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Airlock still needed after first fermentation?

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Boogaloo

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Sep 13, 2011
147
0
16
Silver Spring (right outside of DC)
My Mead hasn't bubbled for a while, can I plug the top and use the airlock for another jug or should I keep the airlock on and purchase the budget killing 1$ airlock and 80cent plug w/hole?

Basically, my gf is gonna kill me if I say I'm going to the homebrew store again! Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Boog
 

Soyala_Amaya

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2011
991
6
0
Missouri
As I just proved to myself, even a month or two after it's completely done, fined, pretty and looks ready to bottle...it can still release CO2. I popped a stopper with no hole on a mead that had no activity for well over a month and a half after fining, had done it's final racking, and was just letting it bulk age. Don't jump to the stopper too quick, it's still gassy in there!
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
4,066
3
0
Calgary AB Canada
It's a really good idea to leave things under airlock if there's any residual sugar (test the SG and see) in case it starts up, could blow up if it's clogged. Plus, it can't degass properly if it's closed (often degassing doesn't give me any observable bubbles but takes months and months and months to finish).
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
4,066
3
0
Calgary AB Canada
My ex just got tired of me always talking about it and stopping at every fruit/juice etc in the store and musing about fermenting it! Then once the mead started actually flowing she flip flopped on the issue and started pitching in money. ;)
 

Soyala_Amaya

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2011
991
6
0
Missouri
Hmm...mine just loves seeing me have a productive hobby that makes me happy. He usually goes halvsies on any big purchases (like the 200 i'm dropping on honey next week) and has been known to hit the LHBS for me when he has the day off and I need something. (it doesn't hurt that I've made several recipes specifically to his tastes and he gets all he wants)
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
4,066
3
0
Calgary AB Canada
I poke fun at how her reactions changed over time, but she was perfectly supportive, just got tired of me CONSTANTLY going on and on about it!
 

MightyJesse

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 5, 2011
71
0
0
HAHAHAHA. I know how that goes... My husband is secretly supportive of my hobbies (He bought me a wine cooler for aging my cheese last Christmas... It even has a lock on it to keep him out of it until the cheese is DONE...) but publicly complains about all my hobbying supplies overtaking the house. Followed by bragging about how well we'll be set after the Zomb-pocalypse comes. Mind you my stash of wool, spinning wheels, knitting machines, cheese presses, and sausage stuffers is a little big, but the REAL problem is that he still has his man cave, but I had to give up my Mama-Bear-Den so that the BabyBear could have a bedroom... Which means that none of my stuff has really been re-homed and is kind of ALL OVER THE HOUSE. In a thin layer...

I need to have a carpenter in to build me a SCIENCE! (tm) room in the basement with a sink, a floor drain, good ventilation, and humidity control... Or maybe I just need to save up my allowance and have "Mama's Special Food Bunker" installed as a crawl space...
 

TheAlchemist

I am Meadlemania
GotMead Patron
Sep 9, 2010
2,464
8
0
near a lake
... Mind you my stash of wool, spinning wheels, knitting machines, cheese presses, and sausage stuffers...

I wanna visit your house!
Will be going to a spinning workshop and learning to do shamanic journey work while spinning...Looking forward to that!

You'll fit right in with the homesteader crowd around here...
 

Dan McFeeley

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Oct 10, 2003
1,899
7
38
68
Illinois
My Mead hasn't bubbled for a while, can I plug the top and use the airlock for another jug or should I keep the airlock on and purchase the budget killing 1$ airlock and 80 cent plug w/hole?

Basically, my gf is gonna kill me if I say I'm going to the homebrew store again! Is the juice worth the squeeze?


The consensus seems to be, buy the air lock. If your GF loves the finished mead, then both problems are solved. ;D

Did you take a final gravity? That'll give you a good idea of the state of your mead.

--
 

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,447
59
48
Ottawa, ON
Boogaloo, if you're gonna end up in the doghouse, just use plastic wrap and an elastic, it lets pressure out while keeping fruit flies out...



...and now for the off-topic comments... :rolleyes:


the REAL problem is that he still has his man cave, but I had to give up my Mama-Bear-Den so that the BabyBear could have a bedroom... Which means that none of my stuff has really been re-homed and is kind of ALL OVER THE HOUSE. In a thin layer...

I need to have a carpenter in to build me a SCIENCE! (tm) room in the basement with a sink, a floor drain, good ventilation, and humidity control... Or maybe I just need to save up my allowance and have "Mama's Special Food Bunker" installed as a crawl space...

Yeah, my hubby kept complaining about my wine and jelly stuff taking over the kitchen... now it's invading the basement, which WAS his man-cave... fortunately my basement CAME with a floor drain and the plumbing wasn't hard to tap into to install a laundry tub (just expensive, choose your plumber carefully). And because most of his (our) gaming crap occupies most of the rest of the basement, the rest of my crafts crap ends up all over the house... that thin layer you mentioned... yeah... crocheting in the bedroom, beadwork in the dining room buffet hutch, sewing machine buried under Warhammer miniatures, a hammer on every floor just so we don't have to run up/down stairs when one is required... yeah.
 

Guinlilly

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 17, 2011
299
3
0
Seaford, DE
I wanna visit your house!
Will be going to a spinning workshop and learning to do shamanic journey work while spinning...Looking forward to that!

You'll fit right in with the homesteader crowd around here...

Dude! That workshop where is it? I keep having amazing discussions with a friend of mine about seidr workers and how much of that probably first occurred with spinning. Repetitive work sends most people straight into trance.
 

MightyJesse

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 5, 2011
71
0
0
I'm so sorry Boogaloo... We've totally bogarted your thread... to talk about thread...

But they've done research on knitters and discovered that their repetetive motion puts them into the same theta state as monks who are meditating...
 

Boogaloo

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Sep 13, 2011
147
0
16
Silver Spring (right outside of DC)
Hahahha... It's all good! I enjoy reading what everyone else is into. I ended up compromising on the LHBS and we went to lunch afterwards. It was nice. Her initial reaction was, 'AGAIN!!' when I told her I need to go back. I solved the headspace problem by filling up with mead from another bottle with too much head space and the half gallon left in that jar.. well I fixed that problem too... I drank it. DELISH.

Gravity right now it's at 1.040, SG was 1.102.

Thanks again for the cheese links and info Jesse. I can respond better when I get home.
 
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