Who leaves the lid loose on the fermenter

anybody curious about how easy it is for wild yeast/bacteria to actually get into a fermentor should fill a gallon/bucket jug with fresh wort and see what happens and how long it takes. it's what i did, been 3 days and nothing visible so far.

Wow, this thing has gotten a lot more response than I expected. My reason for posting the question was not really out of concern of infection, but more out of curiosity as to whether it was common practice, and it seems like it is relatively common.

Many years ago, in the Navy, I was trained as a Nuclear Power Plant Operator (2 years of schools) and operated plants for 4 years before getting out with a 6 years of experience. I am very familiar with gas laws, atomic masses of elements and molecules and fluid dynamics in general. I agree that there should be little or no fear of contamination if I do proper sanitation.

What I am always intrigued by is the idea that some people fear what a little air might do to their beer in the first couple of hours before fermentation gets rolling and co2 starts to be given off. When the beer is transfered to the fermenter, the idea is to introduce as much air as possible which most people do by holding the transfer hose high and letting the sweet juice get max air contact and splash into the fermenter. Next they shake the heck out of the fermenter to get more air contact Then they think they have to seal it tight to not let any air in? Sounds nutty to me, but who am I to question......I have a limited education.

Sorry for the sarcasm, but people really need to think about whether or not their ideas make sense.

Thanks all,

Mookie

"Sorry for the sarcasm, but people really need to think about whether or not their ideas make sense."

Easy... about 90% of these threads would NOT exist if people thought things through! I have been guilty as well lol

Roger That!! I am guilty as well when asking questions, usually to make sure I am not missing something.

My sarcasm is more directed at responders making statements that are off base. If I don't know something for a fact, I will not say anything at all or qualify it as being only my opinion. But I do have to admit....it is fun to read through these things when people disagree or somebody with the right answer comes along and blows the wrong answers out of the water....or wort as the case may be.

Now I am going to consume some homebrew, the one thing funner than reading about it.

I agree fully with the oxygenating practice. It's like sanitizing all of your equipment and boiling your wort for an hour then dumping cold tap water into your fermenter to top it off.

Both of these practices seem nuts to me, which is why I've always refused to do either. Under the advice of a few BJCP judges, I've always used sterile O2 to oxygenate and have always done full wort boils.

By sticking with these practices I know I can make the same beer taste identical to the last each time I brew it, and give it a professional brew pub taste. This way I know if I don't at least place well in a competition it's not because of my mechanics or brewing process, but rather the judges thought my recipe was not within style guidelines which is much easier to deal with than sanitation issues.

I just want to chime in , my fermenter is 11.5 gallon food grade bucket. It's very flexible plastic and looks like a large garbage can and the lid does not snap on at all, it's not meant to.

The loose fit lid is definitely enough , some people are so paranoid about things and over think.

In this fermenter I have brewed about 55 gallons in 5-6 gallon batches some I ferment for 3 weeks primary and some 1 week. I haven't noticed any difference between leaving it in primary for longer vs secondary.

When I'm lazy the beer sits in that primary,
No air is getting in there and no particles can get in there the lid prevents such a thing. The blanket of co2 protects your beer pretty much. So I have tried and tested proof in my mind that it works great with nothing to worry about , they sell these fermenters at all homebrew stores here.

If it didn't work I wouldn't use it.

I know the container you are talking about, though my shop does not sell them as fermenters, but rather long term bulk grain storage containers. I have 3 in my my brewery full of 100 lbs of American 2 row, British 2 row, and German Pilsner malt.

Revvy said:

"nasties" are not ninja acrobats

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Maybe not, but your dog, cat, kids, .... are.

For the sake of $1.00, put an airlock on.

I have had basically the same experience as Ozzfest. I use a roughly 43L food-grade plastic bucket with a loose-fitting lid. I've left beers in it for up to three weeks before racking to a carboy with an airlock and I've never had an infection or contamination problem.

That said, I use it because it's the biggest fermentor I have and it's easier to get the beer in it from the kettle. I don't do it because I'm worried about blow-off, although I usually put my most vigorous fermentors in it. It doesn't have an air lock. I'd probably use one if it did. But it's not strictly necessary. The CO2 will protect it from baddies and the lid will protect it from airborne particles (cat hair, etc.)

In conclusion: RDWAHAHB

howabouttheiris said:

Maybe not, but your dog, cat, kids, .... are.

For the sake of $1.00, put an airlock on.

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Your missing it. It's not about money.
Some fermenters are designed with a loose fit lid, meaning the lid itself is not meant to clip on but just cover.

My fermenter is in a freezer with temp controller so kids or pets don't touch , you could get scientist to research it if you wanted to the answer remains the same.

Loose fit lid design works the same as an air tight design with air lock so long as your practices are correct. if your aging it longer than fermentation times or dry hop / spice then you secondary.