# Solid bung or bung with airlock for aging



## mikefrommichigan (Apr 17, 2016)

I have always used a bung with an airlock for the 3 - 6 months of aging that I do, for the all the kits I have made. I still occasionally glance at the instructions that come with the kits, and as I was racking the Winexpert Lodi Cab Friday I noticed for the first time that the instructions said:

_* "NOTE: If you are not bottling at this time you must remove the bung and airlock and replace them with a solid rubber or silicone bung. This will help to prevent oxidation until you do bottle."*_

Just wondered who ages with solid bung and who ages with a bung and airlock?


----------



## richmke (Apr 17, 2016)

Neither.

During active fermentation, and for about the first few weeks, I use an airlock. After that I use a silicone vented bung, or the All-in-one Head Space Eliminator, depending upon how much head space I have..

https://www.beer-wine.com/silicone-bung-for-carboys-vented
https://morewinemaking.com/products...icone-bung-barrels-variable-volume-tanks.html

http://www.allinonewinepump.com/product/headspace-eliminator/


----------



## ibglowin (Apr 17, 2016)

Solid is great if the temps in your storage room are stable or falling. If they rise it will pop a solid bung out easily and you might not notice it for days, weeks.....


----------



## bkisel (Apr 17, 2016)

Switched from airlock to Saran wrap about 2 years ago. Saran wrap is somewhat air permeable but I can't find out how it compares to a 3 piece airlock. I'm thinking now I might double up on the Saran wrap or go to solid bungs for bulk aging. 

Anyone know if doubling up on Saran wrap would, being used over a carboy opening, effectively cut its permeability by about half?


----------



## dcbrown73 (Apr 17, 2016)

richmke said:


> Neither.
> 
> During active fermentation, and for about the first few weeks, I use an airlock. After that I use a silicone vented bung, or the All-in-one Head Space Eliminator, depending upon how much head space I have..
> 
> ...



Man, more stuff to buy? (head space eliminator) Anyone have any reviews of this device? I'm looking at the picture, but can't really figure out what I'm looking at.


----------



## Floandgary (Apr 17, 2016)

In theory, there should be no activity. However if you rack over at 3 month intervals to get rid of sediment, you may (will) instigate the release of CO2. Gotta go somewhere which is why I prefer to simply keep an airlock on. Another "personal preference" topic to either keep simple or over-think


----------



## heatherd (Apr 17, 2016)

I use an airlock.


----------



## PhilDarby (Apr 17, 2016)

my personal preference is an airlock, although you do have to be wary of the contents back flowing into the wine when you remove it, actually it probably isn't a problem unless u drink it straight away and risk contamination if it does, after 20 odd minites, most bacteria is dead, also, an airlock compensates for altering temperature meaning no excess pressure problems also if fermentation is still active but very slowly the gasses can escape, so, I do all my aging with an airlock in situ.

Having said all that my one gallon containers I use need neither, my new one gallon containers ive figured out, don't need an airlock during ferment because the lid lifts up to allow gasses to escape, when there is no pressure internally the lids drop down again, ive successfully tested them now for a few years and have converted a few local friends over, the bonus is they cost one pound each per gallon tub (about 1.60 dollars roughly) when ferment is over ive found I can long term store the wine in the same container with no ill effects, after initial racking, as long as it is dark, ive successfully stored wine for up to 6 months in these with no ill effects to any batches, up to this point. They are also stackable, so you can have one on top of the other, but definitely no higher, due to poor stability, which means even in the bottom of a wardrobe you can potentially age about 16 gallons in one gallon batches.

All that is required is for the wine currently fermenting to go on top of the stack, so, the weight of the container above doesn't prevent it blowing off gas when needed. 

