Airlock on secondary

[sdillow]

I racked an ale into my secondary on Friday and decided to start my next batch last night, forgetting I have only one airlock. I went ahead and transferred the airlock to my new batch's primary and just put saran wrap over the ale's opening (held lightly in place with a pen). Is this OK? The first batch was pretty much finished fermenting anyhow and I'm planning on bottling in about 10 more days. Should I run out and get a second airlock immediately or am I just being paranoid? Thanks all, this forum has been a Godsend as I get back into this after a decade.

 

[RomanNumeral]

i would just go out and buy another air lock. you can never be too sure about what gets through that saran wrap. plus air locks are pretty cheap. so next time you can start a second batch without a glitch.

 

[superjunior]

or if you have some spare tubing lying around, put a blow off tube on your new primary

 

[boostsr20]

or if you have some spare tubing lying around, put a blow off tube on your new primary

BEst option would be to just buy another one if its not too inconvenient. Second best would be the blow off tube.

If fermentation wasn't 100% completely (which it likely wasn't) then capping it with saran wrap and a pen will potentially do 1 of 2 things. The built up co2 will blow the stopper out/lid off, or the built up co2 will absorb into the beer just like in bottling. If that happens, you'll likely end up with over carbed beer unless you reduce the sugar. But you won't know exactly how much to reduce by so you could end up with undercarbed beer....

In short, get another airlock for $2.

 

[92greenyj]

Airlocks are one of those brewing supplies I like to have plenty of on hand. I have 8 fermenting vessels and I keep 12 airlocks on hand (I seem top crack them a lot so I always like to have a few extras laying around just in case) They are cheap enough and its good insurance. Yeah i'd go grab another airlock just to be on the safe side

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I would just get the cheaper S-type airlocks. I use those for the secondary since no big chance of clogging one of those on a secondary.

 

[whoneedsabeer]

And I'll throw out there that you probably don't NEED to get an airlock for this particular instance if it's a hassle. Remember, co2 is heavier than o2, so it will provide a blanket on the top of your beer keeping it fresh. As long as you don't shake up the beer too violently, disturbing the co2 blanket, I'd guess you would be fine with the saran warp cover.

Now with that said, it's always better to have the right tool for the job when available, but in this case I don't see anything wrong with some saran wrap until you have time to get an airlock.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

I use 3 piece airlocks for secondaries and beyond only. All it takes is one time for a primary to blow out the airlock for you to realize that a blow off tube is a better way to manage active fermentation.

I discovered a nice trick that allows a blow off tube to work with any fermenter, eg. carboy, bucket, better bottle; I use the bottom half of the 3 piece airlock and put 1/2 tubing over the opening, the other end is then placed in sanitized water which I usually put in an old flower vase. For the carboy or better bottle I use a drilled rubber stopper just like I would with a standard airlock and with the buckets this setup fits right into the hole in the lid.

 

[92greenyj]

I use 3 piece airlocks for secondaries and beyond only. All it takes is one time for a primary to blow out the airlock for you to realize that a blow off tube is a better way to manage active fermentation.

I discovered a nice trick that allows a blow off tube to work with any fermenter, eg. carboy, bucket, better bottle; I use the bottom half of the 3 piece airlock and put 1/2 tubing over the opening, the other end is then placed in sanitized water which I usually put in an old flower vase. For the carboy or better bottle I use a drilled rubber stopper just like I would with a standard airlock and with the buckets this setup fits right into the hole in the lid.

thats what I do as well when I am expecting a violent fermentation. though i rarely use a blow off. only on high gravity stuff or when i've added fruit to the primary (like for my strawberry ale, that always needs a blow off) other than that i've never had any issues just using the standard 3 piece

 

[ToastedPenguin]

thats what I do as well when I am expecting a violent fermentation. though i rarely use a blow off. only on high gravity stuff or when i've added fruit to the primary (like for my strawberry ale, that always needs a blow off) other than that i've never had any issues just using the standard 3 piece

I did an A3 that more than made use of the blow off tube and it had a moderate OG, think 1.057. Not sure if using yeast starters is why all my primaries start strong and fast no matter the gravity but I am sold on the combo.