Fermentation lock

Fermentation Lock

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Fermentation lock

The fermentation lock or airlock is a device used in beer

Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and Fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal?the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely used....
brewing

Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
and wine making that allows carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
released by the beer to escape the fermenter, while not allowing air

AIR

Air is the part of Earth's atmosphere that humans breath and as such Air .Air may also refer to:...
to enter the fermenter, thus avoiding oxidation.

There are two popular designs for the fermentation lock, or airlock, both of which work equally well.

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Encyclopedia

The fermentation lock or airlock is a device used in beer

Beer

Brewing

Carbon dioxide

AIR

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. When the pressure of the gas inside the fermentation vessel exceeds the prevailing atmospheric pressure the gas will then push its way through the water as individual bubbles into the outside air. Some brewers use a sanitizing solution or vodka

Vodka

Vodka is a distilled beverage. It is a clear liquid which consists of mostly water and ethanol purified by distillation ? often multiple distillation ? from a Fermentation substance, such as cereal , potatoes or sugar beet molasses, and an insignificant amount of other substances such as flavorings or unintended impurities....
in the fermentation lock to prevent contamination of the beer in case the solution is inadvertently drawn into the fermenter.

This device may take the form of a tube connected to the headspace of the fermenting vessel into a tub of sanitized liquid or a simpler device mounted directly on top of the fermentation vessel.

Currently, the most popular fermentation lock that mounts on top of the fermentation vessel is the three-piece fermentation lock. Older models contain three bulbous chambers allowing for a broader range of pressure equalization. These bulbous fermentation locks were generally made of hand blown glass

Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
.

Fermentation lock

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See also