Hi! I just started my first batch of white wine home done recipe. I started it 3 days ago, and it started to bubble this aft in my air lock. I noticed that the when i filled up my air lock with water i didn't have it to the line, so i freaked out thinking i wrecked it already and added water to the lock to the line and now it wont bubble. Am i suffering from a case of the freaking out noob, or did i really mess when i shouldn't have messed?
noob freak out
- Thread starter miranda28
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itchygomey
Well-Known Member
You're freaking yourself out. Relax.
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
Come back in off the ledge. The yeast only want to make beer. Everything you do is to help the yeast do what they love. The germans had to change the beer purity law when they discovered what yeast was. The vikings brewed in open top vessels, and knew that when they stirred the batch with the "magic" mash paddle it came out better ( guess where the yeast cultures were hiding!!!) The Scotts boiled their wort in wooden troughs with heated granite stones because they hadn't discovered metal vessels yet. Even our rudimentary home brew kits with plastic buckets, airlocks and stainless boil kettles are much better suited to the craft then these historical methods, and we are still brewing and emulating the recipies that were handed down to us from them!!!
charliehorse
Well-Known Member
Seriously, once it goes into the fermenter, it's nearly impossible to screw it up, provided that you actually pitch the yeast. Those little beasts have one mission in life: eat sugar to give us alcohol. When fruit rots on your counter, it's yeast trying to make you some booze. They are rather friendly critters, we just have to keep them happy, by providing a safe place where a different yeastie doesn't try to take their spot, which is why sanitation is so important.
BreezyBrew
IPA is my spirit animal
What everyone else has said. Also, you may want to consider sanitized water in the airlock in case there is suck back and some hits the wine.
I use cheap vodka. It keeps the critters out and if it get sucked in to the car boy it wont hurt anything, just give it a bit more abv.
No water in the airlock at all is probably not going to ruin your wine. The nasties cannot fly. They fall. So there is little possibility they can navigate through the airlock.
Sanitizer or vodka are better in your airlock than just water in case the pressure goes negative in the fermenter and air goes backward though the airlock or the liquid gets sucked in.
The bubbling stopped because, if you removed it to fill it, you released any built up pressure. Or if you just added water, the extra volume makes it a bit harder for the gas to pass though. You might have forced pressure out of the fermenter while making the addition and it will take a while to build up again.
You have done nothing that is a problem.
No step away and wait for the recommended time to take gravity readings and taking the next step in the process.
Sanitizer or vodka are better in your airlock than just water in case the pressure goes negative in the fermenter and air goes backward though the airlock or the liquid gets sucked in.
The bubbling stopped because, if you removed it to fill it, you released any built up pressure. Or if you just added water, the extra volume makes it a bit harder for the gas to pass though. You might have forced pressure out of the fermenter while making the addition and it will take a while to build up again.
You have done nothing that is a problem.
No step away and wait for the recommended time to take gravity readings and taking the next step in the process.
No water in the airlock at all is probably not going to ruin your wine. The nasties cannot fly. They fall. So there is little possibility they can navigate through the airlock.
Sanitizer or vodka are better in your airlock than just water in case the pressure goes negative in the fermenter and air goes backward though the airlock or the liquid gets sucked in.
The bubbling stopped because, if you removed it to fill it, you released any built up pressure. Or if you just added water, the extra volume makes it a bit harder for the gas to pass though. You might have forced pressure out of the fermenter while making the addition and it will take a while to build up again.
You have done nothing that is a problem.
No step away and wait for the recommended time to take gravity readings and taking the next step in the process.
Sanitizer or vodka are better in your airlock than just water in case the pressure goes negative in the fermenter and air goes backward though the airlock or the liquid gets sucked in.
The bubbling stopped because, if you removed it to fill it, you released any built up pressure. Or if you just added water, the extra volume makes it a bit harder for the gas to pass though. You might have forced pressure out of the fermenter while making the addition and it will take a while to build up again.
You have done nothing that is a problem.
No step away and wait for the recommended time to take gravity readings and taking the next step in the process.
I appreciate all the great information! Very informative william_shakes_beer gotta love the history! 
The batch has started bubbling again too. I don't really know anything about wine making, and this is the first time like ever trying to make it lol. Like with the hydrometer that my equipment kit came with (btw the kits came with NO instructions, what gives with that?) still researching on how to do the readings and when to, and what they should be. There seems to be a lot to wine making, and I know it will take time to get the jist of everything but i don't want to waste money and ruin batches for nothing! lol Let alone the conflicting information everywhere, some say leave it 5-7 days, some say 2 weeks, some say months, then rack it then let it sit for a list of different times. WHOA brain overload
The batch has started bubbling again too. I don't really know anything about wine making, and this is the first time like ever trying to make it lol. Like with the hydrometer that my equipment kit came with (btw the kits came with NO instructions, what gives with that?) still researching on how to do the readings and when to, and what they should be. There seems to be a lot to wine making, and I know it will take time to get the jist of everything but i don't want to waste money and ruin batches for nothing! lol Let alone the conflicting information everywhere, some say leave it 5-7 days, some say 2 weeks, some say months, then rack it then let it sit for a list of different times. WHOA brain overloadsurffisher2a
Well-Known Member
Here is the short of it, Watch the hydrometer readings, once you start to approach 1.000 its time to move it into a secondary. This usually takes 10 to 14 days with most wine. Once its in the secondary i leave it sit a month and then rack it off the sediment into another fermentor. Then I let it sit a couple weeks longer and rack it again. I keep doing this until its clear and has very little sediment on the bottom. Then I let it bulk age for however long it needs to go, usually a minimum of 6 months before bottling or kegging.
Don't get yourself caught up in exact time lines, its not really that important.
Don't get yourself caught up in exact time lines, its not really that important.
