No lid needed?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BWRIGHT

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
404
Reaction score
11
Location
Indiana
Alright, this looks like a dumb question, but the supposed "experts" have just thrown me off. I noticed there was not a lid, with the kit I bought, for the bottling bucket. I called and asked why not and the guy at the LHBS told me it was not necessary. So why have I gone to all the trouble of making sure everything is sanitized just to rack into a bottling bucket with no lid? This doesn't make any sense to me.
 
Your bottling bucket is just that, for bottling. You use it to put your priming sugar in and transfer your beer from your primary or secondary before you bottle. That way the priming solution mixes with your beer without adding too much oxygen. You can use it as a fermentor, just get a lid and cut a hole in it. I use a plastic bucket for my primary and then a glass for my secondary. I dont use a bottling bucket because I keg.
 
Yeah I know it's for bottling. I have a 6.5G primary and a 5G secondary. I only play on using it for bottling, but why would I not want a lid on it to keep out anything that could contaminate it?
 
If your worried about contamination when the bucket is empty than get one. they are usually like 2 or 3 bucks. The bucket should be fine not getting contaminated. Unless you some how scratch the inside and give bacteria a chance to grab on somewhere you should be completely fine. Just do a good job cleaning and sanitizing before you use it.
 
Mainly because it's only going to be in there for less than an hour. You may also want to stir the finished beer a bit after every dozen bottles to be sure the priming sugar is really well mixed in.
 
how about throwing some saran wrap over the top? Another problem with the lid is that it can seal off the top and your beer won't flow out of the tap.

If you do go with a lid, don't snap it on and form a seal...just lay it on top. But then you may as well use some saran wrap.
 
Your beer really isn't in the bottling bucket long enough to get an infection as long as everything is properly sanitized. Unless you are worried about something literally falling into the bucket you should be fine.
 
I propped the lid from the primary bucket on the bottling bucking for the 30 minutes or so that it was in there.
 
Back
Top