Do you cover your carboy?

So there's no real consensus that I've found here so far...

I've yet to cover mine, and after 5 batches, I haven't really noticed the supposed "off-flavors" that light vs. hops can sometimes produce. So what's the story, eh?

I have a large closet where I keep my carboy and fermentation buckets, so since it's always dark in there, I have never covered the carboy and haven't had any problems as of yet.

My mini-fridge fermenator only holds one carboy. A carboy will go in there during the early (heat producing) stages uncovered. Then (to free the fermenator up for the next batch) they come out and I dress them in layers to try to hold a steady temperature (day to night fluctuations.)

Well..I put sometimes only because I think most of us won't fit perfectly into the 3 options. When my brews are in the ferm-chamber... I don't cover, (not alot of light gets into a fridge....). But when the brews are out of the fridge, (usually to make room for another brew or to secondary in the 'man room'), I cover them always. Hell, even when I rack to secondary, keg, bottling bucket, what ever, I cover them with a shirt. Everything I've read, rather on this site or in books, have stated that light exposure to beer is bad. Thats why beer has been put in brown/green bottles for as long as beer has been bottled. So to say there is no consensus..... I think 99% of people cover their carboys when there is light exposure to worry about. Dark closet..no but lighted room like the pic posted above...a no brainer.

I have a pretty dark room for my carboys, but I still throw a towel over them. Why not? It's easy, and helps insulate the carboy in case of an overnight temperature drop. All of my wines are always protected from light that way, and I started doing that with my beer, too.

I put no. I've gone back to buckets, so this isn't a problem. I also ferment in a fermentation chamber that is dark. So no, I don't make an effort to cover my vessels, although no light gets to them.

My mom sews like crazy so you made me custom carboys covers and covers for my one gallon jugs. I do not want any light getting in there, so far so good.

I figure a towel is cheap insurance. Also, much of the time I'm running a swamp cooler so the towel is wet and helping keep the temps down.

I ferment in the basement, which gets very little ambient light - so I've never had need to cover the vessels (carboy, bucket or BB).

I cover the carboy when I ferment in the kitchen as it is exposed to various light sources. I do not cover when I ferment in the basement as there is very little light down there.

I checked yes, but I do use a bucket and tee-shirt setting in a large igloo ice chest with water to help cool the beer.

I figure my fermentatation freezer has a cover on it... so voted yes. You don't want to just let it sit out in the sun. Take a good hoppy beer outside in the sunlight for a few minutes and you'll discover the skunk.

I don't cover the carboy(s) for light issues because I ferment in the basement and the light is blocked anyway.

I have put a towel around one when in the swamp bucket but that was only for cooling.

I always make sure my fermenters are light protected rather that mean a t-shirt over the carboy, fermenting in a bucket or the vessel in a fermentation frdige. Either way it is covered. I'd drank IPA's in out in the sun and you can notice teh skunking happening. Basic brewing radio did a cool experiment a while back with SNPA outside. They tasted them at different stages of being exposed to the sunlight and definitely noticed the effects.
I've also drank beers from Green bottles in the grocery that taste obviously skunked that don't other wise if on tap.

scrambledegg81 said:

So there's no real consensus that I've found here so far...

I've yet to cover mine, and after 5 batches, I haven't really noticed the supposed "off-flavors" that light vs. hops can sometimes produce. So what's the story, eh?

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Only when they are empty. To keep any insect from getting in there and keep the dust out.

Otherwise, I use a dark windowless room. aka spare shower.

I put a TShirt on mine, even if they are in a dark closet because i use a swamp cooler.

I do all of my fermenting with my carboy or bucket inside of a 30 gallon trash can. I really don't have to worry about light hitting my brew that way. Also, when the stopper gets blown out by a particularly fast fermentation, the mess is contained within the container.

Brew-boy said:

My mom sews like crazy so you made me custom carboys covers and covers for my one gallon jugs. I do not want any light getting in there, so far so good.

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i asked my mom to make me some and her response was to give me a sewing machine she got at goodwill for $10. but bright assed light hitting a carboy day in and day out for at least 3 months would have consequences. take a pint of really hoppy beer outside and let it sit for a few hours in direct sunlight. yeah it gets warm, but it taste like a skunks bunger.

I wrap with a towel in the bathtub in the spare bathroom. Works well, as I poor cool water on the towel twice day. I'm keeping it out of the light and keeping it cool.

I dress mine up in the wife's old t-shirts. She thinks its a little weird but hers fit nice and snug and mine are way too big. I have an old Cursed (hardcore band) t -shirt on my kriek and there is another one with black sequins all over it...

I ferment in an old fridge and I don't secondary. So the carboy is rarely covered.

I do keep the cleaned and empty carboy covered with 2 black trash bags for reasons of sanitation and any possibility that light may degrade the plastic. It's cheap insurance.

I voted yes. I considered covered if it's in fermentation chiller. If not in chiller, I place the vessels in a yard size black practice bag and loosely secure the bag at the top. The vessel is covered from light and any blow offs are contained to the bag.

JerD said:

I voted yes. I considered covered if it's in fermentation chiller. If not in chiller, I place the vessels in a yard size black practice bag and loosely secure the bag at the top. The vessel is covered from light and any blow offs are contained to the bag.

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im going to have to try that with my ale pails... sure would make cleanup a breeze.

It seems to me that the poll should have been "do you ferment in the dark" -- lots of people may have voted NO because while they do not technically cover the carboy, that is only because they (like me) have a dark closet/basement/cellar so they don't need to.

So, do I "cover" my carboy? No. Do I make sure the beer isn't exposed to light? Religiously. =)

Meh-too late now.

I've actually somewhat changed my approach in the interest of scientific experiment (*coughBULLLSH!Tcough***). I covered my Ruination IPA clone, and I also have my current brew covered as well. Will see if there's any real difference in this "skunk" flavor that I haven't really detected in my first few brews, but who knows...maybe the 10 years of smoking made me immune to skunky-ness. :s