.com
>>That solution makes me nervous. The main purpose of an airlock is to
>>permit gas movement while inhibiting bacteria from finding a home. I
>>don't believe a cotton ball is very useful with regard to inhibiting
>>bacteria.
For the first few hours it might but think of all the bacteria it can be a
perfect breeding ground for! Warm, moist with not much oxygen ... It gives me
the willies.
If one is out of air locks - run a piece of hose into an empty wine bottle
upside down in a bucket of water. When I have multiple carboys of the same
brew in secondary before third racking I have (up to 3 so far - could easily be
more) tubing running from each carboy all interconnected with plastic Tees and
running to one common tube which goes into the upturned wine bottle in the
bucket. I use a couple snap ties to keep the hose attached to the bucket handle
is semi fixed position. So far it has worked great. All the components are kept
in a pail of meta while not in use.
I plan a more refined version soon for carboys which are sitting in aging. I
have to arrange for a MUCH smaller body of air to be displaced in the bucket or
there will be too much oxygen in the carboys. The advantage of using a 5 gallon
bucket is the tubing will allow me to run multiple batches into the one water
trap - far less disruption to the wine than mucking with filling up air-locks.
I think keeping the tubing small (1/4" id) and a total run of tubing per chain
no longer than 72", topping right up to the bung and having a small diameter air
chamber will be okay. Maintaining the water in a dozen airlocks can be a
problem if one doesn't have a safety margin against evaporation. A bucket of
water should provide a two week margin ... enough time to allow a vacation or
recovering from whatever.
BUnique
>permit gas movement while inhibiting bacteria from finding a home. I
>don't believe a cotton ball is very useful with regard to inhibiting
>bacteria.
Ok, a long term solution it is not, I agree. But it worked great for the
two weeks when I couldn't travel to the nearest source of airlocks and
I had no other supplies. It enabled me to get another fermentation started
much earlier than I had anticipated. No harm done to the wine.
Berry
Bryan Fazekas wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Jan 1999 17:09:10 -0800, BUnique <bby...@earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> >How about this compromise to the debate:
> >
> >Use a bored out rubber bung with half a cotton ball stuffed down the hole.
> >I had to do this out of necessity because I was running short on airlocks. A
> >
> >book I have suggested cotton balls all by themselves, but I didn't like the
> >fact
> >that cotton fibers got stuck to the rim of the carboy when doing that, so I
> >came up
> >with this hybrid. It has worked great so far, the cotton allows air through
> >and you have airlocks freed up for fermentation duty! Just don't pull the
> >bung out too fast, it can suck the cotton down into the carboy like it does
> >the water in an airlock. Use plenty of cotton so that there is a comfortable
> >fit
> >in the bung hole, but not too much such that the airflow is all but stopped.
>
> That solution makes me nervous. The main purpose of an airlock is to
> permit gas movement while inhibiting bacteria from finding a home. I
> don't believe a cotton ball is very useful with regard to inhibiting
> bacteria.
>
> ---
> Bryan Fazekas
> --faze...@mindspring.com
Bryan Fazekas
wino
good way to make vinegar. The whole idea is to keep the air out, not
let it in.
I vote for the bung if you have a constant temperature in your
winemaking area. Otherwise the airlock is the only way to go. All my
barrels have silicon bungs, and when the temperature goes up a bit,
sometimes it forces a bit of wine through the staves, but the bung
never pops out. So if you want to use bungs, I'd opt for the silicon
ones, they seem to stick better than the rubber ones.
Paul
TomS
>winemaking area. Otherwise the airlock is the only way to go. All my
>barrels have silicon bungs, and when the temperature goes up a bit,
>sometimes it forces a bit of wine through the staves, but the bung
>never pops out. So if you want to use bungs, I'd opt for the silicon
>ones, they seem to stick better than the rubber ones.
You're mixing apples and oranges. Carboys are made of glass, and a silicone
bung will pop out of a glass container even easier than a regular rubber
one. Silicone bungs work _great_ in barrels, however, because the
coefficient of friction between silicone and wood is _much_ higher. My
silicone-bunged barrels all stayed sealed during the '94 earthquake, even
though they were tipped (rolled) on their sides, and one was bounced off a
wall!
