Valves as Airlocks

[DaveDiamond]

I bought these one way valves from AliExpress at $1.51 aud for a pack of 10 just to check them out. They're far better than they used to be when Aquariums relied on air pumps. The beer forum is probably not the best place to post this, but it's the only sub forum dealing with equipment. I think they might be suited to people like me aging 'brews' in multiple small containers and bottles. Pop one in the lid and gas can escape but oxygen cant get in. Not as good as an airlock, but much easier for storing bottles and small containers. I think by putting two together somehow I could make a miniature airlock complete with sanitiser, or at least a dual chamber where the first would fill with CO2 and other gasses to provide more security, I'll keep you updated.

This photo is sort of random, it's just what was sitting out after an interrupted racking session, but some of these I want to leave to de-gas and age for a bit so I can compare one yeast to another and different recipe tweaks to another, and some I just want to de-gas and drink this week. A proper airlock makes them too tall to put in a storage tub or in most cupboards, so I think a bunch of lids with a little one way valve would make storage much easier. I thought others may have the same problem at some stage in their explorations and experimentations.

Admin, please move this if there is a more suitable place for it.
Cheers!

 

[Miraculix]

I bought these one way valves from AliExpress at $1.51 aud for a pack of 10 just to check them out. They're far better than they used to be when Aquariums relied on air pumps. The beer forum is probably not the best place to post this, but it's the only sub forum dealing with equipment. I think they might be suited to people like me aging 'brews' in multiple small containers and bottles. Pop one in the lid and gas can escape but oxygen cant get in. Not as good as an airlock, but much easier for storing bottles and small containers. I think by putting two together somehow I could make a miniature airlock complete with sanitiser, or at least a dual chamber where the first would fill with CO2 and other gasses to provide more security, I'll keep you updated.
View attachment 883345
This photo is sort of random, it's just what was sitting out after an interrupted racking session, but some of these I want to leave to de-gas and age for a bit so I can compare one yeast to another and different recipe tweaks to another, and some I just want to de-gas and drink this week. A proper airlock makes them too tall to put in a storage tub or in most cupboards, so I think a bunch of lids with a little one way valve would make storage much easier. I thought others may have the same problem at some stage in their explorations and experimentations. View attachment 883346Admin, please move this if there is a more suitable place for it.
Cheers!

You don't need air locks at all when aging. Aging is done after fermentation finished. Just keep the headspace as small as possible and close the container fully.

 

[DaveDiamond]

You don't need air locks at all when aging. Aging is done after fermentation finished. Just keep the headspace as small as possible and close the container fully.

I guess perhaps Secondary would be a better term. I racked a lot of 3 litre batches today and pictured are just what I hadn't put away yet. They're dry, but you can still see bubbles forming, and I wish I had little one way valves in the lids to let the gas out while they sit for a bit, or even just so the headspace can be purged of oxygen. I have quite a few 3 litre bottles with airlocks, but that makes them 18/19 inches tall, I have very few cupboards I can put them in and they're too tall for the storage tubs I used when I fermented them just leaving the lid slightly loose or using cling film and rubber bands. Maybe this should be in the Drunken Ramblings & Mindless Mumbling sub-forum, I'm certainly a few more sheets to the wind now than when I started typing, but I think lids with one way valves or miniature airlocks would have to be advantageous in some situations so I thought I'd mention it, and I'll experiment with it.
Drunken Rambling - I do wonder though, wouldn't it be better if gases could escape in a type of Tertiary period before going on to a sealed Quaternary period? Wasn't cork chosen for it's porosity?
Anyway, thanks for the reply, I really do appreciate the help, I'm just one of those newbies that wants to reinvent the wheel.

Edit - This is my start, 15 cent one way valves, or two put together into a micro 30 cent mini airlocks would have been good! I assumed that the tub would be full of CO2 during Primary, it's when I racked them that I got worried. It'd be nice if now I could fit those such as pictured previously in the tub without risking vinegar.

 

[Miraculix]

I guess perhaps Secondary would be a better term. I racked a lot of 3 litre batches today and pictured are just what I hadn't put away yet. They're dry, but you can still see bubbles forming, and I wish I had little one way valves in the lids to let the gas out while they sit for a bit, or even just so the headspace can be purged of oxygen. I have quite a few 3 litre bottles with airlocks, but that makes them 18/19 inches tall, I have very few cupboards I can put them in and they're too tall for the storage tubs I used when I fermented them just leaving the lid slightly loose or using cling film and rubber bands. Maybe this should be in the Drunken Ramblings & Mindless Mumbling sub-forum, I'm certainly a few more sheets to the wind now than when I started typing, but I think lids with one way valves or miniature airlocks would have to be advantageous in some situations so I thought I'd mention it, and I'll experiment with it.
Drunken Rambling - I do wonder though, wouldn't it be better if gases could escape in a type of Tertiary period before going on to a sealed Quaternary period? Wasn't cork chosen for it's porosity?
Anyway, thanks for the reply, I really do appreciate the help, I'm just one of those newbies that wants to reinvent the wheel.

Edit - This is my start, 15 cent one way valves, or two put together into a micro 30 cent mini airlocks would have been good! I assumed that the tub would be full of CO2 during Primary, it's when I racked them that I got worried. It'd be nice if now I could fit those such as pictured previously in the tub without risking vinegar.
View attachment 883347

Why do you rack off the yeast before it's done? Doesn't make sense with today's yeast. Leave it on the yeast till it's done and you won't have to use an air lock when aging.

And just for the record, the co2 blanket is a myth, so is a container full of co2 that is not air tight. Gases don't behave that way. They mix on their own.

 

[Beekeeper]

The image of glass pear juice jars with closed caps is a bit frightening.
Those containers aren't designed to hold any internal pressure. - at all.

 

[Miraculix]

The image of glass pear juice jars with closed caps is a bit frightening.
Those containers aren't designed to hold any internal pressure. - at all.

Aren't they made of pet?

 

[Beekeeper]

These in the center with the metal caps are surely glass containers.

 

[Miraculix]

These in the center with the metal caps are surely glass containers.

View attachment 883360

Ok, then you really must be sure that it is done. With cider and mead that should be managable. With beer, different storry.

 

[DaveDiamond]

Ok, then you really must be sure that it is done. With cider and mead that should be managable. With beer, different storry.

Yes, they're glass. I had them on hand so I used them for what was left over from racking each 3 litre bottle down to a 2 litre. I'll be drinking these this week, I'll carbonate them with a sodastream, compare the flavours, and see how additions like tannin, acids and sweeteners (Monk fruit/Erythritol) affect the taste. These are yeast trials, hence the small batch sizes, but I will keep using 3 litre bottles as fermenters, I just won't have different batches that I can't mix later. I'm pushed for space so the 3 litres stack well in a tub and provide more litres per square metre than using 10 or 15 litre buckets or fermenters.
As to why I'm racking, I follow a couple of channels concerned with Meads and Ciders, and once they read 1.000 or below they'll rack to another container to 'let it sit' and degas. They call this Secondary or Conditioning, and will often add fruit or spices at this time, and always use an airlock. The 2 litre bottles in the picture show bubbles at the surface, and bubbles rising, what would be the point of letting them sit and release their gases if the gases can't escape?
Do you just bottle straight from the primary fermenter? From what I see once the primary fermentation is done it's common to take low alcohol Ciders and Hydromels off the yeast cake and let them sit for a while before bottling, little airlocks or valves would make this much more convenient to do.
Perhaps this thread should just be deleted.