Airlock — need or not??

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warnerbot

newbie brewbie
Joined
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Hello everyone,

I am a total brewb (brewing newb — just made that up). I recently introduced myself in the introductory section. I was given a Young's Saison kit by my mother in law and went and bought a Kilner vessel kit (simply because I had some Argos vouchers and it was they happened to stock one).

I've got a day off today so thought I'd get the ball rolling.

I have a couple of questions straight off the bat having read the Young's instructions...

1) Airlock... my Kilner vessel didn't come with one and has no hole in the lid, though one could easily be made. The instructions call for an airlock to be fitted and then filled with sterile water. It then advises monitoring the frequency of airlock bubbles to determine the maturity of the beer... do I need to buy and airlock and wait until I have it to start? Do I need one at all? If not do I make a hole or can the Co2 get out itself?

2) Temperature... I've been monitoring the temperature in various parts of my house the last week with a digi thermometer... almost nowhere is higher than 20 degrees C and saison calls for 24—32... how do people do this??

Clarity would be very much appreciated.

Nick x
 
Hi Nick welcome to the forum.

I always use an airlock however I know others on here don't bother with them.

Temp control is always an issue, unless you build a brew fridge you are gonna have to just make the best of what you've got. If you pitch the yeast at 24C+ and wrap the vessel in a sleeping bag, blanket etc it will retain the heat. And remember the brewing process creates heat so during the early part of fermentation the temperature in the vessel will be a good few degrees above the ambient temperature anyway.
 
Airlock, I do now, I didn't used to. No idea if it makes a difference as most brewing buckets seem to release enough gas anyway. An easy way to judge if it's finished is to depress the lid, give it a few hours and see if it bulges up again, when it stops bulging, it's done.

As for somewhere warm, the warmer it is the more 'saison' it will be, fruitier (esters), spicier (phenols), etc, the cooler it is the cleaner it'll taste, right down to lager at ~13C. At either extreme you'll still end up with beer. As above the fermentation gives off some heat, so as long as you start off at the right temp then a warm-ish room and a sleeping bag should do it.

Like most beers saisons were brewed over the winter/spring to be drunk in the summer, so authentically the spiciness came from wild yeasts and bacteria rather than warm fermentation, so I'd not lose too much sleep over temperature as long as it's fairly warm.
 
OK it is on!

I got a reading of around 1.050 once my malt and sugar were mixed in and thoroughly oxygenated.

I pitched the yeast at around 26C

Now it is sat on a bit of OSB board in the spare room with a sleeping bag double wrapped round it. My ambient thermometer is reading 22C in there but the heating is on and its a sunny day.

No airlock, no hole, just clicked the lid on most of the way round and left one bit unclicked.

Anything sounding amiss there?

Thanks guys
 
warnerbot said:
OK it is on!

I got a reading of around 1.050 once my malt and sugar were mixed in and thoroughly oxygenated.

I pitched the yeast at around 26C

Now it is sat on a bit of OSB board in the spare room with a sleeping bag double wrapped round it. My ambient thermometer is reading 22C in there but the heating is on and its a sunny day.

No airlock, no hole, just clicked the lid on most of the way round and left one bit unclicked.

Anything sounding amiss there?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Sounds spot on, good luck with it - now the patient wait begins !
 
I've just done my 2nd ever kit, finished about 30 minutes ago, the Youngs IPA, so for what it's worth here are my thoughts about your question.

My 1st kit for Xmas was the Coopers English Bitter Starter kit and that fermenter doesn't even have an airlock, just a lid that fits quite tightly but is loose enough to let the CO2 escape and it worked perfectly on my English Bitter.

As for the temperature, the Youngs Saison does say it needs about 25 at the start but can drop to a range of 20-34, phew, sounds hot, but if you keep it wrapped in a warmish room i'm sure it'll be fine.

Good luck, it's certainly addictive.

Stroll.
 
Sounds good to me.