For long term glass carboy storage, I'd recommend using a screw-capped
carboy. They're rare, but I have a couple of them.
Tom S
wino
silicon bung in a glass carboy. They sure do hold tight in a barrel
though. I occasionally have trouble with the rubber bungs in glass
too. Every once in a while one of the bungs won't stay in right after
it has been taken out and put back in. At those times it seems to get
wet around the rim of the glass and the old bung just pops up. Out
comes the paper towel ( how do you sterilize that?) and a hard wipe
around the bung and the glass usually does the trick. It's at that
moment I realize the value of my pet topic, ph and sulphite. Without
the comfort of knowing my ph and sulphite levels, I'd be very
concerned about wiping up with the towel.
Thanks for the feedback.
Paul
Mdmbdumont
silicone-bunged barrels all stayed sealed during the '94 earthquake, even
though they were tipped (rolled) on their sides, and one was bounced off a
wall!>
Did you go to a truck or aircraft supply and pick up some chocks to stop
future rolls
Michael
NomDeNette
...snip...
>For long term glass carboy storage, I'd recommend using a screw-capped
>carboy. They're rare, but I have a couple of them.
>
>Tom S
On regular carboys I vote for the "Magnificant Orange, Dual Valve Carboy
Cap" (MODVCC for short)...No slipping off, no popping out, air tight seal...
This little beauty is right behind the bottling wand as one of the
pre-eminant inventions of our century!
-Ed
--
"Wine is sunlight, held together by water..."
-Louis Pasteur
Ron/Maureen Tkachuk
that you do that with. When you do use cotton, the nice white sherry turns
amber, then gold, and then brown. End of lesson OXIDATION OF YOUR WINE.
BUnique wrote in message <36AD15B6...@earthlink.net>...
Harry A. Demidavicius
from those are better.
Harry Demidavicius
On Wed, 27 Jan 1999 19:31:12 -0500, "NomDeNette" <Zen...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Mdmbdumont
Cap" (MODVCC for short)...No slipping off, no popping out, air tight seal...>
I have one of those now. My primary use was to have an easy way to start
siphoning without undue air exposure.
How do you use it for long term storage? Just with the little white caps it
comes with(plastic) or do you put a piece of tubing from hole to hole? or Do
you put an airlock on each?
Michael
NomDeNette
<19990128085701...@ng-fv1.aol.com>...
Michael:
For bulk storage I always use an airlock, mounted on the center, or main
valve. I place the white cap on the other valve.
Additionally; because the MODVCC is a cap, the carboy can be filled to the
very top. This is another plus for its use. My procedure is:
-Top-up wine to the very top, as in the very brim of the carboy,
-apply MODVCC with airlock already attached to the main, center valve, and
with the other valve uncapped. (This allows for the air above the wine to
escape without bubbling the airlock into a frenzy & a mess).
-Once cap is on securely, squirt a quick shot of CO2 or Nitrogen (I use
either "Corked Again" or "Private Preserve") into the secondary valve & cap
it immediately.
-This process invariably causes the bell in the airlock to rise. This is a
good thing, as it shows that the heavier gas is pushing the O2 up off of the
surface of the wine.
Hope this Helps;
TomS
Harry A. Demidavicius <har...@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:36b2e860...@news.calgary.telusplanet.net...
>Do you buy bottled water in 5 gal containers? The blue cork things
>from those are better.
>Harry Demidavicius
>
Those blue plastic caps are _not_ airtight. They're OK for short-term, but
not a good risk for long-term aging/storage. They're handy for keeping dust
out of an empty carboy.
Tom S
Harry A. Demidavicius
><On regular carboys I vote for the "Magnificant Orange, Dual Valve Carboy
>Cap" (MODVCC for short)...No slipping off, no popping out, air tight seal...>
>
>I have one of those now. My primary use was to have an easy way to start
>siphoning without undue air exposure.
>
> How do you use it for long term storage? Just with the little white caps it
>comes with(plastic) or do you put a piece of tubing from hole to hole? or Do
>you put an airlock on each?
>
>Michael
At present I use them to keep empty carboys sterile. I still use those
"twisty" airlocks for long term storage. I am going to try installing
one instead of a cork/bung.
Harry Demidavicius