I'm making plum wine and it seems that my wine stopped fermenting and
is drawing in the water from the airlock. Is this normal.
Thanks

if it has completely stopped fermenting, and what you're noticing is that
the water seems to be going the wrong way, but not actually bubbling back
into the vessel, then what you're probably seeing is a result of a drop in
temperature.

As the air or co2 in your fermenter cools, it takes up less space and sucks
at the airlock a little. If that's what it is, you don't need to worry.


"james" > wrote in message
news
> I'm making plum wine and it seems that my wine stopped fermenting and
> is drawing in the water from the airlock. Is this normal.
> Thanks
>

perhaps there was a sharp drop in the barometric pressure? when the last big
low pressure area swept across our region, we noticed some creepage up the
air locks.


"Peacelover" > wrote in message
...
> if it has completely stopped fermenting, and what you're noticing is that
> the water seems to be going the wrong way, but not actually bubbling back
> into the vessel, then what you're probably seeing is a result of a drop in
> temperature.
>
> As the air or co2 in your fermenter cools, it takes up less space and
> sucks at the airlock a little. If that's what it is, you don't need to
> worry.
>
>
> "james" > wrote in message
> news
>> I'm making plum wine and it seems that my wine stopped fermenting and
>> is drawing in the water from the airlock. Is this normal.
>> Thanks
>>
>
>

When you ferment, the temperature is elevated and the must is giving off
CO2. When it stops, the temperature drops causing the volume to contract
lowering the pressure. This can cause air to be drawn into the carboy. It
is usually no a problem as the fermentation should stop slowly and the
temperature should adjust slowly.

Now remember that the airlock is a low pressure lock. If there is a large
swing in air pressure, the pressure in the carboy can only adjust by blowing
out or drawing in. This could cause bubbling. Or if there is a temperature
change the volumes in the carboy will expand and contract causing airlock
movement. Usually the volume in the airlock itself should be sufficient to
take care of these changes. The fluid should just swing from one side to
the other but not pass bubbles. But if there is too little fluid in the
airlock then bubbling will happen. If there is too much fluid the some
airlock fluid may spill into the carboy. Not a good thing. If filled
properly, an airlock should have enough volume to properly protect a
properly filled 5 or 6 gallon carboy. You really do not want bubbles going
into the airlock or certainly not much.

Now here is an interesting thing to note. The airlock should protect you if
you have the carboy filled properly. It should be filled up to within 1 or
1.5 inches of the bottom of the bung. Some people recommend using inert gas
to protect an improperly filled carboy. But any gas is much, much, much
more effected by temperature and pressure changes than is liquid. So if you
have several inches of head space, even if it is filled with inert gas, a
few degrees of temperature change could easily cause a lot of air to pass
through the airlock. After a few days of 3 or 4 degree temperature changes
night to day or AC on/off could bring a lot of air into your carboy.

Ray



"james" > wrote in message
news
> I'm making plum wine and it seems that my wine stopped fermenting and
> is drawing in the water from the airlock. Is this normal.
> Thanks
>