HELP: Rubber stopper doesn't appear to be airtight!

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nibiyabi

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I just conjured up a batch of EdWort's Apfelwein, but the extra rubber stopper I bought from MoreBeer doesn't fit in the carboy -- in fact, none of the extras I bought fit! Only the two (one open, one closed) that came with my beginner's kit fit snugly. The extras I bought don't have a "rim" on the top which prevents them from being pushed into the primary, and therefore I can only push them in partway, and it's just sitting on top. I could literally flick it right off. I realized this fifteen minutes after MoreBeer closed so I couldn't call them (tried anyway, reached VM). What on earth should I do to prevent this batch from getting ruined? :(
 
Run to Home Depot or Lowes and get some tubing that will snugly fit in the top of the carboy and then run the other end of the tube to a jar of water to create a air lock. Use that until you can get a replacement stopper that fits. I think that would work...
 
Run to Home Depot or Lowes and get some tubing that will snugly fit in the top of the carboy and then run the other end of the tube to a jar of water to create a air lock. Use that until you can get a replacement stopper that fits. I think that would work...

More effort than it's worth. If the bung/stopper doesn't seal super tight, it doesn't matter. Hell, if you want to, you can remove that stopper and airlock altogether and just sanitize some tinfoil and use that.

Apfelwein doesn't have krausen, so blow off isn't a concern.
 
True...it's not too critical the first week or so.

But, you can wrap the stopper with plastic tape until you get a snug fit if you desire.

That should work until you can get the proper stopper.

Pogo
 
If you just started your fermentation I don't think it is such a big deal I've heard some people who ferment with out any thing such as a stopper. You could just let it go until you have a chance to get another stopper (quickly as possible/ next day) or if really worried about it you could use tinfoil over the top of the bottle for a day maybe two.

The bad stuff getting in comes from the top kind of falls down. Many people use tinfoil over the neck on of thier starters.
 
If you just started your fermentation I don't think it is such a big deal I've heard some people who ferment with out any thing such as a stopper. You could just let it go until you have a chance to get another stopper (quickly as possible/ next day) or if really worried about it you could use tinfoil over the top of the bottle for a day maybe two.

The bad stuff getting in comes from the top kind of falls down. Many people use tinfoil over the neck on of thier starters.

Tinfoil will work on fermentations that last up to 100 years. Bacteria have no means of locomotion, they can only ride the wind currents or fall thanks to gravity. I'll never use an airlock on Apfelwein again, after several successful batches.
 
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