Plug stuck halfway in carboy... HELP

[acheron800]

First brew, first timer here, got it for xmas from the girlfriend.

So my wort was bubbling like crazy. Switched airlocks, kept over bubbling.

So I was reading everything about using a blowoff.

I made one, shoved the airlocker in to far with the cork and now it is half way stuck in the mouth of the carboy.

Do I leave it the way it is? Or do I shove it in there and use another plug/stopper?

FYI Everything was sterilized with bleach, not the other sanitizing stuff, dont know if that really matters.

Image attached, any input is appreciated!

 

[acheron800]

Also, am I at any risk of water being siphoned back into the carboy at this angle?

Thanks

 

[jiggs_casey]

It doesn't looks like you'll be able to shove the airlock any further into the top of the carboy. The only issue you're really going to have at this point is if the bottom of that rubber gets stopped up and the co2 has nowhere to go. Pressure could build and might pop your carboy. If you have a big enough container, put it in there and wrap a towel around it, just in case...

Actually, if you have another airlock like that one, snip the bottom 1/4" 'nipple' vent thingie off of it to help prevent blockage. I have one that I use just for blowoffs.

Second, I would definitely get a longer tube and put that jar lower than then top of your carboy. You're right, having it higher than the carboy, you could get suckback.

 

[WillPall]

I might be a little worried about the water coming back through once fermentation is complete. A temperature change in your carboy might change the pressure enough to cause some suckback. Although, I think that is very unlikely.

As for the bung, from looking at the picture it seems to still be creating a seal. As long as there is a good seal I would leave it where it is. You can fish that bugger out once you get ready to transfer. At that point, if you can't pull it out easily, I would just splash some sanitizer all over the top of the bung and the mouth of the carboy and then just push it on into the beer. Siphon the beer out and then deal with retrieving your bung.

 

[acheron800]

It doesn't looks like you'll be able to shove the airlock any further into the top of the carboy. The only issue you're really going to have at this point is if the bottom of that rubber gets stopped up and the co2 has nowhere to go. Pressure could build and might pop your carboy. If you have a big enough container, put it in there and wrap a towel around it, just in case....

Second, I would definitely get a longer tube and put that jar lower than then top of your carboy. You're right, having it higher than the carboy, you could get suckback.

So best option for not blowing up a carboy and getting wort and glass all over my racecar, put the normal airlock back on, and let it bubble out the top like it was doing before?

<<<< IDIOT! haha

EDIT: No longer hose available at the time, that was my last piece of fuel line for my moto...

Also the seal "seems" fine...

 

[Stratotankard]

Agree with Will on this one. I think it was Yooper that posted a how to on getting a bung out of a carboy once pushed in. As long as you have a good seal right now, let it be (but do get a longer tube and put the jar lower than your carboy).

Terje

Edit: Here's a how to on getting the bung out if you have to push it in. I'm sure I saw one by Yooper too, but same basic technique

 

[WillPall]

So best option for not blowing up a carboy and getting wort and glass all over my racecar, put the normal airlock back on, and let it bubble out the top like it was doing before?

<<<< IDIOT! haha

EDIT: No longer hose available at the time, that was my last piece of fuel line for my moto...

Also the seal "seems" fine...

jiggs was saying that the bottom of the bung might get clogged. Changing your airlock (I assume you mean removing the blow-off tube) is not going to fix that problem. You definitely need to leave the blow-off tube on there, but you also need to get the water glass a bit lower if at all possible.

Also, I highly doubt that any pressure building in the bung would cause your carboy to explode. A high pressure is going to take the path of least resistance, which in the case of a clogged bung, is the clogged bung itself. I may be wrong, but I think the worst thing that could happen is you may end up with an airlock-shaped dimple in your ceiling.

 

[Stratotankard]

I may be wrong, but I think the worst thing that could happen is you may end up with an airlock-shaped dimple in your ceiling.

And beer coloured ceiling and walls... ask me how I know this. At least it was a pale ale and the airlock wasn't in extremely tight so not too much pressure built up. Somebody here had that happen with a blueberry wheat.

