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.
![[Upgraded] 9Pcs Tree Root Growing Box with Drain Holes, Half Transparent Plant Rooting Propagation Ball & Metal Core Twist Ties, for Fast Propagation Plants (Size M)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514MWQxtWOL._SL500_.jpg)
