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Are You an Airlock Sniffer?

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Are You an Airlock Sniffer?

  • Hells YEAH!

  • No way! That's gross!


Results are only viewable after voting.
Of course. I thought everyone did this.

I don't consider it a good or bad smell. It doesn't smell like anything I'd want to drink, but then again, the smell of beer fermenting through an airlock filled with vodka or Starsan smells nothing remotely like a finished beer poured into a glass.

There have been a few times where the fermentation was ridiculously active and the entire room stunk of C02, yeast, and so on. It was one of the only times my wife (at the time my fiancee) ever complained about anything related to my "hobby." But opening all the windows got rid of the smell within an hour or two.

But, yep, I smell the airlock at least once a day.
 
I take a whiff of my fermenting freezer until I start to feel the uncomfortable burn in my nasal cavities. Then I take a deep breath of fresh air and stick my head back in... especially if it's a lager yeast farting out a bunch of sulfur compounds.
 
My support group, the ASA (airlock sniffers anonymous) said that it's okay to admit it. So yes, yes I do sniff airlock.
 
I'm actually a little worried about anyone who would answer "no" to this...

And, for the record, the airlock on my cranberry-orange gose smells amazing. As does the one on my Brett starter. ;)
 
I've noticed now since i sniff my airlock that walking threw my yard when i have some fruit on the ground that i now notice when some wild yeast is ferminting something. honestly i like the smell a lot.
 
Definitely I do. Not really by choice anymore though. I have 2 of the Cool Brewing coolers. When I open ithem up to swap out ice, it's a blast of that wonderful smell.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
You guys are amateurs! I carry a few of those old-time curved poly 'water' bottles, each with a separate brew going, and I run the effluent vapors right up to my nose. It looks like I have a pan-flute in my shirt, and folks give me a wide berth.
 
One of the advantages of a blow-off tube instead of an airlock: it fits nicely in one nostril.
 
Best beware y'all. That is how it starts, always. A little sniff here and another there in the fermentation room. Yup. Next thing you are over at Buddie's sniffing around. Yeah, let's start a club. A club of sniffers is all it is. Yeah, seen it.

A bit too much? Hardly. Next thing is ways to meet your ilk and kindred. How about hitting a few competitions and maybe infiltrate specialized markets? Yup, you know how to solicit sniffs as well as sneak a few. Darkened tents at carnivals, back parking lot rendezvous and nefarious tailgate meetings where unlabeled sniffables are procured and sampled while the innocent world delights in the aroma of violets and spring.

Reap what Ye sniff!
 
I don't have the best sense of smell, not horrible but not precise, and I've never been able to smell anything from my fermenters. Are we talking about the 3-piece airlocks? In plastic buckets? Does the CO2 carry the aroma of fermentation, because otherwise I'd be worried about the lack of an airtight seal.
 
I open ferment almost everything, so I don't get to sniff airlocks until 4-5 days in, but I still go to the fermentation room to get whiffs from time to time: the smell is a lot more powerful when you have open buckets around.
 
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