andre the giant

Recipes 

Last night I brewed a batch, and when I went to put the stopper in the carboy, it slipped right on through and into the wort. The stopper had been soaking in sanitizer for hours, and I used a quart of starter, (8 hours later, lots of foam and constant bubbling from the blowoff tube) so I'm not worried about contamination... I just am wondering how I'm going to get the thing out of there.

__________________
After a year of sitting idle, Andre's All-Grain Brewery has reopened.
Batch #59-Kolsch (Secondary)
Batch #60-Blueberry Ale (Primary)

uglygoat

Recipes 

i fished one out with a butter knife...

someone else here used a coat hanger to hook the hole...

__________________
A barrel of malt, a bushel of hops, you stir it around with a stick
The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick

never argue with an idiot, they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

homebrewer_99

Recipes 

After you rack use a metal coat hanger with a little hook (the diameter of the opening in the stopper) on the end to go into the center hole.

Try to hook the smaller end first so it slides through the opening (the reverse of how it got in there).

__________________
HB Bill

Born Brewing Co.

Recipes 

My buddy did this. So, everytime I cap my carboy I remember to be extra careful. Use Hombrewer's technique. I would also have the carboy lip wet, perhaps with sanitizer, acts like a lube, stopper should pull right out.

__________________
Born Brewing Co.

Primary :empty
Secondary : empty
KEG: empty

May your beer never be empty, and a roof always over your head, and when your day comes, may you get to heaven before the devil knows your dead.

homebrewer_99

Recipes 

The "trick" here would be to put the airlock into the stopper BEFORE plugging up the opening.

__________________
HB Bill

andre the giant

Recipes 

All very good suggestions. Wetting the lip of the carboy should help. The lip was wet with sanitizer (slippery) when I tried to put the stopper in. It wouldn't stay "seated" and would just pop right back up. So I tried to push it in a little farther when.... splash one stopper. I would have put the airlock in, but I planned on shaking the carboy pretty vigorously first.

Oh well. The beer will be fine, it smelled and tasted wonderful. Nice and hoppy. Here it is, 15 hours and a couple showers later, I'm at work, but I still can "smell" the boiling wort. Maybe it's all in my head, but boy does it smell good. Ahhhh, I love homebrewing.

__________________
After a year of sitting idle, Andre's All-Grain Brewery has reopened.
Batch #59-Kolsch (Secondary)
Batch #60-Blueberry Ale (Primary)

sudsmonkey

Recipes 

Bust the carboy ! Better yet, fin a relly little man, really little, and get him in there to push it back out for you. Afterwards , get a bigger stopper. I dropped my siphon hose into a carboy the other night and played Hell getting it back out. A coathanger is a valuable tool around the brewery ! If you can't get it out, rest easy with the knowledge that every time you clean the carboy , that stopper gets clean too.




Sudsmonkey

andre the giant

Recipes 

It wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't a carboy I borrowed from a friend.

__________________
After a year of sitting idle, Andre's All-Grain Brewery has reopened.
Batch #59-Kolsch (Secondary)
Batch #60-Blueberry Ale (Primary)

Sir Sudster

Recipes 

SUDSMONKEY, have you been sippin suds again? What would we do with out coat hangers? We use to use bailing wire.

seanhagerty

Recipes 

Get a piece of rope and tie a knot in it, then slide the knotted end into the carboy. Tip the carboy up till the stopper is over the hole..then pull the rope out slowly. The stopper should come out. May take two or three tries, but good luck.


Oh yes, wait till the beer is out