 

[jiggs_casey]

jiggs was saying that the bottom of the bung might get clogged. Changing your airlock (I assume you mean removing the blow-off tube) is not going to fix that problem. You definitely need to leave the blow-off tube on there, but you also need to get the water glass a bit lower if at all possible.

Also, I highly doubt that any pressure building in the bung would cause your carboy to explode. A high pressure is going to take the path of least resistance, which in the case of a clogged bung, is the clogged bung itself. I may be wrong, but I think the worst thing that could happen is you may end up with an airlock-shaped dimple in your ceiling.

Yep, I had it happen last year. Was using a carboy as a primary with an airlock and in the middle of the night heard a loud 'thooom', then heard the airlock and stopper bounce around the closet... Wound up with gushing goodness all over the closet floor.

As far as the carboy exploding, I've never experienced it personally. Not sure that it would 'explode' but, even if there was enough pressure to crack it, it would just suck...

 

[acheron800]

Actually, if you have another airlock like that one, snip the bottom 1/4" 'nipple' vent thingie off of it to help prevent blockage. I have one that I use just for blowoffs.

Second, I would definitely get a longer tube and put that jar lower than then top of your carboy. You're right, having it higher than the carboy, you could get suckback.

So what is my best option to prevent explosion and save the beer? If I snip my second airlock, and try to shove it in, I believe the stopper will go all the way in BTW.

1) Shove rubber all the way through, put a new one in and call it good? Have a second on hand.

2) Try to get the current rubber out a bit using sterilized coat hanger or other method, while letting O2 in beer.

3) Leave how it is. See below.

PS right now I feel like the biggest noob...

 

[WillPall]

To me it looks like you have plenty of head space and that the main amount of krausen has already formed. How long has this been fermenting? If it's been a little while, I doubt you'll have a blowoff at all.

Also, the bung is not more prone to getting clogged because it is pushed further into the neck than usual. If it gets clogged there, it was going to get clogged before it got pushed down into the neck. I use your method all the time and haven't had any explosions (but plenty of beers that definitely needed the blowoff tube).

If you're really worried, my advice would be to just sanitize the heck out of the top of the bung and shove it on into the carboy. It's made for food uses; it won't contribute any off-flavors. Replace it with your spare and relax.

 

[acheron800]

To me it looks like you have plenty of head space and that the main amount of krausen has already formed. How long has this been fermenting? If it's been a little while, I doubt you'll have a blowoff at all.

Also, the bung is not more prone to getting clogged because it is pushed further into the neck than usual. If it gets clogged there, it was going to get clogged before it got pushed down into the neck. I use your method all the time and haven't had any explosions (but plenty of beers that definitely needed the blowoff tube).

If you're really worried, my advice would be to just sanitize the heck out of the top of the bung and shove it on into the carboy. It's made for food uses; it won't contribute any off-flavors. Replace it with your spare and relax.

Wort was poured about 27 hours ago, started bubbling this morning, and started going nuts about 5 hours ago.

 

[Stratotankard]

At this point you're probably fine, though I'd still like to see the blowoff jar lower. It doesn't look like you'd get much if any siphon back into the carboy, but it's close. Like Will said, it does look like high kruesen is past, but give it another day or so just to be sure and then swap your blowoff for an airlock if you can. If you don't think an airlock will fit or you're just going to push the bung all the way into the carboy swapping, leave it like it is and RDWHAHB (or in your case a commercial brew since this is your first batch).

Terje

PS we were all noobs at some point.

 

[77bawls]

The problem I'm having is keeping the stopper in the neck when it's wet. It keeps coming out. I'm drying the stopper and neck with paper towel but I know this isn't a good idea and might be introducing bacteria.

 

[KCBrewer]

Do you have a toggle bolt laying around? Works great to pull out stuck bungs.

Then get some 1" vinyl tubing and stick it in there for blowoff until active fermentation is done. Then stick the airlock/bung back in.

I switched to using carboy caps instead of bungs. No more stuck bungs (we all hate when that happens) and racking is a breeze. Just put your racking cane in the large hole, blow into the small hole, and voila, syphon started.

 

[acheron800]

Update. Got it out last night using a wonderful tool from harbor freight of all places
Will get a carboy top tomorrow so I never have to deal with this again.

Thanks for the help guys. Awesome forum.