Complete Brewing Starter Kit + Beer Kit

25 ltr Brewing Bin and Lid

Hydrometer -  for checking the progress of fermentation

Thermometer - for checking the temperature prior to adding the yeast

Syphon Tube  - for transferring beer to bottles* or pressure barrel*

Sterilising Solution  - to clean and sterilise all equipment

Beer Yeast Sachet

40 pint BrewBuddy Bitter Kit**

Full Instructions

• a heater
• a hydrometer test jar
• a gas injection system
  

We do not include airlocks in our starter kit for the simple reason that they are completely un-necessary unless you have a fermentation bin that has a hole in the lid.

Many of the “how to” books and online forums insist that all fermentation should be undertaken under an airlock, but fail to specify which TYPE of fermentation vessel they are using.

If you are using a 5 gallon carboy (as favoured by many American brewers) which is effectively a very large glass demijohn, or one of the 5 gallon plastic wine fermenters, then yes, you need an airlock as carboys and fermenters tend to be straight sided and have “shoulders” that funnel the CO2 towards the large opening at the top through which gas can escape and “nasties” can get in. This hole can not be completely sealed otherwise you would effectively end up with a pressure vessel and the gas produced during the early part of the fermentation process would potentially become quite dangerous. As a result, an airlock is fitted to allow the excess CO2 produced to escape before it reaches dangerous pressure levels. As a side consequence, you can also see from the bubbling of the airlock that fermentation is progressing and can gauge how near the process is to finishing.

UK standard brewing bins on the other hand tend to be conical in shape with the top being wider than the bottom and have “snap shut” lids. Whilst these lids are suitable for keeping bugs out, they are not air tight and thus automatically self–release any excess pressure created during fermentation. In addition, the sloping shape of the bins tend to dissipate the CO2 rather than funnel it towards an airlock in the same way that a carboy or wine fermenter would do. This means that you can not reliably use an airlock to gauge the progression of the fermentation and it is easy to assume that the primary ferment has finished as soon as bubbles are no longer visibly passing through the airlock. This can lead to too much unfermented sugar being transferred into the bottles or barrels being used for storage and can lead to excessive pressures being produced during the “conditioning” phase of the brewing process.

After 20+ years of brewing without an airlock, I work on the basis that unless the lid has a hole in it, you don’t need to fill it and therefore don’t put airlocks with any of our beer, lager or cider starter kits.