What the hell do you use for an air lock?
Use some sanitized foil. You actually want it to 'breath' a bit and seep O2 back into the flask (assuming that your home air is of reasonable quality). Alternatively, some sanitized plastic wrap and a rubber band is the cheap solution, or a drilled bung and a plastic airlock works of course.RLinNH said:What the hell do you use for an air lock?
landhoney said:~#7 or 7.5 rubber stopper(with hole) with an air lock in it. Normal. Maybe I'm missing something.
RLinNH said:As far as the tin foil cover, I just don't trust it. I don't like how it has the opportunity for contamination so readily. Thanks for the input though.
Yeah no kidding. The CO2 that's coming out will keep anything from going in.Bernie Brewer said:I've been doing it that way forever. And you don't really have to sanitize it; it's sanitary right out of the box, but if it makes you feel better, go for it.
Check it out dude ...... http://morebeer.com/view_product/16636. If you wanted to you could put an air lock in a pigs **s. One liter flask is great for ales, to small for lagers ....... so....... http://morebeer.com/view_product/19891/102367. But, you don't want to use an air lock, you want to use foil or one of these... http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797?PHPSESSID=a0ec2ab74bed969d641b6ca351c1c9d5........ Hope my horse ain't to high fer ya.........RLinNH said:Yeah, your missing something alright.
Some of us have never seen one of these Flasks in person. So, I thought that an air lock would not fit. Now get off your High Horse and go have a Home Brew and let us know when you're ready to hang with the normal Folk again.
As far as the tin foil cover, I just don't trust it. I don't like how it has the opportunity for contamination so readily. Thanks for the input though.
RLinNH said:Yeah, your missing something alright.
Some of us have never seen one of these Flasks in person. So, I thought that an air lock would not fit. Now get off your High Horse and go have a Home Brew and let us know when you're ready to hang with the normal Folk again.
As far as the tin foil cover, I just don't trust it. I don't like how it has the opportunity for contamination so readily. Thanks for the input though.
landhoney said:The reason I phrazed my response that way was not to be mocking, I genuinly wasn't sure I understood the question and if I was answering what you were looking for. I don't like to make assumptions, but I did assume you had seen one. I thought you had one, or were ordering one and thus would have seen a picture online, or would be asking if( or what size) stopper would fit the flask. I can see my response could be viewed as arrogant/belittling. I really apologize for that, that's the last way I wish to treat members of the forum. Hope there's no hard feelings.
Lastly, I don't trust foil either. I think it gave me an idea for an experiment....
Blender said:If you read this articlce it may change your opinion regarding using foil or an airlock. You want your starter to uptake O2 for good yeast growth. YeastStarter
Actually, you WANT to let gas in -- otherwise you aren't continuously aerating (at least, not with O2 -- it is going to get pushed out the airlock when fermentation gets going). For example, if you use a stir plate, you would definitely not want to put an airlock on the flask -- it would partially defeat the purpose of the stirring in oxygen since O2 is never going to get replenished in the flask.landhoney said:Great article, very interesting. My thought has always been; if the foil lets CO2 out, during the first hours before the yeast start really working isn't it letting stuff in? But it seems like I'm in the vast minority using an airlock. I may keep using one, but I'll be sure to aerate throughout, and not just at the beggining.
+1, and here's a link: http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/staff/TimLynch/sci_class/chap01/pasteur.htmldelboy said:Don't worry about microbial contamination bugs only falls downwards (just use a bit extra foil and squeeze it in around the neck).
Check out pasteurs famous swan neck flask experiment which allows the free passage of air into the flask but prevents dust (microbes getting in) which pretty much killed the spontaneous generation theory in vogue at that time.
OldFarmer said:Check it out dude ...... http://morebeer.com/view_product/16636. If you wanted to you could put an air lock in a pigs **s. QUOTE]
Don't forget to sanitize it first, you wouldn't want the pigs **s to get any off flavors from contamination
RLinNH said:Some of us have never seen one of these Flasks in person. So, I thought that an air lock would not fit. Now get off your High Horse and go have a Home Brew and let us know when you're ready to hang with the normal Folk again.
Blender said:If you read this articlce it may change your opinion regarding using foil or an airlock. You want your starter to uptake O2 for good yeast growth. YeastStarter
FlyGuy said:More of a concern should be that you flame or Star San the mouth of the flask before pouring out the yeast solution. That is where things like wild yeast might accumulate.
I have switched from a 1000 ml flask to a one gallon glass jug. I am using 3 quart starters and I can definately tell that I am getting more yeast growth. I tried boiling in the flask but never really liked it as it would foam out if I did not watch it like a hawk. Save a few bucks and try the jug.ρ®ïMσ said:"Table 5 estimates the approximate volumes of starters necessary to pitch 5 gallons of wort at 10 million cells per ml. The traditional airlock starter is very inefficient at generating yeast and it would take almost 2.5 gallons (5-10 liters) of starter to generate enough yeast for a 5 gallon batch! Mechanically shaking your starter intermittently so as to resuspend the yeast is moderately effective and is the easiest and most cost-effective thing you can do to improve the efficiency of your starter. In this case you would need about a 0.75 gallon (3 Liter) starter to generate enough yeast. As mentioned above the stir plate is by far the most efficient."
i copied this from that page. my question is if i am manually stirring the starter and they are recommending that i use 3L of starter (shopping for either 5000mL or 2000mL flask) and more yeast would be needed for high gravs what size flask would you recommend?
Blender said:I have switched from a 1000 ml flask to a one gallon glass jug. I am using 3 quart starters and I can definately tell that I am getting more yeast growth. I tried boiling in the flask but never really liked it as it would foam out if I did not watch it like a hawk. Save a few bucks and try the jug.
Yuri_Rage said:Just use foil. No need for a huge debate.
Oh, and RDWHAHB!
You want to santize the mouth of the flask after removing the foil to ensure it is sanitized before you pour your starter through it. Just an extra precaution to ensure that you don't contaminate it.ρ®ïMσ said:starsan flask before removing foil or do it directly to mouth after removing foil?
Blender said:I boil the DME in a pot and then transfer to the sanitized jug when it is cooled.It's easier for me to make up a couple of gallons of Iodaphor to keep things clean. Give yourself 2 days for the starter to ferment out, decant the spent liquid after chilling. The flasks are nice and I am not cheap but the jug seemed like a good alternative for me.
Blender said:Have you checked out this great reference? >> Mr.Malty
ρ®ïMσ said:..definitely relaxed..but if you read my threads (see above postings) would see that i am asking about the starter vessel itself, and i use tin foil so i will try to keep the debate to a minimum
Blender said:I boil the DME in a pot and then transfer to the sanitized jug when it is cooled.It's easier for me to make up a couple of gallons of Iodaphor to keep things clean. Give yourself 2 days for the starter to ferment out, decant the spent liquid after chilling. The flasks are nice and I am not cheap but the jug seemed like a good alternative for me.
Like the old and somewhat overused sayingρ®ïMσ said:thought dry yeast would be an instance where you would definitely want to do a starter.
Blender said:Like the old and somewhat overused saying
"You learn something every day"
Enter your email address to join: