Bucket lid isnt air tight

I have brewed many batches of apfelwein, but I love stouts so I figured that I would try to make one.

I used an extract kit and got it all together and prepared with no problems until 4 days later.

I noticed that the blowoff tube that I rigged had zero activity. I squeezed the bucket and within seconds, the level of water in the tube that feeds into the blowoff container, leveled itself again. This means that the lid isnt sealed all of the way. I noticed that the lid didn't have a rubber ring, but figured that it was just how it was designed.

How bad is this?

its fine. just keep the lid on so you dont get contaminants inside. if its a true brew, you have to press down extremely hard to to lock it. If its something like a home depot 5 gal bucket, the lid has a plastic pull style tab that need to be taken off prior to pressing and locking it on.

NO fermenters are airtight, if they were then probably half our beers would end up on the ceiling. Airlocks are vents or valves, to release EXCESS co2. Many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

An airlock is a vent, a valve to release EXCESS co2, it prevents the fermenter from being airtight, and the beer from exploding all over the place.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

Your beer is cushioned by a layer of co2. And if it's getting out elsewhere nothing's getting in. The bad stuff are not ninja acrobats it doesn't take much to prevent them from getting to our beer.

The normal "Ale Pail" lid is by no means airtight. Just because it snaps on doesn't mean there's a seal. I started out with the standard 6.5 gal "Ale Pail," and the airlock would get going eventually, as it should.....but only when a sufficient volume of CO2 was being evolved by the fermentation. About a year ago, I switched to the US Plastics 7 gal. plastic bucket. These buckets use a lid with a neoprene 'O'- ring that forms a much more effective seal. These buckets work much better, in that I now never get foam up in the airlock, and airlock action occurs sooner, since gas can't escape around the rim of the bucket.

Thanks! I guess I'm just worried over nothing.

Many bucket lids sold by homebrew supply shops don't have a gasket on the bucket lid where it contacts the bucket rim. In my experience, these lids hardly ever seal. I use a length of sanitized nylon cord to fill the gap. It would probably be safer sanitation-wise to use some kind of spray foam, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

I just realized this early this AM. I got up for work and went to check the blowoff tub that I have rigged up coming through the door seal on my makeshift fermentation chamber...no bubble activity. I was panicked. It had been 24 hours since pitching a healthy 1L starter of hefeweizen yeast. I opened the bucket to check to find a nice high krausen and the wondereful smell of wart being chomped down by yeast. I just re-seated the lid and closed her up. I have never thought that these buckets were not a tighter seal.

I kinda miss that bubbling blowoff tube sound. It was like music to my ears.