StillSmart

Does the size of the air gap between the wash and the lid make any difference to the fermentation of the wash ?

In my spirit washes definitely not.
Don't know about other washes, but I would guess not.

Robert.

I expose my washes to the open air for a couple of days to encourage airbourne yeasts. So, the answer to your question is "no". Wines and beer are more sensitive to contamination. I do not use an air lock either.

Thanks for the replies i thought i had read somewhere that it was no good for the wash but it must have been on about beer/wine like you say.

You might well have read that. Personally I dont believe it is necessary.

I keep my equipment clean but dont sterilize.

The biggest problem with the WWW, & forums today is the self-appointed "Experts" that put forward "their thoughts" on a subject.

You can find this on Youtube with the videos on making beer, wine & likker....the answers to any questions you have are better answered by guys who have been doing it themselves for a number of years.

As RJ said he leaves his FV open for a time, the old shinners used open barrels with an old sack thrown over to keep out flys.

The act of fermentation gives off Co2 and fills the empty void in the FV, that's been my understanding for the 50 odd years I've been making beer & wine...and that's the practice that I've carried over into this hobby....so my answer to your OP is no matey, enjoy what your doing.

All ferments need room to move. Otherwise they move themselves all over the place and create one hell of a mess.

I allow a 1/3 head space on stuff with solids in, as the co2 will lift it.

Beer and spirit brews need about 4-6 inches in the bucket.

Yeast NEEDS air in the first instance to get going.

I have 8 inches of head space in my 2 washes they are fizzing away nicely now

It took me a while to learn to initially split two 25 litre washes between three 25 litre brew buckets for the first few days.
The yeast monster kept climbing from the buckets and making a mess
After the first few days I can condense back to two buckets and gain a little shelf space.
I don't think that I own an airlock, and my loose fitting lids are there, as Ice states, to try and keep the flies out.
I drop aquarium bubblers in all my washes before adding yeast,it seems to get them off to a flying start.

Robert.

Have to agree that open fermentation is fine. I used to use fermentation locks but mostly don't bother unless I want a visible indication on a slow fermentation.

Meh! I don't do open fermentation on anything.

Not because it doesn't work etc, because yes it does. I use a lid and airlock because I'm lazy as hell, inasfaras, I just use hot water into a sanitised bucket with the sugar to the target volume (generally 25 litres), I use a leccy balloon whisk or immersion blender to spin the hell out of it and dissolve the sugar which has the side effect of incorporating some air/O2, then seal the lid on and add an airlock

The lid and lock are just to stop possible bacterial contaminants while it's cooling down.

The next day, I just pitch the yeast into the cooled wash and give it about 2 or 3 minutes with the whisk or blender as above, then re-seal and airlock.

The first of the gas out of the lock will be any trapped air/O2 as the CO2 is lighter, then after a few minutes of bubbling the bucket void (about 4 inches with my buckets) will be full of CO2 so no issue.

loose lids can help to keep out dust and flies.

As Mash points out, if the wash has some sort of bits in it already (grapes or other fruits for wines, maybe grain for wort etc), then it's not unusual to get some "cap" rising up on top of a layer of trapped gaseous release - if it blocks the airlock, then it can get very messy.

Oh, and while using a specific yeast, it generally forms into a colony big enough to swamp any wild yeast that may get in, using the lid and lock also helps maintain consistent results, that you don't get when doing open ferments - as it could be many different wild strains that take hold.

The airspace thing can become an issue after the ferment, so you rack off the lees and find that with the racking losses, you need to use something as an anti-oxidant, as it's the oxygen in air that can degrade some "wines". The most frequently encountered anti-oxidant will be campden tablets a.k.a. sulphites. Some even go as far as using bottles of compressed gas to force out any air/O2 and its accompanying passengers (wild yeast, bacteria etc)........