[Mead] Airlock Troubles

[kaempfer0080]

Hey everyone. I made my first batch of mead today! There were only a few hiccups and everything went better expected. I do have a concern or two though.

I'm using a 6.5 gal plastic fermentation bucket. I filled my airlock up so that both compartments were just under the MAX line with light vodka. After plugging it into the hole, all of the vodka moved into the second chamber(the one closest to the bucket). Now it's just kind of sitting there.

I made the mead about 4 hours ago and haven't heard or seen any bubbling happen yet, which I'm not SO worried about since it sounds like it takes about a day to really get going. Will the pressure from the gas coming out equalize the two chambers or is there something I should do?

 

[kegtoe]

is this an 'S' shaped air lock?

 

[Tall_Yotie]

You are correct, it can take 24-48hrs to see any yeast activity. If I saw bubbles after 4 hours I would be amazed. If you don't see anything after a day or two, then start to get worried. Also the speed of the yeast depends on the strain you used.

I would think that the gas from fermentation would put the liquid where it needs to be. If you are concerned at all just fill it again and make sure to sanitize it before replacing it. Not much hassle to fix something you might be worrying about.

 

[kaempfer0080]

Yep its an "s" airlock.

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

[kegtoe]

yeah, you can add a bit more vodka if you wanted shouldnt hurt. as long as you have an air seal in the air lock

 

[Ayla]

My husband & I just did our first beer brew last night. Other than the SG reading being way off (oops!) we didn't have any real problems.

Question being, this morning I checked on the airlock & all the water was in the far chamber (the one furthest away from the grommet). It even looks as though water came out of the top of the airlock as the fermenter lid was wet.

Is this anything to wonder about? It's bubbling away today but the airlock hasn't regulated itself.

 

[seabass07]

That's how they work. The pressure from co2 releasing pushes the liquid into the second chamber so the bubbles can escape. You probably just overfilled it a little. Not a big deal.

 

[Ayla]

Great, thanks for your reply. So it's just a matter of refilling the airlock if the first chamber gets low? Or is it just enough to make sure that a barrier remains somewhere in the airlock system?

Also, I notice other posters earlier mentioning vodka...we used water b/c that's what our instruction said. Is this alright or is vodka better b/c of sterilisation?

 

[seabass07]

You can use sterilized water, sanitizer, vodka, etc. The main thing is that it keeps air and bugs from getting in. I use sanitizer because if any gets sucked back in, I don't want to worry about an infection.

If the second chamber is full, then don't worry about the first. With no pressure, they should both be around half full. With pressure, the first will be empty (filled with co2) and the second will be mostly full.

 

[Blanchy]

As long as you have a sufficient amount of water in your airlock to create a barrier that the CO2 must move through, you should be all set. And as long as the water is not spilling out of the top, or you don't have foam pushing up into the airlock, you shouldn't have to refill it. (When these things do happen, the answer is to use a blow-off hose- take a siphon hose, put one end in your stopper where the airlock was, and submerge the other end in a container of water to let gas escape- essentially a giant airlock).

Water is absolutely fine for your airlock, I've never had any problems with it; some people just use vodka as a little extra insurance.

 

[mvdf84]

I just posted a thread about my mead actually. For the first 48 hours nothing happened, I had used the leftovers from my last batch and thought maybe it was all dead. I was going to buy new yeast the next day to try and save it and when I went to check on it I found this (see pic)... the yeast was definitely not dead, it fermented like crazy!