Selfsufficientish.com

A few yeas ago the hubby & myself made quite a few potent wines, but, we took shortcuts. We used bread yeast, didn't bother with citric acid/nutrient/pectolase etc and drank it way too soon!
This time round I'm in charge & it's going to be done properly ;)

My first question... Airlocks. There is a 4 year long argument about whether you do or don't put water in the airlock.
What's the answer please?

Hi. You can use plain water, but better still use water with sterilizing solution.

Thank you Jimmy, I take that as a "yes, put water in the airlock"!

Yes, water, sterilising solution or even Vodka is suitable for putting in your airlocks :)

An airlocks function is to let Co2 out while keeping all the nasty airborne bugs and dust from getting in you wouldn't want a fly to go a crawling down your airlock into your lovely brew which is what could happen if you don't put any liquid in there

Thanks SPS, I can now go & brag to my husband "Told you so!".

Just a thought... would the sterilising solution used for babies bottles etc be ok? I've got a whole unused pot that was given to us.

Assuming that's Milton or something similar, then yes. However, I've never used anything but water in the airlock, and never suffered a problem - a few drowned flies bobbing up and down, but that's about it.

Penny Lane wrote:Thanks SPS, I can now go & brag to my husband "Told you so!".

Just a thought... would the sterilising solution used for babies bottles etc be ok? I've got a whole unused pot that was given to us.

You might say told you so but it won't bother him if you have been done, sorry married less than 10 years..... It takes more than that to train a man properly.

I now know my place.... usually under the stairs and occasionally my darling wife lets me have the door open...... Oh and women are always right and men are put on the earth to be wrong.... so my wife says.....

As for the air lock yup use milton etc but don't fill it too much as the milton might go into the brew and kill the yeast. Also if there is no air lock the yeast will only convert the air into CO2 and not alchol and co2. Without the air lock there is a ready supply of air.

Big Al wrote:

Penny Lane wrote:Thanks SPS, I can now go & brag to my husband "Told you so!".

Just a thought... would the sterilising solution used for babies bottles etc be ok? I've got a whole unused pot that was given to us.

You might say told you so but it won't bother him if you have been done, sorry married less than 10 years..... It takes more than that to train a man properly.

I now know my place.... usually under the stairs and occasionally my darling wife lets me have the door open...... Oh and women are always right and men are put on the earth to be wrong.... so my wife says.....

LOL mines pretty well trained and I've only had him two years... he gets a bit stroppy if I meddle with his mad scientist brewing experiments though. The utility room becomes his 'cave' and he gets a bit protective of it

He gets a bit over excited from time to time when devoid of a brew on-the-go but a quick spell in the linen closet works wonders

He keeps threatening to join here... won't this post be a nice surprise for him!!

StripyPixieSocks wrote:

Big Al wrote:

Penny Lane wrote:Thanks SPS, I can now go & brag to my husband "Told you so!".

Just a thought... would the sterilising solution used for babies bottles etc be ok? I've got a whole unused pot that was given to us.

You might say told you so but it won't bother him if you have been done, sorry married less than 10 years..... It takes more than that to train a man properly.

I now know my place.... usually under the stairs and occasionally my darling wife lets me have the door open...... Oh and women are always right and men are put on the earth to be wrong.... so my wife says.....

LOL mines pretty well trained and I've only had him two years... he gets a bit stroppy if I meddle with his mad scientist brewing experiments though. The utility room becomes his 'cave' and he gets a bit protective of it

He gets a bit over excited from time to time when devoid of a brew on-the-go but a quick spell in the linen closet works wonders

He keeps threatening to join here... won't this post be a nice surprise for him!!

Well done for training him in such a short length of time! I've had mine for 7 years and he's still learning

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Well done for training him in such a short length of time! I've had mine for 7 years and he's still learning [/quote]


I know I feel like a traitor to the game here but it's all down to what we want you to believe ladies, It's a game really. When you have "Trained" us men it really means we have lost interest in "the game". Let me explain...

How many times do women say " Are you listening to me" for the reply yes dear.... to be heard..... How many times do you ask " is my bum big in this..... to hear the reply "no dear, you look lovely"... You know it does, your friends know it does but we men just want a quiet life so we say what you want us to say...

Men do what they have to for a quiet life. That might be mow the lawn or put up some shelves now and then.

When a smart man muck up things he should use his gender as an excuse because women are really sexist..... When I mess up in mixed company I do the above and it is amazing how many women say.. ah yes, you are a man after all or words like that. It's amazing how much you can get away with... being a man... after all we are all handicapped at birth...by our gender........