"pinky" > wrote in message
k...
> Bob
> You are totally right -- but the oxygen bit is a real need. It just so
> happens that there is enough around in normal circumstances.
> I have done exactly the same thing ( well very nearly). I have never
covered
> with just a muslin/cheese cloth but always with a"sealing"type lid or a
very
> tight lid with a fermentation lock. There is enough oxygen in the water
> added to "fruit" wines inherently and if you are punching down a fruit cap
> daily there is another source of oxygen.and in any case the header space
has
> a lot of it too!
> I have always thought that the main reason for covering with a "cloth" was
> to stop the fruit flies getting to my must and that the vigorous initial
> fermentation kept a substantial "blanket" of CO2 over the must anyway

I mix my ingredients and do all my testing etc in a 24 litre pail. It is
open to the air of course, and then I transfer it into a carboy that is only
filled up to the point where the shoulder of the bottle begins curving in so
it has enough head space to keep foam out of the airlock. My procedure must
be doing it enough as is. :-)
Bob<><
--

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,
how I wonder where you're at?
Up above the world so high,
like a tea-tray in the sky!"
-Lewis Carrol- "Alice in Wonderland"