I have never made wine before. I'm trying to create an airlock by
sealing a plastic tube to the cap of a water jug. I am using contact
cement, but this stuff is a little toxic and i fear it may contaminate
the wine? Is this a danger? (I plan to wash and sterilize everything
before starting of course.)
thanks-

chicofeo

On Jun 4, 4:34*pm, wrote:
> I have never made wine before. I'm trying to create an airlock by
> sealing a plastic tube to the cap of a water jug. I am using contact
> cement, but this stuff is a little toxic and i fear it may contaminate
> the wine? Is this a danger? (I plan to wash and sterilize everything
> before starting of course.)
> thanks-
>
> chicofeo

My first thought is that since the cost of an airlock is 110 pennies,
i would never bother with taking the chance.
http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...lock_-_3_Piece

But, to answer your question more directly, I don't think the contact
cement will cause an issue as the platic of the airlock never comes
into direct contact with the wine.

IMHO, I would be more worried about your seam not providing an
airtight seal and air getting to your wine.

On Jun 4, 6:06*pm, Wayne Harris > wrote:
> On Jun 4, 4:34*pm, wrote:
>
> > I have never made wine before. I'm trying to create an airlock by
> > sealing a plastic tube to the cap of a water jug. I am using contact
> > cement, but this stuff is a little toxic and i fear it may contaminate
> > the wine? Is this a danger? (I plan to wash and sterilize everything
> > before starting of course.)
> > thanks-
>
> > chicofeo
>
> My first thought is that since the cost of an airlock is 110 pennies,
> i would never bother with taking the chance.http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...lock_-_3_Piece
>
> But, to answer your question more directly, I don't think the contact
> cement will cause an issue as the platic of the airlock never comes
> into direct contact with the wine.
>
> IMHO, I would be more worried about your seam not providing an
> airtight seal and air getting to your wine.

Re-reading your original post i see that you are cementing a hose to a
water jug? When i hear water jug, i think plastic.

I would add not suggest that any wine be long term aged in LDPE
plastic due to the effects of the polyethylene container.

I would suggest using glass, a rubber stopper, and commercial airlock.

the glass could be any Glass gallon jug or carboy.

the rubber stopper is all of 40 pennies.

and as i stated, the airlock is 110 pennies

so now you are up to 150 pennies for your investment assuming you are
recycling a glass jug.



(Not sure why i am using pennies, i guess it serves to demonstrate how
cheap a non-rigged solution is..... )

Wayne, thanks for the thorough response. I myself am all about doing
things the right way, but i'm currently in a small town in Colombia
and i wouldn't have the first idea where to find a real airlock, and
mail-order is out of the question. Being my first attempt, i'm only
gonna do a tiny batch so its not a disaster if it comes out bad. I'll
let you know how it goes.

On Jun 4, 9:50*pm, wrote:
> Wayne, thanks for the thorough response. I myself am all about doing
> things the right way, but i'm currently in a small town in Colombia
> and i wouldn't have the first idea where to find a real airlock, and
> mail-order is out of the question. Being my first attempt, i'm only
> gonna do a tiny batch so its not a disaster if it comes out bad. I'll
> let you know how it goes.

You could put a balloon over the container, many people used this
method in the past

wrote:

> Wayne, thanks for the thorough response. I
> myself am all about doing things the right way,
> but i'm currently in a small town in Colombia
> and i wouldn't have the first idea where to find
> a real airlock, and mail-order is out of the
> question. Being my first attempt, i'm only gonna
> do a tiny batch so its not a disaster if it
> comes out bad. I'll let you know how it goes.

You could put a layer of food grade mineral oil
over your wine. It will not mix and will prevent
air from getting to your wine. You will,
however, have to siphon out he wine from under
the mineral oil when ready to bottle or drink.
I think in the past some used Olive oil but the
mineral oil may not get rancid over time. I have
never tried it - just read about it.