new brewer airlock question?

[bluckydan]

when start to bottle my beer do i empty the airlock first?
i ask this cause 2day i started to bottle my beer with the air lock full and after my first fill the airlock was empty and i assuming it went in to the beer..would that be bad?

cheers....dan

 

[BlightyBrewer]

I'm assuming you have a tap on the bottom of your fermenter. If so, when you open the tap it will cause a slight drop in pressure in the fermenter, which could cause the airlock to suck in air and hence you could lose the contents into your fermenter. You need to open up the fermenter when emptying it to allow atmospheric pressure and gravity to do their thing in dispensing your beer.

 

[AllHoppedUp]

It might be a good idea to rack your beer to a different bucket to start with anyway. You wouldn't want the trub to get sucked through and into your bottles. Yes, I know the tap is a couple inches off the bottom of the bucket. But my minds eye envisions beer sweeping past the trub on its way to the spigot and sucking some trub out with it. Just a thought . . .

AHU

 

[bluckydan]

cheers that helps

 

[Johnwongfat]

I always transfer to a bottling bucket and add my priming sugar at that time. Also I've heard if you use vodka in the airlock, it cuts back on the risk of contamination in the even that the contents of the airlock do get sucked back into the bucket. I use the cheapest vodka I can find, generally Albertsons has it for 8 bucks for the 1.75 L.

 

[Brewsmith]

I use a plastic primary with a spigot in the bottom. Just remember to remove the airlock before racking, or even carrying the fermenter. Lifting the bucket can cause a change in pressure and suck the fluid inside. I've done that before. As long as you use sanitizer or vodka in the airlock there's not a problem if some does get in the beer.

 

[casebrew]

What's the worry here? The usual next step is to expose the beer to open air while racking to the bottling bucket to add priming anyways. The alcohol prevents infections at this stage, don't it? And there's some Carbonic Acid (CO2) in there too...and the bubbler has had loads of Carbonic Acid through it too- just taste it. It tastes like Lite Beer- very watered down.

Dan, are you bottling on the second day? You'll have some explosions in the brewery if you are....

 

[jaytee]

hehe... it think he meant to-day (2day).. not after the second day