No airlock lid?! Blow off Emergency setup

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Ok, so I had a brew day sad. I was brewing my beer and and the boil is almost finished so I looked for my air lock so I can get it all sanitized. I had all of the pieces except the lid. So I was frantic I have a done beer and no airlock. I took a siphon tube hit it with a lighter to soften it up and wrapped it around the airlock and put the other side in sanitized water as an emergency no air lock, blow off tube for the rescue. I hope this works I have never done this before. Any advice?

Here is a picture of the air lock I am referring too, if you take the lid and the piece in the middle out its just a tube.

 

[Spartan300man]

You do have the little cup that sits on the middle upright tube, right?

If so, it should not matter, it will be pushing gas out, not sucking air in, so it is a non-issue. I have heard of some cautious people using an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, or using a piece of tin foil and a rubber band over their airlock. It you look closely, many of those airlocks actually have a small hole in the lid to let that gas escape.

I've also heard of people using SanStar or vodka in their airlocks too, instead of water.

If you are missing that little cup, too, perhaps you could find something that would sub in. That piece is the more important piece than the lid. I'm thinking the top of a 16oz soda bottle, with the lid screwed on, cut it about 1" down from the top, see if that fits inside there. Or a thimble from a sewing kit. Or try the top cap from a sharpie or a highlighter pen.

 

[Sarge]

A piece of aluminum foil should work as well. Might not need to but you could poke a few tiny holes in it to help the CO2 escape.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

You do have the little cup that sits on the middle upright tube, right?

If so, it should not matter, it will be pushing gas out, not sucking air in, so it is a non-issue. I have heard of some cautious people using an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, or using a piece of tin foil and a rubber band over their airlock. It you look closely, many of those airlocks actually have a small hole in the lid to let that gas escape.

I've also heard of people using SanStar or vodka in their airlocks too, instead of water.

If you are missing that little cup, too, perhaps you could find something that would sub in. That piece is the more important piece than the lid. I'm thinking the top of a 16oz soda bottle, with the lid screwed on, cut it about 1" down from the top, see if that fits inside there. Or a thimble from a sewing kit. Or try the top cap from a sharpie or a highlighter pen.

Yeah my brother suggested a rubber band and paper towel. I was unsure if this worked so we tried the blow off tube method (for the first time) That cup in the middle, I do have but I had to remove that piece so I can connect the hose in the middle. I don't think any air could get in, and I hope the gas can escape... I have the other side of the tube in star san solutions.

 

[Spartan300man]

yes, you are good to go. I often use a blow-off tube for the first couple days, I atttach it just like you did, and then when things calm down a bit, I take it off and fill the airlock with water or star-san, and put on the little thimble cup thingy, and snap on the lid. You really don't need the lid, but you should do the simple foil or paper towel over the top with a rubber band to keep that thimble cup from popping off during a burp.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

yes, you are good to go. I often use a blow-off tube for the first couple days, I atttach it just like you did, and then when things calm down a bit, I take it off and fill the airlock with water or star-san, and put on the little thimble cup thingy, and snap on the lid. You really don't need the lid, but you should do the simple foil or paper towel over the top with a rubber band to keep that thimble cup from popping off during a burp.

Thank you!!! I would of hated to ruin a good beer.

 

[flars]

If you are planning to cold crash, remove the blow off tube to prevent the sanitizer from being sucked back into your beer. Reinstall the airlock with vodka for cold crashing.

 

[the_Roqk]

When I first started I had the same issue. After getting everything done and prepped for the airlock I couldn't find the top to the 3 piece bubbler. So, I decided to put a tube on the top end and put the other end in a quart - half gallon jug/jar with star-san. After a while I found this worked great because from time to time I would have some blow offs happen and it would just fill the jug/jar. After a few days when fermentation slowed I would put the 3 piece bubbler back on. Or, just leave the tube in place until I was ready to rack and bottle. Lately I just use the inside portion of the 3 piece bubbler with tubing to star-san jar because I get lazy sometime. It's always best to keep your beer covered with a blanket of CO2 to keep the nasty's out and oxygen away also. Either have a bubbler or a blow off tube when fermenting. In a clinch you could use a piece of aluminum foil on top with a rubber band to keep it on. Remember to add holes for CO2 to escape. JMHO! Cheers!

 

[ncsuwerewolf]

1/2 id silcone tubing fits perfectly over the center post but can be a bear to remove. I find getting liquid between the tubing and plastic helps break the seal. And i have tons of t laying around for brewing jobs.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

1/2 id silcone tubing fits perfectly over the center post but can be a bear to remove. I find getting liquid between the tubing and plastic helps break the seal. And i have tons of t laying around for brewing jobs.

Yeah when I went to put it on, I pretty much told myself this was not coming off that it would be my blow off setup from now on if it worked.

 

[Turkeyshot]

Ok, so I had a brew day sad. I was brewing my beer and and the boil is almost finished so I looked for my air lock so I can get it all sanitized. I had all of the pieces except the lid. So I was frantic I have a done beer and no airlock. I took a siphon tube hit it with a lighter to soften it up and wrapped it around the airlock and put the other side in sanitized water as an emergency no air lock, blow off tube for the rescue. I hope this works I have never done this before. Any advice?

Here is a picture of the air lock I am referring too, if you take the lid and the piece in the middle out its just a tube.

In all my years of brewing I have never even used the top lid with my airlock, just the two pieces. I always put vodka in it or sterilized water. Never had any troubles with it at all.

 

[Edbeenbreto]

Yeah your fine, I use a blow off tube for all my brews. And it's fine.

 

[RM-MN]

I have one fermenter bucket that I use with no airlock at all, just a hole drilled and a piece of plastic taped to the lid so it doesn't blow off. Many fine beers are brewed with no airlock, some with no top on the fermenter. I like this picture. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0238/0729/files/krausen.jpg?7366512431459893497

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone, I am getting excited now I know my beer is going to turn out. I did my first wheat beer and I can't wait to drink it for the holidays.

 

[aprichman]

If the blowoff tube is assembled properly there shouldn't be any problem using it for the duration of fermentation.

A good conical will use a blow off tube for the duration of fermentation, after that you can pop it off and hook up CO2 to push the beer. With a carboy I don't see any reason to take your blowoff tube off and replace it with an airlock unless you're using a 1" tube. I've used a 1" tube a few times and I'm not sure it was 100% sealed.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Update, the beer turned out fine its in the Keg now. Thanks everyone.