Fermenting bucket have a seal lid with a hole for air lock or no

[yvonnars]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie and have only helped out some friends brew before. My dad wanted to start brewing too so we went to a store and got some supplies including a primary fermenting bucket. But only after we got home I noticed the bucket didn't have an o-ring around the lid nor any holes on the lid for an airlock. When I helped out with brewing before friends all had buckets with a hole on the lid, not sure if they had the O-ring around the lid though. Should they come with the O-ring/hole or not?

My understanding is the bucket I got can only be used for primary fermenting and I have to transfer it to a carboy with no headspace for secondary fermenting and use an airlock (the guy at the store did strongly suggest doing two stage fermenting, however I've heard that's only for a more clear beer, but more risks of mold and oxidation is involved with a second stage fermenting). Should I go back and exchange for a bucket with O-ring/hole so I can just use one bucket and do one stage fermenting only?

Thanks

 

[Beerthoven]

Hi yvonnars - Yes, you need a lid with a hole for the airlock for your primary fermentation bucket. You don't need an o-ring, however. The buckets I use have lids with holes, but no o-rings; the lid just snaps right on. Simply resting the lid that you have on the bucket might also work, if it is loose enough to allow the gas produced by fermentation to escape, but an airlock is preferable.

Strictly speaking, you don't need to do a secondary fermentation. A lot of people leave their beer in the primary fermenting bucket for 2 to 3 weeks and then bottle or keg without first racking to a secondary. But you are correct that using a secondary can give you clearer beer going into your bottles or kegs, just be careful with sanitation and you'll be okay. I've used a secondary on many, many beers and they all turned out just fine. if you do decide to use a secondary, I recommend a Better Bottle. It's made from food-grade plastic which is much safer than a glass carboy.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pariah3j]

Drill a hole in the top, run some tubing to a jar full of star-sans solution. Problem solved

But yeah since you just bought it and from the LBS if it's not out of the way, I would take it back and get one w/ the pre-drilled hole and o-ring so you can have the option of putting a airlock on it instead.

 

[Jim311]

Why are all these homebrew shops so dead set on secondaries? To sell you more gear? Most ales and lagers are perfectly fine without any secondary. The only thing I've ever put into secondary was a wine to minimize head space for extended aging. As far as the lid, I just buy regular old bucket lids and drill them and jam in some slightly oversized tubing. Then I put my airlock into that tubing, or build a blowoff with a mason jar.

 

[Pariah3j]

Learning how to rack to a secondary without getting an infection is a good skill to learn. Plus having the option of a secondary for dry hopping or adding fruit isn't a waste. But yes I think some of the LHBS just try to move product to some degree. A good one will give good free advise so maybe it all balances out ?

 

[Morrey]

Why are all these homebrew shops so dead set on secondaries? To sell you more gear? Most ales and lagers are perfectly fine without any secondary. The only thing I've ever put into secondary was a wine to minimize head space for extended aging. As far as the lid, I just buy regular old bucket lids and drill them and jam in some slightly oversized tubing. Then I put my airlock into that tubing, or build a blowoff with a mason jar.

You hit the nail on the head when you said LHBS push secondary vessels as necessary equipment as that is yet another sale they can make.

I heard a sales pitch as "Mr LHBS" told a new customer you have certainly GOT to have at least one Carboy ($38) to even consider getting started. The guy said sure and bought it.

On my next supply run, remembering this, I said hey (his name), I never rack to secondary and waste my time, do you? Nah he says, I see no real need.

Case closed.

 

[yvonnars]

I went back and he drilled a hole for me that fits my air lock bung!

Yeah I'm not sure why he insisted so much on a secondary. Even when I told him firmly I wanted a hole drilled on the lid and explained even if I were to do two stage fermentation I would still be able to use the same bucket for primary, he still spent 5 min telling me how doing two stage is necessary and he does that to all his wine he makes/sell at the shop too. He said two stage made the beer/wine/cider more clear. So I asked him if that was the only reason he did two stage and he said yes. But doesn't Irish moss also make the beers clear? Can't I just dump in some Irish moss if I really really wanted my beers to be super clear?

I'm also not sure where would the gas come out if the lid doesn't have a hole? He said the lid would seal completely once put on, wouldn't it just explode without an air lock hole??

I recall hearing from my boyfriend before that people used to do two stage fermentation because of health/sanitary/yeast reasons or something, I can't remember the exact XD. And he said after all the research he did there's really no point of doing two stage unless it's for adding fruits or hops, because of how much tech has changed and brewing is so much easier and more sanitary than before. So I'm just skipping second stage except for more hops

I have another question though. Is there any issue with fermenting 3 gal in a 5 gal bucket? My understanding is that during active fermentation yeast makes a lot of CO2 and keep pushing air out so the bucket would be filled with mostly CO2 towards the end of it, so it should be fine to leave a 3 gal batch in a 5gal bucket until it finishes conditioning.

Also why is oxidation bad after the conditioning phase?

THanks

 

[Jim311]

Perfectly fine to ferment 3 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket. Oxidation makes your beer taste like wet cardboard. You want to avoid that.