Fruit flies in airlock

This is my first batch of anything not using Mr Beer.

My Edwort's apfelwein has some fruit flies dead in the airlock. It's tequila, so not worried about infection, but do I have to worry about suck back? Bubbling has slowed down. Should I take it out and clean/refill with new tequila?

Should be alright. I get those all the time. I never really worry about them

As long as the temperature doesn't drop too much it shouldn't suck back in. I would replace it with a clean airlock.

You should look into making a fruit fly trap if you have them around a lot.

I take a country crock butter container and poke small holes in the top. Then I put some white wine and some fruit (banana peels, apple cores, whatever) in it and close it up. Set it next to my carboys and once a day take it outside and open it up. When the wine starts to smell like vinegar, I'll "refill" it. It works like a charm!

Another trap that works well is a container with a bit of wine in it with a drop of liquid dish detergent in it. The soap reduces the surface tension of the wine and the fruit flies will sink into the wine and drown.

I'll probably try one of those traps. But, it won't hurt anything to pull the airlock off, cover it with a paper towel or something for a few minutes, clean it and replace it?

eloro said:

I'll probably try one of those traps. But, it won't hurt anything to pull the airlock off, cover it with a paper towel or something for a few minutes, clean it and replace it?

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Despite a lot of paranoia about infection in the brewing community, it is actually fairly difficult to infect a batch of fermenting beer. It absolutely sucks when it happens, but beer isn't nearly as helpless as it seems. Pop your airlock off and clean it. No worries. Covering is a good idea as well

...or you could just wrap the airlock in some fine fabric, like a chiffon, to just keep the fruit flies out of it.

cimirie said:

Despite a lot of paranoia about infection in the brewing community, it is actually fairly difficult to infect a batch of fermenting beer. It absolutely sucks when it happens, but beer isn't nearly as helpless as it seems. Pop your airlock off and clean it. No worries. Covering is a good idea as well

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Wine is also fairly resilient, just cover the top and you should be fine. Also I recommend vodka (or simply sulfite solution) over tequila in the case of suck back, you probably don't want tequila flavor in your wine...

I put sulphates in the water of my airlock to prevent molds etc.

i would imagine strong alcohol will kill off any mold, wouldn't it?