pounds or more of dead weight! Always handle them with care and respect. My partner and I were lifting one to empty out the sanitizing water one day and forgot to pad the edge of the laundry tub. The vessel shattered. Luckily we were not hurt, but the shards of glass were everywhere.
Many carboys fit snugly into some common sizes of plastic milk crates. These make handling the heavy carboys easier and safer. You can buy them in department stores and stores that specialize in closets and storage. Make sure that you buy sturdy ones, not the flimsy kind one finds at dollar stores. They have to hold more than fifty pounds of dead weight without the bottom falling out.
C ARBOY AND B OTTLE B RUSHES
The carboy brush is curved and has a long handle. Get one, they’re cheap. Ditto for bottle brushes.
A IR L OCKS
Air locks are inexpensive little gadgets with a stem that fits into a hole in the rubber bung, with which you will be sealing your primary and secondary fermenters. You fill the air locks about halfway with metabisulphate and water or some other sterile solution, drop the little cap over the hollow central stem, and put a little pill bottle cap over that. The pill bottle cap has a tiny hole that lets out the carbon dioxide that filters up from the fermenting yeast through the water in the lock but prevents the water in the lock from evaporating too quickly. As long as they have water in them, air locks will also keep out air, flies, and dust. Very simple; very effective. Long after the really active fermentation the wine needs to be protected until the final racking and bottling.
Some people fill the air lock with vodka, though I should think this would evaporate at a much higher rate than water. I use a metabisulfite/water solution. Sometimes plain water will developmold, and you don’t want that! You can keep a jug safe from harm for well over a year if you use an air lock and keep the solution at the proper level.
Get lots of air locks. I prefer the plastic multipart kind, which are easier to keep clean and harder to break. Get bungs to go with them to fit your various gallon jugs and your carboys, including a few small ones to go on your primary fermenter top and the occasional single bottle of “topping up” wine left over from a bigger batch.
When you finish bottling a batch of wine, check your air locks for mold and cracks. Sanitize the air locks by soaking them in our standard solution of water and bleach. Don’t boil them; they melt. Leave them on a towel to dry, and sanitize them again before you use them.
It is false economy to use damaged air locks. In a pinch you can use the old plastic wrap and rubber band method, but I wouldn’t for the long run, unless you are going away from your winery for an extended period and can’t find someone to check your air locks for water once a month.
Replace your air locks when damaged, or every two or three years on general principle. There isn’t that much plastic to them. Children who are old enough not to put them in their mouths like to play with them, using them for everything from rockets to doll cups.
B UNGS
Bungs are cylindrical rubber plugs that fit snuggly into the openings of jugs, carboys, and barrels. They come in many sizes, from barely half an inch across which fits the average hole in the lid of a primary fermenter to huge ones for barrels. Most come with a hole drilled through the middle to accommodate the stem of an air lock, though you can obtain solid ones. Bungs are an inexpensive but important partner to the air lock.
When you are fitting a bung to a jug, remember that putting the stem of the air lock in it will firm up the bung a bit. I have a lot of jugs that fit the 7.5 and the 8 bung size; can I tell by eye which is which? Surely you jest. Some carboys have smaller openings than one-gallon jugs. Keep a variety of sizes around, as well as the tiny size for primary fermenters and individual wine bottles.
Assorted small equipment, back
Many carboys fit snugly into some common sizes of plastic milk crates. These make handling the heavy carboys easier and safer. You can buy them in department stores and stores that specialize in closets and storage. Make sure that you buy sturdy ones, not the flimsy kind one finds at dollar stores. They have to hold more than fifty pounds of dead weight without the bottom falling out.
C ARBOY AND B OTTLE B RUSHES
The carboy brush is curved and has a long handle. Get one, they’re cheap. Ditto for bottle brushes.
A IR L OCKS
Air locks are inexpensive little gadgets with a stem that fits into a hole in the rubber bung, with which you will be sealing your primary and secondary fermenters. You fill the air locks about halfway with metabisulphate and water or some other sterile solution, drop the little cap over the hollow central stem, and put a little pill bottle cap over that. The pill bottle cap has a tiny hole that lets out the carbon dioxide that filters up from the fermenting yeast through the water in the lock but prevents the water in the lock from evaporating too quickly. As long as they have water in them, air locks will also keep out air, flies, and dust. Very simple; very effective. Long after the really active fermentation the wine needs to be protected until the final racking and bottling.
Some people fill the air lock with vodka, though I should think this would evaporate at a much higher rate than water. I use a metabisulfite/water solution. Sometimes plain water will developmold, and you don’t want that! You can keep a jug safe from harm for well over a year if you use an air lock and keep the solution at the proper level.
Get lots of air locks. I prefer the plastic multipart kind, which are easier to keep clean and harder to break. Get bungs to go with them to fit your various gallon jugs and your carboys, including a few small ones to go on your primary fermenter top and the occasional single bottle of “topping up” wine left over from a bigger batch.
When you finish bottling a batch of wine, check your air locks for mold and cracks. Sanitize the air locks by soaking them in our standard solution of water and bleach. Don’t boil them; they melt. Leave them on a towel to dry, and sanitize them again before you use them.
It is false economy to use damaged air locks. In a pinch you can use the old plastic wrap and rubber band method, but I wouldn’t for the long run, unless you are going away from your winery for an extended period and can’t find someone to check your air locks for water once a month.
Replace your air locks when damaged, or every two or three years on general principle. There isn’t that much plastic to them. Children who are old enough not to put them in their mouths like to play with them, using them for everything from rockets to doll cups.
B UNGS
Bungs are cylindrical rubber plugs that fit snuggly into the openings of jugs, carboys, and barrels. They come in many sizes, from barely half an inch across which fits the average hole in the lid of a primary fermenter to huge ones for barrels. Most come with a hole drilled through the middle to accommodate the stem of an air lock, though you can obtain solid ones. Bungs are an inexpensive but important partner to the air lock.
When you are fitting a bung to a jug, remember that putting the stem of the air lock in it will firm up the bung a bit. I have a lot of jugs that fit the 7.5 and the 8 bung size; can I tell by eye which is which? Surely you jest. Some carboys have smaller openings than one-gallon jugs. Keep a variety of sizes around, as well as the tiny size for primary fermenters and individual wine bottles.
Assorted small equipment, back
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