Is airlock necessary when lagering?

[KLITE]

Hi all

My first lager been at 12 to 13 c for just over 3 weeks and its diacytil resting before i rack to secondary and lager for a month, its smelling like rhino farts through the airlock defo needs a good lagering. Airlok activity stopped a good time ago, is it necessary when going into the fridge to have an airlock?

thanks

 

[Gavin C]

Sounds to me like you have plenty of undesirable fermentation byproducts. If you want the gaseous members of this family to be eliminated with ease an airlock would seem like an obvious bonus.

My lager fermentation profile is very different so I have no direct experience with what you are describing. Apologies in advance. I'm really not sure why you wold want to avoid the simple hassle of an airlock if you have decided to pursue a long ferment and long lagering in bulk phase.

It seems to me like such minutia when there are other massive time/hassle saving lager-making options available.

Hope it works out well for you either way

 

[Natdavis777]

I keep my airlock on until I cold crash (which I then cover with saran wrap and place a bung on the top to not allow the starsan solution to be sucked in). Though it is i inevitable that some 02 will get sucked in when I rack to the keg, any gases produced during and phase of fermentation, I would like to be purged.

 

[Gavin C]

I keep my airlock on until I cold crash (which I then cover with saran wrap and place a bung on the top to not allow the starsan solution to be sucked in). Though it is i inevitable that some 02 will get sucked in when I rack to the keg, any gases produced during and phase of fermentation, I would like to be purged.

An easier way to cap during cold-crash



No saran wrap, no starsan to freeze.

or

 

[Natdavis777]

An easier way to cap during cold-crash


My cap has since been "lost". What I do is sanitize the saran wrap, and use the bung to keep it in place. The starsan airlock at this point is out of the picture.

 

[Gavin C]

An easier way to cap during cold-crash


My cap has since been "lost". What I do is sanitize the saran wrap, and use the bung to keep it in place. The starsan airlock at this point is out of the picture.

gotcha, I think.

 

[Natdavis777]

gotcha, I think.

Like so View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1453620306.889947.jpg

 

[Gavin C]

Like so View attachment 332575

Cool pic.

Do you find the bung incredibly difficult to remove?

 

[Natdavis777]

Cool pic.

Do you find the bung incredibly difficult to remove?

Nope

 

[Gavin C]

Nope

That means that air was sucked in despite your efforts. Entirely expected. Nature abhors a vacuum etc.

 

[Natdavis777]

When you say incredibly difficult, I say no. Is it easy to remove... well no. It takes some effort, but it isnt a task. I understand some air will be sucked in once the seal is broken, but it goes directly into a purged keg.

 

[KLITE]

Thanks for input guys, ye airlock will be put!

Considering the rotten egg smell coming from airlock should a 1 month lagering suffice? Or would it be pushing?

 

[KLITE]

After diacytil rest pretty much 95% of the rotten egg smell went away!

I pulled a turkey move and my second vessel where ill lager was 1.5l too small and not to waste that precious beer i just ran and got some sanitized bottles and just siphoned the rest into them and now they are lagering with the rest of the beer, only in a bottle.
How wrong is this?

 

[Gavin C]

After diacytil rest pretty much 95% of the rotten egg smell went away!

I pulled a turkey move and my second vessel where ill lager was 1.5l too small and not to waste that precious beer i just ran and got some sanitized bottles and just siphoned the rest into them and now they are lagering with the rest of the beer, only in a bottle.
How wrong is this?

Not wrong at all. You could, had you so desired, bottled the lot, left them for 3 weeks at room temperature before lagering them all at temperatures as close to beer-freezing as possible.

The benefit is that the yeast are more viable prior to lagering and new yeast will not be needed at bottling (sometimes but not always needed at bottling after a prolonged bulk lagering phase).

The disadvantage is that you will likely see more bottle sediment which could perhaps have a flavor impact.

Seems like you have a nice little experiment on your hands with which to help you decide how best to proceed with future brews. Bonus.

 

[Jim311]

I use an "S" style airlock. No suckback when I cold crash.