March 26th, 2008

Do You Sniff Your Fermentation Lock?

Posted by John in Brew Log

I know, it’s sort of a personal question.

I have been sniffing my fermentation airlock for the past few days to get a sense of what is happening in that bucket o’ mine. I am getting a nice whiff of grapefruit each time I push down on the bucket lid. I am hoping it’s just the Glacier hops giving off their pleasant aroma…but I swear I smelt the same odor when I pitched my starter. I know the WLP051 is supposed to be more fruity than WLP001, but I didn’t think it would be this fruity.

Like I said, it smells nice…it doesn’t smell like vinegar or cider. It smells right…not wrong. I think my wife is weirded out a little when she sees me in our second bathroom, bent over and sniffing the airlock.

OK, I think I crossed the TMI threshold for today. Type to you tomorrow.

STOP SMELLING THE AIRLOCK!

7 Responses to ' Do You Sniff Your Fermentation Lock? '

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  1. JoeyJoeJoe said,

    on March 27th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    Dude, I’m an airlock sniffer, a trub scooper (with my hands) and a hydrometer sample drinker. You aren’t alone. I’ve taken deep, long snorts of my airlock that would make Scarface blush.

  2. John said,

    on March 28th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    Say hello to my little friend….the airlock.

    I am glad I am not the only one.

  3. Nobody Listens said,

    on April 1st, 2008 at 12:40 am

    Sniffing the airlock, or “What in the hell are you doing?”…

    In searching out when to rack to secondary, I ran across the Brew Dudes and one of their posts had me cracking up:
    ” I think my wife is weirded out a little when she sees me in our second bathroom, bent over and sniffing the airlock.”
    Glad…

  4. smokey2008 said,

    on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:03 am

    I’m a closet sniffer! Guess not anymore though.

  5. Heating Pad For Fermentation | Brew Dudes said,

    on April 2nd, 2008 at 7:42 am

    […] because we had “people coming over”. No need freaking them out too with my constant airlock sniffing. Moving my fermenter to my basement did pose a problem though. My basement’s ambient […]

  6. Dave said,

    on April 8th, 2008 at 6:58 am

    hey guys, there is nothing wrong with sniffing your airlock.
    nothing wrong with sniffing someone else’s air lock either.
    In fact it is OK to sniff someone else’s airlock whilst they watch….
    And they can smell yours at the same time.

  7. John said,

    on April 8th, 2008 at 7:49 am

    I’m Ok.

    You’re Ok.

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