Soothing Evening Sound

The last couple evenings, I've had a nice, white-noise-type sound to help me get to sleep at night. It's kind of a "Bloop... bloop, bloop, bloop... bloop, bloop... bloop, bloop, bloopity-bloop, bloop." OK, the bloopity part I made up. However, that is pretty much what it sounds like. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it is definitely beer-related. Give up? It's the carbon dioxide escaping from my fermenting batch of homebrew through the water-filled bubbler air lock.

Right now you might be wondering, "Why does he keep the fermenter in his bedroom?" Well, temperature-wise and space-wise, it seems to be the best placement within my home. I still have the box that the glass carboy fermenter came in, so I put it in there to protect it from light. The only thing that peeks out between the cardboard flaps is the fermentation lock. Its job is to allow the carbon dioxide (produced by the yeast) to get out of the carboy while keeping any bad outside stuff from getting in, including air.

The whole side benefit to this setup is that I have a soothing device to help lull me to sleep at night. I mean, first there's that pleasant sound emanating from the air lock. Then, I have another surprise calming factor in a mental sense. After all, if the bubbler is bubbling, that means the yeast is doing its job: converting sugars to carbon dioxide and, of course, alcohol. Wort changing to beer, right as I'm listening to it. That puts a smile on my face and relaxes me. "I'm going to have some finished beer in a few weeks," I think to myself.

It's a perfect situation. Except for the fact that the "bloop" noises keep my wife awake...