Aging cider...closed bung or bung/airlock?

[globell]

I've started aging some cider in carboy. Fermentation done. It's about 6-7 week old at this point.
Do you ever swap out the airlock for a solid bung stopper?

 

[stella_tigre]

I don't, just keep the airlock filled. Problem is, if things weren't quite done, or if you get MLF or something, it could pop the bung off and that would be a Bad Thing....even a temp or baro pressure change....

 

[bernardsmith]

You know that there is no CO2 left dissolved in the liquid? All kinds of things can cause the CO2 to collect and have enough energy to drop out of suspension and rifle through the neck of your carboy. I would age the cider under an airlock and not capped with a solid bung

 

[globell]

All great reasons. Thank you!! Makes so much sense

 

[Paps]

Be lazy....leave the airlock in place.

 

[Maylar]

Different strokes, I guess. I replace the airlocks with solid bungs or screw caps after a couple months.

 

[jddevinn]

See attached study on oxygen permeability of different airlock types.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...r Rates for Carboy Closures and Air Locks.pdf

 

[ten80]

I put some saran-wrap over the airlock, held down with a rubber band to limit evaporation of the sanitizer from the airlock. I can go 3-4 months without topping off the sanitizer this way and it keeps tiny fruit flies out of the airlocks.

 

[jddevinn]

FYI saran-wrap is made of polyethylene and has a high permeability (2000 cm3 μm m−2 d−1 kPa&#8722 and isn't a good O2 barrier.

 

[ten80]

FYI saran-wrap is made of polyethylene and has a high permeability (2000 cm3 μm m−2 d−1 kPa&#8722 and isn't a good O2 barrier.

Sure, I get that, but does work nicely to reduce evaporation from airlocks and to keep out fruit flies.

I just bottled some ciders aged in primary (glass carboys) on the yeast cake (D47) using airlocks for a year and they tasted complex and almost what I might call a light barrel-aged flavor.

I wonder if the combination of some micro-oxygenation from airlock use and sitting on the yeast cake added some complexity to the flavor profile of the ciders. Perhaps minute amounts of oxygen are beneficial for this purpose.

My uncle makes hard cider in Normandy, France and ages it in oak barrels stored in a cool cellar. The flavors are similar to, but more intense than the ciders I just bottled. It is well-known that barrels allow for low levels of oxygenation.

 

[siletzspey]

Search for "vented silicon stopper". The flap lets them burp if pressure builds. I use them for bulk aging, and will be bottling up two 3ga carboys tomorrow that aged for a year, and they look great.

--SiletzSpey