Question for the Brewers

[Mr Gus]

Question for the Brewers..

Having got hold of a very cheap, unused large 210 litre food safe fermenting barrel, wide mouth with drain tap, bung & air bubbler my mind turns to sharing space with this & the fermentation smells not always nice, & likely to make the wife "comment" that it is worse than our dogs backside.
Therefore is there a carbon filter version of a bubbler to reduce whiffs? (also helpful if it is by our front door)

[Joeboy]

I brewed all grain for years. Only ever seen varying sizes of air lock.

[Bugtownboy]

Gus, could you attach a length of tube to the bung and place the air-lock outside - obviously you’d need a handy window and a means to keep the air lock upright.

[Mr Gus]

Thanks for the replies, as we live by a field there is a "home displacement" critters invasion as we live next to fields just harvested.
so holes need blocking, thus reluctance to do that, I will eventually put a mesh air feed in that room, but concerned for sound / privacy (wife on phone / zoom meetings discussing patients medical histories etc, you just don't want to chance it with an open window, thus the filter thoughts. I suppose a small container a few litres, hose, & a home made cut out carbon filter would suffice?

[AE-NMidlands]

I guess it would do, but it is a fact that humidity saturates carbon filters and stops the odour absorbtion, hence the need for regular regeneration (baking) or replacement. So expect it to "fail" after a while.
I would guess that what comes through the airlocks is pretty humid, even if not boosted by evaporation from the lock itself.
A
p.s. one of my books said second-hand glass is OK as you can sterilise it, but avoid plastic as it is almost impossible to get back to sterile if it is contaminated. I ignored that and accepted a second-hand 5-gal fermenter from a colleague who had given up... and despite using Decon (a lab cleaner and steriliser) and boiling water I acquired a bacterial contamination which ruins every batch that goes through it. I used to use it on bulk surplus fruit at this time of year, but it is now retired as a water-butt down the garden!

[Oliver90owner]

I always use sodium metabisuphite for sterilising. It works. Nasty if you keep breathing it, mind.

If killing off unwanted yeast, I use the Potassium salt.

[Mr Gus]

I guess it would do, but it is a fact that humidity saturates carbon filters and stops the odour absorbtion, hence the need for regular regeneration (baking) or replacement. So expect it to "fail" after a while.
I would guess that what comes through the airlocks is pretty humid, even if not boosted by evaporation from the lock itself.
A
p.s. one of my books said second-hand glass is OK as you can sterilise it, but avoid plastic as it is almost impossible to get back to sterile if it is contaminated. I ignored that and accepted a second-hand 5-gal fermenter from a colleague who had given up... and despite using Decon (a lab cleaner and steriliser) and boiling water I acquired a bacterial contamination which ruins every batch that goes through it. I used to use it on bulk surplus fruit at this time of year, but it is now retired as a water-butt down the garden!

It's a room that will have an ASHP connection so improved control on humidity potentially.
You were plumb unlucky, guess it was too scratched up, this is virgin apart from tap water prep for a very large aquarium (waiting for chlorine to dissipate) the guy selling it had no space (in his big house) & had bought it new from a local plastics company, so good for me, plastics are a staple of home brewing, but use is finite.

[Mr Gus]

Got to get a few cleaners this week, bought too much white vinegar (grainfather & a secondary boiler cum fermenter)
Anyone rate "ritchies" brand? cleaner, I'm open to branded as well as buying a few singular chemicals.

We could do with an Avalon here for brewing & the likes.
On another note, its easier to get a small scale rectifiers license these days if you wished to produce gin, guess the revenue are comfortable with bio fuels & small scale distillation nowadays (still plenty of paperwork mind)

Another thought:

Has anyone made a cornelius keg cleaner? (pond pump, spray head, tubing connectors, bucket & some wood offcuts) the "official" ones are daft money
I have 4+ of those which I'd like to speed up the process, am hoping that type of kit will help cleaning & sanitising this barrel too, though get the feeling it will be a gorilla tub filled with san cleaner fed by a power washer.

[Joeboy]

I used thin bleach for years with no issues. Mix of plastic and s/s in the brewery. You want to avoid the thicker bleaches as they have additives which cause to stick and foam. Thin bleach kills everything and sluices straight off.

[Mr Gus]

Any copper kit Joe?