Airlock Bubbler S-Bend, Australian Made

Our biggest selling airlock, and the one that goes on most of the fermenters we sell. Made in Australia. Half fill it with water, push it into the grommet or bung on your fermenter, and it does the rest: carbon dioxide from the ferment pushes out through the water, and nothing gets back in.

What it fits

Any fermenter with a standard grommet in the lid, which is every AHB drum and pail fermenter. If your lid has an empty hole, the universal grommet is the one, and the 30 litre pail takes the top hat grommet. For glass demijohns and PET carboys, pair it with a drilled bung in the size for your neck: the 25 to 38mm, 37 to 45mm or 47 to 58mm silicone bungs, or the No. 10 bung for the 23 litre PET carboy.

Using it

Fill to about halfway with water, no higher, or the first burst of fermentation will blow water out the top. Check it every few days on a long ferment and top it up if it has evaporated. Take it off and rinse it when you are done, and give it a soak in sanitiser with the rest of the gear before the next brew.

Two things worth knowing. First, the bubbling tells you gas is escaping, not that fermentation is finished. A brew can stop bubbling and still have a way to go, so use a hydrometer to call it done, not the airlock. Second, if a big, vigorous ferment starts pushing foam up into the airlock, pull it out, clean it, and run a sanitised length of tubing from the grommet into a jar of water as a blow-off tube until things calm down. Then put the airlock back.

S-bend or cylinder?

This is the classic S-bend design. It is a little quieter and holds its water better when the fermenter gets bumped. The Airlock Senior is the cylindrical style, which is easier to pull apart and clean. Both do the same job, so it comes down to which you prefer to look at.