I do worry about the amount of air and the oxygen it carries being drawn into my fermenter at cold crashing. I don’t have a CO2 cyclinder yet and am not at all sure about the investment in kegging and all the associated gas line paraphernalia. Having read about using mylar balloons to capture CO2 here on the forum and at Brulosophy 7 Methods For Reducing Cold-Side Oxidation When Brewing Beer
..… I thought oooh that looks a smart idea and I could do that instead. In all the guides I’ve read there isn’t any clear instruction on how to attach the tubing or pipe to the balloon and the ones so far I’ve seen have fixed connections to a bung or pipe, which is not ideal for storing while full of CO2. I also like things being neat and tidy, so after making three so far, here is my pictorial guide to making a BrüLoonLock. While not original, I tore two balloons before working out how to get through the valve, so hopefully this will be of some help.
The aim here is to form a reusable opening into the balloon that can bit connected on and off a piece of standard vinyl tubing. The challenge is getting through the mylar balloon valve without tearing the balloon. You will need: a hard plastic drinking straw (the reusable type) or similar hard tube, waterproof tape, electrical insulating tape, a hack saw, a piece of tubing, fine abrasive paper, some mylar balloons and part of an airlock.
Start by locating the valve entry on the balloon and gently tease the drinking straw into between the layers, it will very quickly experience resistance from the valve as it enters the balloon.
To help open the valve, blow a little air through the straw into the balloon. Twisting can help but don’t grip the straw through the balloon as the valve is adhesive. Push the straw into the balloon and it will still be in the valve layers till it reaches the end again. This can be tricky but you need to feel the end of the straw through the layers of balloon and push the end of it through the thin plastic of the valve. This means gas can get into as well as out of the balloon.
Trim the tail of the balloon close to the straw and fold back so that the edge can be wrapped around the straw. While the seal around the straw due to the adhesive is pretty good, its not enough, so use waterproof tape to form a seal between the folded over edges and straw.
Cut the straw in half and sand down the edge of the cut till smooth.
To make the reusable fitting to the tube, wrap about 6” of insulating tape around the straw and smooth down. Test the fit onto the tube, if the tape wrinkles up due to it being too tight, unwind a little and trim.
For the other end of the tube cut off the bottom part of an old airlock (these are from bubblers that are too tall to use in my fermenting fridge), sand the cut smooth and push onto the end of the tube.
The tube, balloon and fermenter can all be connected. The balloons once full can easily be disconnected, sealed with a small amount of tape and a new one added without disturbing the tube. This has the advantage of being able to collect the CO2 from an active fermenter to use for another one that is going to be cold crashed. All the parts are interchangeable so the tubing can be used for a blowoff valve and swapped to a balloon without disturbing the fermenter.
Hopefully useful.
Anna
..… I thought oooh that looks a smart idea and I could do that instead. In all the guides I’ve read there isn’t any clear instruction on how to attach the tubing or pipe to the balloon and the ones so far I’ve seen have fixed connections to a bung or pipe, which is not ideal for storing while full of CO2. I also like things being neat and tidy, so after making three so far, here is my pictorial guide to making a BrüLoonLock. While not original, I tore two balloons before working out how to get through the valve, so hopefully this will be of some help.
The aim here is to form a reusable opening into the balloon that can bit connected on and off a piece of standard vinyl tubing. The challenge is getting through the mylar balloon valve without tearing the balloon. You will need: a hard plastic drinking straw (the reusable type) or similar hard tube, waterproof tape, electrical insulating tape, a hack saw, a piece of tubing, fine abrasive paper, some mylar balloons and part of an airlock.
Start by locating the valve entry on the balloon and gently tease the drinking straw into between the layers, it will very quickly experience resistance from the valve as it enters the balloon.
To help open the valve, blow a little air through the straw into the balloon. Twisting can help but don’t grip the straw through the balloon as the valve is adhesive. Push the straw into the balloon and it will still be in the valve layers till it reaches the end again. This can be tricky but you need to feel the end of the straw through the layers of balloon and push the end of it through the thin plastic of the valve. This means gas can get into as well as out of the balloon.
Trim the tail of the balloon close to the straw and fold back so that the edge can be wrapped around the straw. While the seal around the straw due to the adhesive is pretty good, its not enough, so use waterproof tape to form a seal between the folded over edges and straw.
Cut the straw in half and sand down the edge of the cut till smooth.
To make the reusable fitting to the tube, wrap about 6” of insulating tape around the straw and smooth down. Test the fit onto the tube, if the tape wrinkles up due to it being too tight, unwind a little and trim.
For the other end of the tube cut off the bottom part of an old airlock (these are from bubblers that are too tall to use in my fermenting fridge), sand the cut smooth and push onto the end of the tube.
The tube, balloon and fermenter can all be connected. The balloons once full can easily be disconnected, sealed with a small amount of tape and a new one added without disturbing the tube. This has the advantage of being able to collect the CO2 from an active fermenter to use for another one that is going to be cold crashed. All the parts are interchangeable so the tubing can be used for a blowoff valve and swapped to a balloon without disturbing the fermenter.
Hopefully useful.
Anna
so thankfully I rarely have to fiddle with catheter bags..... and I think second hand ones would be a bit euww even if thoroughly sanitised!
