Airlock MIA

[Aquabubbles]

This is my first mead so I know I will probably freak out about every little thing until I get the hang of it but I made my first batch last night and tucked it away in my pantry with everything the way it should be. This morning I checked on it and the airlock came out of it's little hole. I had to tape it to get it to stay but is my batch completely ruined since it was without an airlock for the first 12 hrs? I came back later today and the airlock has started to bubble.

 

[Briz34]

not much you can do until wait it out and check the gravity reading.

 

[fatbloke]

Keep a pack of kiddies balloons handy.

Carboy type jug ? Just stretch one over neck and pierce a half dozen holes with needle.

Bucket ? Take grommet out, fit the balloon round it so the edged will be on the inside edge and replace it in the bucket lid. Pierce holes as above......

It can be a little surprising when you learn just how much CO2 can be produced......

 

[Kdog22]

Your mead is not ruined and should be just fine. Just keep an eye on the airlock. Maybe figure out why it didn't stay in? None of my airlocks just come out of the bungs so that would be strange to me.

 

[vinylrooster]

This is my first mead so I know I will probably freak out about every little thing until I get the hang of it but I made my first batch last night and tucked it away in my pantry with everything the way it should be. This morning I checked on it and the airlock came out of it's little hole. I had to tape it to get it to stay but is my batch completely ruined since it was without an airlock for the first 12 hrs? I came back later today and the airlock has started to bubble.

If your fermentation is very vigorous, you airlock may not be able to handle the pressure. If this continues to be a problem you can make a very simple blowoff valve. All you need is:

1. Vinyl tubing
2. Glass
3. Tin foil
4. Vodka

Sanitize all of the above and then put about two inches of vodka in the glass. Insert one end of the tubing into your grommet (or bung if you use a carboy) and the other end submerged in you glass of vodka. Cover the glass of vodka with your tin foil. You have just made a blow off valve. Good luck!

 

[vinylrooster]

Here is a fantastic picture showing the final product of what I just described above (but obviously they used a jar instead of a glass/tin foil.

NOTE: I got image from google search, this is not my own. I believe it was from instructables.com