I hope someone can enjoy my ‘adventures of a totally snakebit newbie screw-up,’. I’m of a divided mind about them myself....
Well, looking at my carboy of ersatz Ed Wort’s Apfelwine I wondered if that big (2 gal) space over the liquid might be a problem. Well, of course! I decide to siphon it into 3 1gallon bottles and find the stoppers I got are too small, and for good measure I can’t find the siphoning hose anyway!
When I find the hose I’m putting it in the bottles and just leave the tops loose with a weight on them.
I’ll start a new batch without any screw-ups. And meanwhile get some stoppers that fit things.
The two week old Apfelwine mix is only bubbling every minute or so now, smells nice, has dime-sized foam islands floating on the top and has started to clear. But that huge headroom worries me to no end.
Meanwhile I found another ‘foolproof’ recipe for hard cider- http://paraglider.hubpages.com/hub/how-to-make-cider-without-special-equipment . Heck it’s ‘hooch’: Open a jar of apple cider or juice, take out a cup of the contents, pour in 1/2c sugar, shake, pour in yeast and set the top on looose.
But I’m gonna use my stoppers and airlocks though right? Heck no these stoppers don’t fit anything in the world but my carboy. So I screw the tops on and then loosen them when there’s bubbling. Seems to have worked. 5days and they are fizzing happily. It’s cooled off here and the fruit flies are gone (they were sure interested in the Apfelwine last week though but the airlock worked like a champ).
I’m learning hard, but cheap. Some day I’ll be ready for quality brewing.
You don’t sound like a “newbie” to this real newbie! :-)
That headspace isn’t a real big deal. As soon as it starts fermenting, the Co2 will form a layer right on top of the cider since it is heavier than air and a high Co2 environment is extremely toxic to nearly everything.
As for the bubblers, I have not used them in at least 10 years. Although it is very satisfying to see and hear the bubbling, it just isn’t needed. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top and call it good. The foil is sanitary, keeps bugs and nasties out. If you cold crash prior to racking as I do, the bubblers are a PITA anyway since they suck whatever liquid you have in them into the carboy as the temps go down.
Happy brewing,
knewshound
You can use a balloon with a pin hole for your airlock/stopper. They work quite well and would be better than your loose tops. I would be more worried about that air space in a secondary. In the primary, if your fermentation is going well, that space will be filled with CO2. Your foam islands are probably just yeasties gathering for a final confab. If they start looking hairy you may have an infection - mold.