I have continued to struggle with solid stoppers in carboys for aging.
I searched this site and found a handful of threads on this topic - the
prevailing wisdom seemed to be to age wine under S-type airlocks. Is
that sufficient closure for post-second racking aging?

The advantage of airlocks is that they will accomodate temperature
variation reasonably well; the carboy is just a big thermometer. That
said a solid stopper would work but you may not want to have it touch
the wine; you can put a few layers of Saran wrap under it though. I'm
not sure how you would tell if one came loose either, most airlocks
flop over on the ground if they get loose because the CG must be above
the stopper.

The disadvantage of airlocks is they need to have liquid in them so
long term they need attention. I never had one dry out but have heard
of that. I have wines under airlock for over a year right now with no
ill effects.

I would caution you that most airlocks come out of the mold pretty
rough; I trim the end that gets inserted into the stopper to smooth off
the rough edge left from the mold. I just screpe it until smooth. I
did have issues once with long term storage due to that. If you held
the stopper and airlock up to a strong light you could see a little
daylight along the edge of the airlock. I would not have believed that
possible but saw it myself.

Joe

Ric ,
Get yourself some of the silicone fermentation stoppers . The fit in the
carboy and have a one-way check/flapper on them . The will stay in the
carboy and not pop out on you . They also never need to be filled . Of
course they are 5 bucks instead of 3 , but when you are dealing with 75
bucks plus of wine , what is 5 bucks for piece of mind .
Greg


"Ric" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I have continued to struggle with solid stoppers in carboys for aging.
> I searched this site and found a handful of threads on this topic - the
> prevailing wisdom seemed to be to age wine under S-type airlocks. Is
> that sufficient closure for post-second racking aging?
>

Here are some at $3.50.

http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16646

Greg Boyd wrote:
> Ric ,
> Get yourself some of the silicone fermentation stoppers . The fit in the
> carboy and have a one-way check/flapper on them . The will stay in the
> carboy and not pop out on you . They also never need to be filled . Of
> course they are 5 bucks instead of 3 , but when you are dealing with 75
> bucks plus of wine , what is 5 bucks for piece of mind .
> Greg
>
>
> "Ric" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> I have continued to struggle with solid stoppers in carboys for aging.
>> I searched this site and found a handful of threads on this topic - the
>> prevailing wisdom seemed to be to age wine under S-type airlocks. Is
>> that sufficient closure for post-second racking aging?
>>
>
>

"Greg Boyd" > wrote in message
...
> Ric ,
> Get yourself some of the silicone fermentation stoppers . They fit in the
> carboy and have a one-way check/flapper on them . The will stay in the
> carboy and not pop out on you.

Those are nice for stoppering wine post fermentation, but I had one pop out
and land on the floor when I used it on an active fermentation. They're
kind of slippery when wet.

They'd be good for long term bulk aging though - certainly better than a
solid stopper - because they'd never allow the pressure to get high enough
to blow the bottom out of a carboy.

Tom S

Thanks much. Am putting the wine back under S-airlocks, and have
ordered these 'one-way' breathable stoppers.

Tom S wrote:
> "Greg Boyd" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Ric ,
> > Get yourself some of the silicone fermentation stoppers . They fit in the
> > carboy and have a one-way check/flapper on them . The will stay in the
> > carboy and not pop out on you.
>
> Those are nice for stoppering wine post fermentation, but I had one pop out
> and land on the floor when I used it on an active fermentation. They're
> kind of slippery when wet.
>
> They'd be good for long term bulk aging though - certainly better than a
> solid stopper - because they'd never allow the pressure to get high enough
> to blow the bottom out of a carboy.
>
> Tom S

One issue with bulk aging using these stoppers though - I don't believe
they're truly airtight when the wine is still. I used them last year
this way on several reds and most of them showed some oxidation at the
top layer of the carboy; in the worst case I the oxidation affected a
full 3 gal carboy. I even had a saran wrap on top (single layer) and it
didn't help.

This is the first time this happened to me on this scale and it was the
first year I used these stoppers for bulk aging. The sulfite additions
were pretty typical, if anything, slightly higher than normal.

Pp

Are you saying that the silicon stoppers (that are supposed to allow
CO2 to escape, but not let air in) were not effective in keeping your
wine sealed? What were you using previously that WAS effective? What do
you use now?

Ric wrote:
> Are you saying that the silicon stoppers (that are supposed to allow
> CO2 to escape, but not let air in) were not effective in keeping your
> wine sealed? What were you using previously that WAS effective? What do
> you use now?

Yes, that was my impression - they worked well during fermentation and
shortly after but not for long term bulk aging.

Before I used regular airlocks or solid rubber bungs, without
noticeable oxidation issues.

I'm using the silicone bungs for fermenting and some time after, but
once the ferment is done, I'd cover the stopper with several layers of
Saran wrap. I'm thinking of replacing this with a regular airlock for
bulk aging or solid bung if the wine had been degassed.

Pp