Lid And Airlock Or Clingwrap?

[thesunsettree]

hi all,

i've read a few times lately that some people use clingwrap with a pin hole instead of the lid and airlock. is there a reason/advantage to this? thanks in advance

matt

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Only people who attend Mardi Gras and wear pink dresses when they brew use airlocks... :icon_cheers:

Glad wrap works well, and you dont have to clean it

 

[bradsbrew]

Only people who attend Mardi Gras and wear pink dresses when they brew use airlocks... :icon_cheers:

Glad wrap works well, and you dont have to clean it

And you dont need to pin prick it, unless your rubber band seal is waterproof.

 

[thesunsettree]

Only people who attend Mardi Gras and wear pink dresses when they brew use airlocks... :icon_cheers:

guess that explains why i use airlock , at least the pink dress bit anyway.

matt

 

[Wolfy]

I went to Madi Gras ... once.

My new temp-controlled fermentation fridge, just fits 2 fermenters with no additional room for airlocks, which is why I'll be going the non-hole-gladwrap route from now on.

 

[DUANNE]

its six for one half dozen the other. i find doing ales i go the glad wrap but with a lager i use the lid and airlock. for me this is because an ale is fast and furious and you can see whats going on better, but with a lager everything happens slower and more subdued so some part of me just feels safer with an airlock and lid.probably bullshit but it works for me.

 

[chappo1970]

its six for one half dozen the other. i find doing ales i go the glad wrap but with a lager i use the lid and airlock. for me this is because an ale is fast and furious and you can see whats going on better, but with a lager everything happens slower and more subdued so some part of me just feels safer with an airlock and lid.probably bullshit but it works for me.

Ahhhh a Brewer after me own heart! Exactly my routine to a tee. Although I go the lid/airlock route mainly due to the time the actual lager brew is sitting around. So yeah agree feels safer.

Chap Chap

 

[kelbygreen]

yep I am a gladwrapper now few reasons. 1 is that you can see the brew. 2 I can fit 2 fermenters in the fridge. 3 when moving the fermenter with a airlock and you dont remove it all the water sucks in the fermenter (I always forget that) 4 when bottling you can just bottle without touching or moving the fermenter one bit so it doesnt rouse up sediment.

but as said when i do a lager I will use a lid for peace of mind

 

[RdeVjun]

I haven't used an airlock for yonks (for both lagers and ales), it is just so simple and effective with film, no hydro sample backwash risk either plus you get a neat inspection port. Sometimes the overall height of a fermenter and an airlock comes into the equation. I do know that switching to film helped me to fit four fermenters into a largish fridge instead of two. B)
I'd skip the pinprick too, any condensation (and who on the eastern side of the country hasn't got some of that ATM?) that happens to drip on to the film will have an easy route into your beer after things subside and the film starts to sag- a huge and unnecessary infection risk. Like farts or burps, the gas will find its own way out eventually.

 

[bum]

its six for one half dozen the other.

I agree with this but for one thing - part of my sanitation routine involves putting the lid back on and getting a good seal. Shits me to tears pulling the rubber ring in and out all the bloody time. My LHBS alleges he doesn't sell rings to fit my fermenter as he wants me to buy a whole new one instead.

 

[absinthe]

Cling wrap all the way, use the catering stuff if you can get it though.. much thicker and 45cms wide so easier to seal on top. also i use the rubber seal from the lid as the rubber band.

 

[RdeVjun]

I agree with this but for one thing - part of my sanitation routine involves putting the lid back on and getting a good seal. Shits me to tears pulling the rubber ring in and out all the bloody time. My LHBS alleges he doesn't sell rings to fit my fermenter as he wants me to buy a whole new one instead.

Hey bum, I have no idea where the lids to my fermenters are, let alone allow myself to be extorted by my LHBS over poxy 10c seals for them, so tell them to jamb that new fermenter somewhere dark and go hard with the film! B)
I do sometimes use the seals to hold film in place though, but I'm so glad I don't have to get them in and out of their lid any more, what a frustrating PITA that was.

 

[MarkBastard]

Cling wrap all the way, use the catering stuff if you can get it though.. much thicker and 45cms wide so easier to seal on top. also i use the rubber seal from the lid as the rubber band.

Yeah I've been thinking about doing this.

I too use cling wrap but I'm not really in love with it like others are. I don't think I'll use it again outside of a fermenting fridge. Did it in winter because my garage was a perfect 18 degrees 24/7 but I saw some fruit flies hanging around the fermenter and didn't really trust the glad wrap.

It also definitely sucks when you want to open it up mid-ferment for whatever reason.

I reckon glad wrap relies on the layer of co2 above the beer. Once fermentation has completed I find I run into problems if I want to keep it sitting around for more than a few days.

 

[Nick JD]

I use an airlock a lot because I'm a little bit mezmerized by the whole...

...BLOOP




...BLOOP




....BLOOP














......... Is it finished?



I'd better start a post of the AHB.

"New Post" - HELP, MY FERMENTER HAS STOPPED BUBBLING!

Reply: Oh, **** off!

...BLOOP



...BLOOP

 

[big78sam]

Warning - stupid question follows...

Do you spray any no rinse sanitiser on the glad wrap or just stick it straight on???

 

[bum]

Do you wash it before you put it on your food?

 

[daemon]

I reckon glad wrap relies on the layer of co2 above the beer. Once fermentation has completed I find I run into problems if I want to keep it sitting around for more than a few days.

What problems are these? I've left batches in the fermenter with the glad wrap on for three weeks without any issues.

I use glad wrap and the rubber seal from the lid to help hold it on. Works well and it's easy to clean so I'm happy. I don't spray it with sanitiser at all, but I do try to spray the inside of the fridge to try and eliminate any potential problems.

 

[big78sam]

Do you wash it before you put it on your food?

No but I also don't sanitise my glass before drinking a glass of water, or my plate before eating a meal...

However, I do sanitise the inside of the lid of my fermenter...

 

[Thommo]

I stick the lid on and rest a bottle cap over the hole where the airlock goes.

 

[bum]

No but I also don't sanitise my glass before drinking a glass of water, or my plate before eating a meal...

However, I do sanitise the inside of the lid of my fermenter...

Do your glasses, water, plates, meals or fermenter lids come in hermetically sealed rolls of more gladwrap?