It is better to use an airlock. If by chance a little more fermentation
were to take place or the pressure in the carboy increased for some other
reason such as CO2 coming out of solution, it can blow a solid bung off and
then your wine can be ruined due to oxidation.

But I have a question. One of the things that need to be done after
fermentation is to get the CO2 that is dissolved in the wine out. How can
this be done if the wine is blanketed with CO2? Wouldn't the dissolved CO2
just stay in solution? Partial pressure of a gas in solution is a function
of the partial pressure of the gas in contact with the solution and the
partial pressure of CO2 in the blanket would be very high.

Ray

"news-server.triad.rr.com" > wrote in message
. com...
>I have an question that is not exactly on topic here but close. When bulk
> aging is it better to use just a solid bung or a bung and airlock or does
> it
> matter? I use bungs with airlocks now when I age.
>
> Also talking about the CO2, I generally don't worry about the head space
> as
> long as the lock part of the airlock if floating a little. I have never
> had
> any problems, am I just lucky? You all are going to scream at me but I
> sometimes have a gallon of head space in my carboys (with the lock
> floating)
> but have never had an off tasting batch. The only time I thought I had an
> oxidized batch was the time I made wine from Welch's frozen concentrate
> _cocktail_. I have recently tried this again with both cocktail and
> concord
> and realized that it was just the cocktail not having enough flavor to
> support the wine.
>
> David
>
>
>
> "Warren Place" > wrote in message
> s.edu...
>> On Tue, 23 Nov 2004, Bob wrote:
>>
>> > I am trying winemaking for the first time with plum wine, due to
>> > this years great harvest. Would it have the same benefit to flush
>> > the top of the carboy with CO2 instead of topping it off after
>> > racking?
>> >
>> > Bob
>> CO2 blanketing a large "empty" volume isn't very effective as I
>> have learned with last years white wines. You'll still get gas exchange
> (O2
>> in) when th3e carboy warms and cools throughout the day. With a solid
>> cork, it might work fine. I'd top up the wine if possible.
>> Warren Place
>
>