Currently as it stands my main brewing area is below, its in the bottom of a wardrobe, the containers rear left is a stack of 8 five litre containers not currently in use, but, easily stored, the large container on the right is a bulk storage container, which is where I tend to get my regular wine I drink from (I tend to blend and add to the wine already in there kind of like a solera system, its never been allowed to empty since January 15 and as a rule it never gets more than half full and usually is between 3/4 to full) up until now ive had no problems with excess air exposure, obviously at times its exposed to air, but, its never proved a problem, the 10 litre container at front is for a new wine currently fermenting away, which technically is a special, and not for mixing with the main bulk wines, the other containers are all aging in their own right, most of which will be blended and absorbed by the larger aging container, after blending to make a reasonably decent flavour, in the theme of my personal likes, a lot of the lower containers contain either wine I enjoy in its own right, so I have a choice of drink, or its not quite in line with the house wine so to speak in the main container, eventually they will all be absorbed by the larger container, some are merely aging a little ready for addition.

some of my drinks are one offs or specials, due to seasonal variations, but, I do tend to keep a basic flavour going which suits my tastes, having said that, the wine in the main bulk can vary a little, when new wine is added.

there is basically around 35 litres in there some aging some fermenting, I do have other storage areas but at the moment most are fairly empty, although they will be utilised as the fruit season gets under way and they get rotated into use.

Basically as long as there isn't a lot of exposure to air and as long as the container can breath a bit it doesn't really matter what u use, but, if you use an airlock never let all the water evaporate away or it will be exposed to excess oxygen and potential contaminating bugs, which I suspect is the worst case scenario.


----------



## Boatboy24 (Apr 17, 2016)

Airlock. 

Though I'm now experimenting with a solid bung on one of my barrels. So far, so good. But there's a lot more friction between a bung and wooden barrel than a glass carboy.


----------



## Johnd (Apr 17, 2016)

Air locks on all of my carboys, solid bungs on my barrels, no problems thus far. 

I do have two carboys fitted with a bung and an Acuvin bottle cork that get pumped every couple of weeks, that works just fine too. Negative pressure in the little headspace seems to be able to handle the temp and pressure variations in my storage area.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Apr 17, 2016)

I always use a S style air lock - But I Scrape off the 2 sides where the molds are. You will get an inaccurate reading otherwise. 

The reason I like the S- Style air lock is I can make sure that there is a positive or negative pressure in the carboy, by looking at the difference of the 2 chambers.If they are equal in level height it is evident that the bung or something is leaking - causing oxygen to be forced into the carboy - possibly ruin my wine over time.


----------



## Johnd (Apr 17, 2016)

vacuumpumpman said:


> I always use a S style air lock - But I Scrape off the 2 sides where the molds are. You will get an inaccurate reading otherwise.
> 
> The reason I like the S- Style air lock is I can make sure that there is a positive or negative pressure in the carboy, by looking at the difference of the 2 chambers.If they are equal in level height it is evident that the bung or something is leaking - causing oxygen to be forced into the carboy - possibly ruin my wine over time.



Didn't mention it in my earlier post, but I use the glass airlocks.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Apr 17, 2016)

@Johnd

What are glass air locks ??


----------



## NorCal (Apr 18, 2016)

I like the silicon vented bung.


----------



## Tnuscan (Apr 18, 2016)

vacuumpumpman said:


> I always use a S style air lock - But I Scrape off the 2 sides where the molds are. You will get an inaccurate reading otherwise.
> 
> The reason I like the S- Style air lock is I can make sure that there is a positive or negative pressure in the carboy, by looking at the difference of the 2 chambers.If they are equal in level height it is evident that the bung or something is leaking - causing oxygen to be forced into the carboy - possibly ruin my wine over time.



The area you are scraping is called the 'flashing', the area where the two sides are seamed together. Scraping or sanding the flashing off will create a smother finish, eliminating a leak. Why they don't do this after the molding process is a serious question. Duh...???


----------



## Johnd (Apr 18, 2016)

vacuumpumpman said:


> @Johnd
> 
> What are glass air locks ??



This is a glass airlock


----------



## JohnT (Apr 18, 2016)

PhilDarby said:


> my personal preference is an airlock, although you do have to be wary of the contents back flowing into the wine when you remove it.