The question of air locks has come up a few times recently. And for the sake of 2 quid I don't see why you wouldn't use one.

As was suggested the brew itself will create a little heat so 22 odd degrees and a blanket should suffice.
 
My two penneth on airlocks for beer brewing (if using buckets with lids for fermenting), and its only my opinion:

Waste of time and effort, just something else to clean and sterilise - and there is already more than enough to clean and sterilise. The fermenting Co2 will find a way out of the seal between the lid and the bucket.

If using demijohns then clearly you need a airlock.
 
I know of people that have just brewed with cling film on a demi.

So I suppose.....who knows :-)
 
warnerbot said:
No airlock, no hole, just clicked the lid on most of the way round and left one bit unclicked.
Anything sounding amiss there?
Click to expand...
That's OK.
Airlocks are only useful if the seal between the lid and the FV doesn't leak, but many do, so then they are the brewing equivalent of a chocolate teapot. I use an airlock but since the lids on my FVs leak I put cling film over the FV rim when the primary has died down and the airlock rate before and after I do this is dramatic. They look sealed but they are not. Its really down to personal choice at the end of the day. If you leave your brew in the FV long enough and then use your hydrometer to see if the fermentation has finished you don't really need one.
 
Ok everyone thanks for the advices. It seems like airlocks are non essential which is music to my ears because I've already started.

In answer to the question about why not just use one when they're 2 quid I would have to say that I just wanted to get cracking instead of waiting another few days! Also I don't believe in the purchase or use of anything non-essential, especially when it's made entirely of plastic!

Will definitely be back and forth for more questions as I go along. Can't wait to get a couple of kits under my belt so I can crack on my first AG brew! Gonna be growing my own grain too...

Thanks again everyone x
 
No problem. The choice is yours. Homebrewing has no real rules. I have air locks because I inherited most of them and it's just the way me ol grandfather taught me.

Ask away, we're here to spread the knowledge ;-)
 
personally I dont use an airlock as I mainly brew in the 5 gallon bucket.

I do keep the lid on and resist the temptation to peak at it for around 10-14 days. The CO2 will keep the air out, plus I fill a demijohn with water and place that on the lid making sure its firmly in place.

I have managed to borrow a 5 gallon carboy from a friend, so if I brew in that next time I will be using the airlock.
 
I have recently abandoned the airlock for many of the reasons already described. :thumb:
 
You don't need an airlock but I think it's always good to use one of you possibly can. My airlocks are one of the most used pieces of equipment I own. The allow any gas out and prevent any nasties getting in so I would say use 'em if you got 'em!
 
The really important point that no one mentioned, use an airlock if your bucket comes with a hole in the lid!

Pretty sure my local shop drills holes in them just to make you buy taps and airlocks.

Worst bit about airlocks is the water is inevitably sucked into the beer when you pull the lid off. I usually use starsan in the airlock, but still worry incase it loses it's effectiveness over 2 weeks. Maybe I should switch to vodca.
 
Spoon said:
The really important point that no one mentioned, use an airlock if your bucket comes with a hole in the lid!

Pretty sure my local shop drills holes in them just to make you buy taps and airlocks.

Worst bit about airlocks is the water is inevitably sucked into the beer when you pull the lid off. I usually use starsan in the airlock, but still worry incase it loses it's effectiveness over 2 weeks. Maybe I should switch to vodca.
Click to expand...

Easy answer is to pop the airlock out before opening the lid.
 
I mentioned this previously in a different thread.

If you crack the lid slightly the air lock won't pull the water in.

Main one I tell people is remember when you move an FV for any reason, crack the lid open a bit.

If you don't, the weight of the liquid pushes (or gravity pulls) it against the bottom of the plastic and draws a negative pressure. Where you stand in horror holding 23kg of beer watching the airlock drain into your beer :-( NOOOOO
 
My Dad made beer for many years using a large open topped bucket, he used a clean tea towel over the top held in place with a loop of elastic. He never had a contamination problem with any of the beer he made.
 

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