Foil instead of airlock

[Brichards700]

I just used foil for my last few batches and it worked fine. I'm probably going to stick with it unless I spot any fruit flies buzzing around the basement. I picked up some sort of weird green spiney vegetable that is supposed to attract your fruit flies and then kill them off. I forget what its called but it worked great in my house. I found it in my local grocery store in the produce dept. Don't eat it.

[ipaisay2.0]

I have been using foil as well lately with really good results. Since I live in Apple country USA (Upstate NY) and I have 7 old pear trees in my backyard. I always have fruit flies around the area especially this time of the year. The fruit flies love to sit in my (drinking ) beer as soon as I set it down in my garage. So I am left to putting my drinking beer glass in the fridge between sips....no fruit flies then! I have not seen them in the carboys and have not had any acetic flavors in my beers lately.

Recently I was at a local brew pub that had their beer in an open fermentation vessel in a closed room. I could see about 20 or so fruit flies flying around that open vessel. I was just amazed and even more amazed that I could not taste any acetic flavors in their beer either!?

So, maybe as long as their is a layer of co2 on your beer fruit flies can not get in (Co2 Toxic to them)? Also, I do not see where there is any need to put an airlock on a beer that is done fermenting. Wouldn't there be a layer of Co2 blanketing your beer from O2? Also, if your beer is "done" fermenting, why would you get anymore co2 blow off from your beer?

I am always worried about fruit flies when transferring beers to kegs this time of the year. I usually wait for cooler night for transfers.

[dstar26t]

I always use foil unless it's a beer that will need a blow-off tube. Once fermentation is complete and it's time to cold crash, I put a carboy cap on and attach one of those sanitary in-line filters on a length of tubing so when the contracting beer sucks air in, it's sanitary air. I had thought about hooking up CO2 to the cold crashing stage but I use glass carboys and didn't want to risk an unsupervised explosion.

[Elbone]

I just used foil for my last few batches and it worked fine. I'm probably going to stick with it unless I spot any fruit flies buzzing around the basement. I picked up some sort of weird green spiney vegetable that is supposed to attract your fruit flies and then kill them off. I forget what its called but it worked great in my house. I found it in my local grocery store in the produce dept. Don't eat it.

Britchards- Please find out what that "weird green spiney vegetable" is called. I need some. Google was no help on this one.

[Bugeater]

I just used foil for my last few batches and it worked fine. I'm probably going to stick with it unless I spot any fruit flies buzzing around the basement. I picked up some sort of weird green spiney vegetable that is supposed to attract your fruit flies and then kill them off. I forget what its called but it worked great in my house. I found it in my local grocery store in the produce dept. Don't eat it.

Britchards- Please find out what that "weird green spiney vegetable" is called. I need some. Google was no help on this one.

You just weren't trying hard enough. I came up with an herb called rue. http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips ... rue-063558

Wayne