 
Are you removing the stopper with the airlock inserted? Try pulling the airlock out of the stopper, then remove the stopper. This will greatly reduce the chance of airlock contents getting into your wine.


----------



## dcbrown73 (Apr 18, 2016)

JohnT said:


> Are you removing the stopper with the airlock inserted? Try pulling the airlock out of the stopper, then remove the stopper. This will greatly reduce the chance of airlock contents getting into your wine.



You would think that would be obvious, (the suction from pulling the stopper siphoning the water into the carboy) but I definitely hadn't thought about that. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## mikefrommichigan (Apr 20, 2016)

Norcal - Do you use the silicon vented bung for all stages of the wine making process in place of a conventional airlock?


----------



## NorCal (Apr 20, 2016)

mikefrommichigan said:


> Norcal - Do you use the silicon vented bung for all stages of the wine making process in place of a conventional airlock?




I do. I will do an open air ferment on my reds and press close to being dry. It will then go into barrel/flex tank/carboy with the vented silicon bung. After mlf completion, I'll rack and then use the same bung until I'm ready to bottle.


----------



## dcbrown73 (Apr 20, 2016)

Johnd said:


> This is a glass airlock



I've got to admit. That looks like paraphernalia.


----------



## Johnd (Apr 20, 2016)

dcbrown73 said:


> I've got to admit. That looks like paraphernalia.



It does indeed. When folks come over and see the carboy farm with glass airlocks, some bubbling, they refer to my wine area as "the meth lab"


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Apr 20, 2016)

@Johnd
Thanks for posting a glass airlock - I would be afraid trying to remove it from a bung, as I broke several standard plastic ones in the bungs.


----------



## Masbustelo (Apr 21, 2016)

@bkisel I have observed some of the Spanish vineyards that are using terracotta aging vessels are using saran wrap or some type of visqueen to cover the top of the "cantaros".


----------



## Johnd (Apr 21, 2016)

vacuumpumpman said:


> @Johnd
> Thanks for posting a glass airlock - I would be afraid trying to remove it from a bung, as I broke several standard plastic ones in the bungs.



Hmmm, never had that problem. Whether plastic or glass, I just put a little twisting pressure on them until they turn a bit and then pull them right out of the bung.


----------



## Floandgary (Apr 21, 2016)

GOOD GRIEF!!! Back to original post/question..... To seal off a vessel (bung) or to allow venting (airlock). It would seem that a properly installed and monitored Airlock is still the choice. The wine certainly does not care nor is affected either way which puts it back in the "Personal Preference" arena


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Apr 21, 2016)

dcbrown73 said:


> Man, more stuff to buy? (head space eliminator) Anyone have any reviews of this device? I'm looking at the picture, but can't really figure out what I'm looking at.



Sorry I missed your question - 

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49529


----------



## JohnT (Apr 22, 2016)

Johnd said:


> It does indeed. When folks come over and see the carboy farm with glass airlocks, some bubbling, they refer to my wine area as "the meth lab"


 

Just as long as you do not look like this, you'll be OK...


----------



## Johnd (Apr 22, 2016)

JohnT said:


> Just as long as you do not look like this, you'll be OK...



No worries then, I don't have a Cheechy or Chongy look at all.


----------



## Dhaynes (Apr 23, 2016)

I read the bit in the instructions about using solid bungs so I tried it. I kept walking by and noticing that they had worked loose so I went back to regular S shaped airlocks.


----------



## dcbrown73 (Apr 23, 2016)

Dhaynes said:


> I read the bit in the instructions about using solid bungs so I tried it. I kept walking by and noticing that they had worked loose so I went back to regular S shaped airlocks.



I noticed my bungs working themselves loose too. Then I started drying them and the mouth of the carboy with a towel before inserting them. Then that stopped happening.


----------



## NorCal (Apr 23, 2016)

I also have this style, which is vented, that can't pop out.


----------

