Can you get away with...

fermenting in a totally closed secondary after you have hit FG?

I need to free up my primary for an APA/IPA I would like done by mid August. I bought extra buckets and was ready to drill a hole in the lid when I noticed that Midwest only sent 2 pieces of my 3 piece airlock. D'oh! So Can I just rack it to a closed bucket since it has reached FG, or would that be tempting fate? I thought about just bottling the first brew, but really would like it to bulk age another week or so, plus I don't really want to bottle, wash yeast, and brew on the same day.

Which two of the 3 piece airlock do you have? If you have the main piece I would just cover it with foil until you get the rest of it.

just throw some sanitized foil right over the top, no need for a tight seal

The lids without the gaskets don't completely seal. If it's done I think you would be ok? Could always crack it once a day or something. I dunno glad I have a lhbs a few miles away. Those air locks are like a buck.

Leave it in the primary. For your APA/IPA...if you have a 1/2 inch hose you could connect that to your airlock and run the other end into a container full of sanitizer solution. I've been doing this ever since I blew two lids off my primaries due to very active fermentations. If you don't have the hose, run out to your local hardware store and ask for some food-grade 1/2 inch hose.

I've just got the outside pieces, not the inside piece that is pushed up by the CO2 making the bubbles.

I think I'm probably just going to put it in the closed bucket. I do have about a gallon of headspace. I thought cracking it daily should be sufficient, but wanted to check and see if someone was like "MY GOD DON'T DO THAT!!!!". Seems like that isn't the case. Nice. :rockin:

Yes, a three hour round trip to the LHBS (that is only open three days a week for four hours a day) with a 6 month old in the car sucks. Boo.

Leave it in the primary.

jerryalan said:

Leave it in the primary. For your APA/IPA...if you have a 1/2 inch hose you could connect that to your airlock and run the other end into a container full of sanitizer solution. I've been doing this ever since I blew two lids off my primaries due to very active fermentations. If you don't have the hose, run out to your local hardware store and ask for some food-grade 1/2 inch hose.

Click to expand...

+1 Good smarts.

If you have reached FG I dont really think you can go wrong. If you go for secondary I'd crack it after a few hours, then a day to make sure any co2 escaping doesnt build up enough pressure but I would expect it would be minimal anyway.

bjl110 said:

I've just got the outside pieces, not the inside piece that is pushed up by the CO2 making the bubbles.

I think I'm probably just going to put it in the closed bucket. I do have about a gallon of headspace. I thought cracking it daily should be sufficient, but wanted to check and see if someone was like "MY GOD DON'T DO THAT!!!!". Seems like that isn't the case. Nice. :rockin:

Yes, a three hour round trip to the LHBS (that is only open three days a week for four hours a day) with a 6 month old in the car sucks. Boo.

Click to expand...

MY GOD MAN! DON'T DO THAT!!!! :rockin:

at this point, id say dump it.