Fermentation lock fill level?

Silly question but I can never seem to get the water right in the thing. Does it matter if there is too much or too little? Is there a rule of thumb? Mine is a simple, standard three-peice device - the most common one I think. Lock, thimble-like piece that moves and lid with small holes for venting.

What a wonderful first post

I just pour some tap water in. Fill and cap it at the tap.Too much will flow into the sink. Long as it is above the holes in the thimble, you are good. Last batch semed to evaporate, so I added more. Probably one of the least critical things in brewing.

You risk getting air-lock water in your beer if you do that. Fill em half way. Most have a line.

Thanks. I'm not concerned about it having any affect, just wondering how high to fill it :-D

Oh, thank you! Perhaps there can be an effect. Ahh the subtleties of brewing ;-)

Don't use regular water, you risk contamination. Buy a small spray bottle--your homebrew supply store should carry them.
http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15983

When brewing, fill the spray bottle with Star San solution or whatever you normally use when sanitizing the rest of the stuff. Great for spraying on fingers and any equipment for quick sanitation. Then use the spray bottle to fill your airlock, it allows you to add precise amounts. Keep the spray bottle right by your fermentor in case you have to touch anything, like if your airlock blows off.

THIS WORKS GREAT!

The sanitation solution isn't effective forever, but certainly is good long enough for 2 or 3 weeks during fermentation and bottling.

What ever you do, start using sanitized water for your airlock.

I would rather use clean water in a sanitized air lock than put sanitizer in my lock, at the risk of introducing sanitizer into my beer. Vodka is a good middle ground on that one, I think.

A tiny amount of sanitized water won't have any effect on the beer, except to keep the kooties out. It's a simple thing to keep it clean and cheaper than vodka.

I'm sure glad I found these forums, what an excellent resource. My previous homebrew forum experience has been post, get answer six months later. This is nice :-D Can't wait to reciprocate advice as I get more experienced. I'm on my seventh batch currently two of which were MrBeer prior to discovering the real deal. Well, almost - I'm still extract but plan on transitioning to all-grain when my skills are a little better overall with the process.

Sasquatch said:

I would rather use clean water in a sanitized air lock than put sanitizer in my lock, at the risk of introducing sanitizer into my beer. Vodka is a good middle ground on that one, I think.

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We use Popov Vodka. Works great as a degreaser as well.

Prost! said:

The sanitation solution isn't effective forever, but certainly is good long enough for 2 or 3 weeks during fermentation and bottling.

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Well, if your sanitizer solution is iodophor, then you're off by 2 or three weeks here...star san will of course last longer, but I think 2 or 3 weeks is still pushing it. In any case, sanitizer in your airlock is overkill, IMHO. Just use sterile water, or vodka.

As far as filling your airlock monkey...just drop the cylinder in and pour in enough water to float it...that will be plenty.

Just use a blow off tube and you won't have to worry about an air lock.
See below, I use a piece of tubing that fits the mouth of my carboy and then 1/2" pvc inserted in it with sections cut to fit and elbows. works great just dont glue it together so you can clean it..

I read somewhere that you can use glycerin in the airlock instead of water. It isnt suppose to evaporate from what I understood. I think they sell it at some homebrew stores as a fining agent.

I use cheap vodka in all mine. Never seem to have any trouble. Some 80 proof bar brand stuff is cheap to buy and if all you're using it for is air locks, one bottle will last a long time. I also sanitize with it.

flhrpi said:

Just use a blow off tube and you won't have to worry about an air lock.
See below, I use a piece of tubing that fits the mouth of my carboy and then 1/2" pvc inserted in it with sections cut to fit and elbows. works great just dont glue it together so you can clean it..

Click to expand...

What exactly do you have in the mouth of the carboy? What kind of tubing? It doesn't look like the rest of the PVC.

I agree with the vodka. A cheap and effective deal. Small bottle of the cheap stuff goes for about $3.50 around here and bottle seems to last a while. And, if you spill it, you can lick it off your fingers, the counter, etc.!!!
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Timmy

"What exactly do you have in the mouth of the carboy? What kind of tubing? It doesn't look like the rest of the PVC."

It is clear tubing that has the same od as the carboy and same id as the pvc. Been using this method for about a year now and it works great.
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