Store Advice Wrong?

Hey folks,

Seemingly great LHBS here. Nice folks, wide selection of equipment. But one thing the gentleman helping us said didn't seem right. The kit my friend bought came with a bucket and glass carboy. The man said to brew the mix (Cooper's kit) in the bucket for 5-7 days and take a hydrometer reading as you're supposed to do. Then we're to transfer the brew into the fermenter. Typically 1-2-3 style.

But there is no airlock on the bucket -- only the carboy. There's plenty of space on the bucket and he said standard practice is just to rest the lid on the bucket -- not sealing -- and that will do it.

True? Not true? Dodgy? I'm confused. I was under the impression there was always supposed to be an airlock on any fermenter.

-WW

That will work. It's not how I do it (I have an airlock hole on my bucket lid) but it'll work like that. As long as the co2 is coming out, you're safe from worrying about contamination. If it makes you feel better, though, you can drill a little hole for an airlock in the bucket lid, and put the lid down tightly. That's probably what I would do, to be honest. But I'm pretty anal about stuff like that.

Not uncommon advice but I agree completely with Yooper. I think it's more common in other countries to use a open (loose) lid but it will work. OTOH, it's easy to drill a hole and buy a grommet.

One Qusetion... Did they have lids and Stoppers and them fancy air locks in the previous Century's?? Hey as long as it' works... who's to judge? I say Wing it...

Ok take this post with a grain of salt... I have tomorrow off and subsequently have hit the tap and don't care =)

Charlie Papazian suggests that "open type" fermenting in a bucket in the Joy of Homebrewing. Doesn't seem like bad advice at all.

Nonetheless, I always use airlocks or blowoff tubes.

Thanks folks,

But see what I find strange is that the kit comes with the glass carboy....and an airlock! So why would they advocate one but not the other? Risk of the exploding glass?

WriterWriter said:

Thanks folks,

But see what I find strange is that the kit comes with the glass carboy....and an airlock! So why would they advocate one but not the other? Risk of the exploding glass?

Click to expand...

Because the bucket has a lid. The co2 can escape through a loose seal on the lid without anything else getting in. You could arguably stick a piece of tinfoil over the carboy lid if you fit it loosely, but the less oxygen that can get in the better.

WriterWriter said:

Thanks folks,

But see what I find strange is that the kit comes with the glass carboy....and an airlock! So why would they advocate one but not the other? Risk of the exploding glass?

Click to expand...

No, because once it's in the carboy it's about done anyway. I guess it's just the way they do it- it's not wrong. It's just not as common as using an airlock. Of course, by not using an airlock with a tight lid, they also are not ever in need of a blow off tube, or had a fermenter lid explode off and paint the ceiling brown. So, maybe they really are on to something!

I'd say to do whichever makes you the most comfortable with the process.

YooperBrew said:

hichever makes you the most comfortable with the process.

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Fair enough. Personally, I've only been brewing with the Mr. Beer kit for the last few months (moving soon and will buy real equipment) and so when my buddy wanted to get started brewing I was somewhat confident I knew what I was doing, thanks in part to this site.

Just wanted to make sure I didn't get him the wrong advice! My plan is to let him try out the primary/secondary deal for a while, and then let him decide if he just wants to stay on the primary for future batches.

FWIW, I bought a "beginners kit" from a store here, containing about what you said. The primary (larger than 6 gallons.. Probably closer to 7 or 7.5, I would guess) is quite tall and comes with a loose-fitting lid -- It snaps in place, but doesn't create an air-tight seal.

I've made 3 batches of delicious beer in it so far, so I don't think it's a problem at all.

I don't use airlocks for primary. Just rest the lid for the bucket and foil for a carboy. Too much pressure back on the yeast can be detrimental to attenuation.

Look into our warm room in lab and you'll see 36 x 1L flasks all with foil as well

PseudoChef said:

I don't use airlocks for primary. Just rest the lid for the bucket and foil for a carboy. Too much pressure back on the yeast can be detrimental to attenuation.

Look into our warm room in lab and you'll see 36 x 1L flasks all with foil as well

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LOL

You have such good answers. Why are you seemingly answering only foil related questions.

Did you get a stock tip?

I use foil on starters all the time.

So Air good during primary?
bad during secondary?

What if if you open the lid and give the beer a good swirl allowing new air to the beer will this speed up fermentation times / and bring the FG down a little , or will it oxygenate the beer and destroy the flavor? (similar to building a starter)

"Still green, sorry if this has been covered already."

No, air (oxidation) still bad. But, if you cover the top so that fruitflies and the like can't get in, the co2 is off-gassing and you don't aerate the beer.

When we talk about open fermentation, they are NOT stirring or aerating.

olllllo said:

Did you get a stock tip?

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Just from some guy named Chris White.

I agree with everyone else - it'll work just fine, but it's not how I do it. I enjoy watching the bubbling airlock waaaaaay too much.


TL

My father-in-law brews dandelion wine using wide open fermenters. He just places a towel over the top and lets it go on its own for a couple weeks.

He then secondaries in closed plastic jugs, letting the CO2 out every 12 hours or so, to keep them from exploding.

Not saying it's a common practice, and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable doing it, but I've never heard of an infected batch...