Air lock not air tight. Problems?

So, I just started a Dunkelweizen, and I noticed that my air lock had not been filled properly. The water level did not seal the flow to make it bubble. It has been like this for 48 hours. Should I worry?

No you should not worry. Beer has been made without airtight containers since the first beer and there is no reason to need anything airtight.

Having your airlock properly filled WILL lower your chance of contamination. So, by not filling it, you probably increased the odds of infected beer from nil to very, very, very slim (assuming you had a good sanitation routine otherwise). Don't sweat it.

First, fermentation can take up to 72 hours for the yeasties to start, it's called lag time. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

But by visible signs they DON'T mean airlock activity.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

It doesn't really matter whether or not you get airlock action. Your beer will ferment whether or not the airclock bubbles or co2 gets out elsewhere. Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.

And if co2 is getting out, then nothing is getting in.

I have 9 different fermenters, buckets, carboys, water bottles, and only get an airlock blip on about 50% of the beers, but I get 100% fermentation.

These days, many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

An airlock is just a vent to release excess co2, so as long as you have some way to let the co2 get out without letting oxygen in, any method works.

The common and easiest way is with an airlock, but many folks put too much emphasis on whether or not their airlock bubbles, they think that if it's not bubbling something may be wrong, when in truth it's just a matter of need. If there is so much co2 building up that it needs to vent, it will. If it gets out some other way, beer will still ferment just fine.

So really, you don't need to worry about your lids. Just Brew and relax, they didn't even have bubbling airlocks, or lids back when Ninkasi walked the earth.

Ummm... Revvy, I think you missed the gist of this one before you copy-pasted.

ChshreCat said:

Ummm... Revvy, I think you missed the gist of this one before you copy-pasted.

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It's not bubbling and it's been 48 hours.....I think that's the gist of it...

My 2 cents as someone who has no clue what they are doing...on my first batch (which I just bottled and started my 2nd this weekend) my airlock bubbled some the morning after pitching and I had to go out of town (me + wife - kids = date hehe). When I got back the airlock was not bubbling at all...but I let it be. The middle portion of the airlock was raised up above the water level at an angle. So there was positive pressure in the vessel and I let her ride. After about 7 days that piece settled back down...then floated back up at an angle again for a day or so. I checked the gravity Friday and it was 1.011 from my eye, and I checked it this Sunday (15 days after brew day) and it looked, smelled and tasted like beer, and my gravity was still 1.011 so I bottled it. Probably too soon but that's life. I'll be more patient with the batch I put in the freshly cleaned fermenter the same day

I guess what I'm trying to say is that from my very limited experience, even if you fill the airlock properly the "lock" portion can get cocked at an angle and be held there by positive pressure so that unless you have a vigorous fermentation it won't bubble. Plus you could have a leaky lid, grommet etc. I wouldn't worry unless it smelled like a skunks butt after 2 weeks.

Revvy said:

It's not bubbling and it's been 48 hours.....I think that's the gist of it...

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The gist was that he didn't fill it up enough and was worried about his beer being left exposed. heheh

Don't worry about it. If you think about it, the airlock is largely unnecessary. It's an additional step to protect your beer, but it's very unlikely anything bad will happen in the first place.

You're making the fermenter air tight for two reasons - to prevent oxidation, and to keep out wild yeast and bacteria.

The fermentation is causing CO2 to be released, CO2 is heavier than air and is going to push the air out of the fermenter, giving you a blanket of CO2 over your beer, that will protect it from oxidation. So that's covers the first part.

Also consider that even if not 100% air tight, there will be a (slight) positive air pressure in the bucket. That will prevent air from flowing into the fermenter. So that prevents against wild yeast and bacteria that are floating in the air. So your last problem is protecting against stuff falling into the beer, and a lid or even a piece of foil will do that.

Then you also have the fact that you're upping the alcohol in the beer, which makes it even harder for the wild stuff to take hold. If you get an infection it's most likely due to sanitary issues before you poured the beer into the fermenter.

bonzombiekitty said:

You're making the fermenter air tight for two reasons - to prevent oxidation, and to keep out wild yeast and bacteria.

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But that's the point here, you are NOT ever making the fermenter "air tight", an airlock doesn't do that either. If your fermenter were truly airtight, then more than likely you would have and exploded fermenter, or the lid blowing off the top...or a blowoff....which often happens when an airlock gets plugged with hop particles.

The co2 cushion prevents oxygen from touching the beer, and the airlock releases any EXCESS CO2 from building up. It's a release valve, nothing more.

And like I said earlier as long as your fermenter is not "air tight" and co2 is getting out somewhere, whether it's under the lid seal, the grommet, under the plexiglass that a lot of folks put on top of the bucket, no oxygen can get in. Including wild yeast and bacteria.

MarcJWaters said:

The water level did not seal the flow to make it bubble. It has been like this for 48 hours. Should I worry?

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Chesire, look up post hoc ergo propter hoc ...he is concerned that it's been 48 hours and he hasn't seen an airlock bubble....the reason he BELIEVES it's not bubbling is because he feels that it is because he didn't fill the airlock with enough water......Logical fallacy.

More than likely even if he filled it to the correct level, then he would be saying, "It's been 48 hours and the airlock isn't bubbling," without the added bit. In trying to understand the situation, he would then perhaps say "My yeast is dead." Like most folks assume. (I've been doing this long enough to read between the lines.)

The airlock may or may not be bubbling because there's not enough water, OR simply because, his yeast is laggy or he has a leaky fermenter.

And no matter what the cause of the not bubbling airlock, it doesn't really matter. His beer will ferment with or without a bubbling airlock.