Question about long term storage. (Airlock?)

I brewed my first sour about six weeks ago. A flanders red, fermented with Wyeast Roselare.

Last week I brewed a blonde that'll get some brett brux in the secondary along with fruit (pluots).

This past weekend the flanders went into secondary, and I washed the yeast.
(BTW. Hydrometer sample tasted pretty darn good. A little tart, with lot's of brett charecter.)

The next day I brewed a lambic using a turbid mash and pitched the washed yeast. (It's now bubbling happily away)

So the Flanders has well over a year to go.

The Lambic is looking at a good 18 months.

The blonde will probably sit on the brett and fruit for about 8 or 9 months.

Here's my question.

Right now I've got standard three piece air locks but it's a bit of a pain to replace sanitizer as it evaporates. In the back of my mind I'm afraid that I'll forget and end up with well aged vinegar.

Do you guys use air locks. Is there something out there that doesn't require as much maintenance?

Thanks.

There are silicone bungs that don't require liquid, they just kind of burp out the excess gas. I forget what they are called but the larger shops should have them.

The three piece airlocks are definitely a pain in the ass with sours. I have a few sours with them on there and they go dry enough to let air through about every 4-6 weeks if I don't check on it. Fortunately I have two year old lambic that has had a dry airlock a few times but is not vinegar-y at all, so it's not a huge crisis as long as the pellicle is not disturbed and I never disturb it. I'd recommend the silicone bungs if you want to pay a little more or just buy the S airlocks. I finally started switching my sours over to the S airlocks and they don't seem to dry out at all or at least very slowly.

Cool, thanks for the tip.

comet909 said:

Cool, thanks for the tip.

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dont think youll need 8-9mos for that brett beer, 2mos at most should be fine

as a sole fermentor it acts more like sacch

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Silicone-Waterless-Airlock.html

heres the ones RAM was talking about

ryane said:

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Silicone-Waterless-Airlock.html

heres the ones RAM was talking about

Click to expand...

Anyone know if there is a vendor that makes a similar dry silicone airlock for Better Bottles?

Better bottle makes their own closure system that is liquidless but I think it's quite pricey in comparison.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

Better bottle makes their own closure system that is liquidless but I think it's quite pricey in comparison.

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Yeah, I believe those BB dry-traps run around $35 total for the airlock component & the o-ring seal component.

I've started using solid bungs for my sours after fermentation slows down (~4-6 months). For Better Bottles I use universal bungs that haven't been drilled. I'll manually burp them once a month or so, haven't had an issue yet, but it is riskier than using a hard bung in a barrel where the wood lets some gas escape.

This thing: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/medium-universal-carboy-bung-for-better-bottle-solid.html

ryane said:

dont think youll need 8-9mos for that brett beer, 2mos at most should be fine

as a sole fermentor it acts more like sacch

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I should've been more clear. Primary was with a sach. Brett is being added in the secondary. Thanks.

Oldsock said:

I've started using solid bungs for my sours after fermentation slows down (~4-6 months). For Better Bottles I use universal bungs that haven't been drilled. I'll manually burp them once a month or so, haven't had an issue yet, but it is riskier than using a hard bung in a barrel where the wood lets some gas escape.

This thing: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/medium-universal-carboy-bung-for-better-bottle-solid.html

Click to expand...

I was thinking about that. I might also consider the S type and see how much longer they last.

Thanks guys.

For what it's worth I have found that the "s" airlocks (high gravity calls them "Triple Ripple") take MUCH longer to dry out than the 3 piece ones. Depending on the relative humidity I have had to top up 3 piece airlocks as often as once every week or 2, while I seldom have to top the "s" airlocks more often that once every 2 months or so.

Use the 'S' type airlocks. I think they take more sanitizer, and you have to just about evaporate all the liquid before you loose the protection. I've got about 30 sour fermenters (mix of 1 and 3 gallon fermenters), and every couple of months go around them with a bottle of cheap vodka and top them up. They have a little plastic cap that comes with them to stop flies or other large 'stuff' from getting in. I just lodge these on top and don't push them right down - it can be a pain getting them off if fully pressed on.

The 3-piece are a pain, since they need filling up more often, and it is difficult to see when they are low.

BenWillcox said:

For what it's worth I have found that the "s" airlocks (high gravity calls them "Triple Ripple") take MUCH longer to dry out than the 3 piece ones. Depending on the relative humidity I have had to top up 3 piece airlocks as often as once every week or 2, while I seldom have to top the "s" airlocks more often that once every 2 months or so.

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I think the real issue with 3-piece airlocks is that if the temperature drops they’ll allow the sanitizer to be sucked into the fermentor. For better or worse the S-type will bubble in reverse. So they don’t go dry, but they will still let some air into the fermentor (something to be aware of if you are storing your beer somewhere with wide temperature swings).