Air lock, gas, lid question...

[Schnell88]

At the bottom of my fermenting bin I have a plug thing that I put in to block the hole. Is this an airlock to let the gas out?

At the moment I have to leave the lid slightly unclipped to allow the gas to escape otherwise the lid gets a big bulge.

Also if it does this, wont the gas go into the beer, like in the priming stage?

Thanks... Im new to all this.

 

[BrewStew]

the plug at the bottom (if it's under the beer level) will be for an optional tap.

airlocks are ok (and go at the top in the lid), but so is unsnapping the lid, which is pretty much open top fermentation which many breweries (and home brewers including myself) still do in their masses to date.

leaving the lid unsnapped is fine :thumb:

as for the carbonation part, no, this happens in secondary fermentation either in a barrel/keg or bottle. this is the time when it needs to be kept airtight.