lost stopper in carboy

Was cooling my wort tonight while getting the primary ready and wanted to make sure that the stopper i had would fit nicely in the carboy (not sure why i thought it wouldn't)
Anyhow, the damn stopper came loose and fell into the carboy that i had just sanitized. Luckily i had a plastic bucket available so i quickly washed and sanitised it and used it instead but now i'm left with a stopper lodged inside a glass carboy.

I tried a couple of things to get it out of there. Anyone have any tips or ideas for me?

Cheers

You're not the first, won't be the last

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/lost-rubber-stopper-glass-carboy-41790/

Did the same thing just a few days ago. Don't kick yourself too hard.

Somehow, I was lucky enough that my stoppers have a lip around the outside.
Thank god, one less thing to worry about!
Dave

Did the same thing Sunday with a IIPA. And not my first either.

That happened to me, I just turned the carboy over and pulled the stopper out w/ some needle nose pliers.

When that happens, you have to add "-S" to the name of the brew.

beergears said:

When that happens, you have to add "-S" to the name of the brew.

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Seems to me that should be a +S

Did this myself tonight. Got it stuck most way down the neck and came up with a clever way to get it out with a sanitized stainless steel chopstick and some pliers. Barely brushed the stopper with my invention and the the sucker dropped in.

Since I tend to name my experiments and attempts at recipes based on my deviations/what I've got on the telly/how I screwed up, I dub this trifecta The Stopper that Fell to EdWort.

As an apology to Mr. Bowie, I should note that I usually use Mott's for my ciders

Super easy to get out. Put your carboy upright (bung goes to the bottom unless you are brewing on the space station). Feed almost all of a plastic bag or tea towel into the neck of the carboy. Ensure you do not drop the plastic bag or tea towel into the carboy. If you are offended because that last instruction was so obvious remember it's you who has the bung in your carboy, not me. Now tilt it up so the bung comes down to the base of the neck. Pull the plastic bag or tea towel out...presto out comes the bung as well.

Here is a video on youtube that I found showing how to get it out.

[ame]http://youtu.be/0KDgDnvGCfc[/ame]

In the ancient wisdom of Homer Simpson..."Just smash it open!"

osagedr said:

Super easy to get out. Put your carboy upright (bung goes to the bottom unless you are brewing on the space station). Feed almost all of a plastic bag or tea towel into the neck of the carboy. Ensure you do not drop the plastic bag or tea towel into the carboy. If you are offended because that last instruction was so obvious remember it's you who has the bung in your carboy, not me. Now tilt it up so the bung comes down to the base of the neck. Pull the plastic bag or tea towel out...presto out comes the bung as well.

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Brilliant!!!!

Stopper out in about 5 seconds!

Used that trick as well. Amazed the hell out of me.

Recently had to do it myself--had a carboy soaking with PBW (which, by the way is the best product in the history of mankind) upside down in the laundry sink to get krausen off the top of the inside, happened to push the bung down so far I couldn't pry it out. So what, push the bung into the carboy then retrieve it easily using a plastic bag--presto!

I actually pushed the entire thermowell (rod and stopper) into the primary after siphoning the wort into the carboy (what a dumb arse). While the thermowell was sanitized completely with StarSan, it was an Oh S*#t moment. I just transferred it over to secondary this past Monday. The rod came off the stopper when I went to pull it out of the neck. Got the thing out, but I will have to keep this trick in mind if I do this again, and God knows I probably will at some point.

Damn i was just changing blow off tube for regular airlock and pushed the damn stopper to hard so its now on the bottom of 4.5gal belgian triple. Its around 70h after brewing and im not sure i should just wait for fermentation to finish or transfer right now to 2ndary with as many yeast as possible, would rubber leach some flavors after 2 weeks in 9%+ abv of beer?

Polboy said:

Damn i was just changing blow off tube for regular airlock and pushed the damn stopper to hard so its now on the bottom of 4.5gal belgian triple. Its around 70h after brewing and im not sure i should just wait for fermentation to finish or transfer right now to 2ndary with as many yeast as possible, would rubber leach some flavors after 2 weeks in 9%+ abv of beer?

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No, I think it'll be ok. I've fermented entire batches with the stopper inside.

Oh, wait. No, see, I have this friend who has done stupid things like that. Not me. It was my friend who did that. More than once.

osagedr said:

Super easy to get out. Put your carboy upright (bung goes to the bottom unless you are brewing on the space station). Feed almost all of a plastic bag or tea towel into the neck of the carboy. Ensure you do not drop the plastic bag or tea towel into the carboy. If you are offended because that last instruction was so obvious remember it's you who has the bung in your carboy, not me. Now tilt it up so the bung comes down to the base of the neck. Pull the plastic bag or tea towel out...presto out comes the bung as well.

Click to expand...

You wonderful, brilliant human, Osagdr! I was ready to use the "hammer" remedy on my BRAND new 6.5 gallon carboy.

Shred said:

You wonderful, brilliant human, Osagdr! I was ready to use the "hammer" remedy on my BRAND new 6.5 gallon carboy.

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Glad it worked out!

I got mine out (twice) by spraying the neck of the carboy with starsan, turning the carboy upside down, and letting the bung fall with the narrow end of the bung facing the neck. Then I inserted a coat hanger with a bend at the end into the hole in the bung and pulled it out. It took about 15 seconds each time.