Need something to seal the hole for airlock in bucketfermentor

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

Ok well the tape didn't work, maybe I need to heat up the roll first. I guess I have to put more effort in finding a suitable bung. I live in northern EU ordering a $2 piece from the states and get a dumb ass figure for shipping isn't that tempting.

Or maybe I can cut off a short piece of tubing and melt one of the ends so it closes and stick that into the hole with the fitting.

thekraken · Jul 24, 2015

If I were trying to do this I would go with @YeastMode's suggestion. Maybe use plastic wrap instead of tape/foil (or even the co2 filled balloon idea again). And hold it on there with a tight rubber band or with a worm clamp (very carefully).

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

Aight. I melted a piece of plastic tubing in one of the ends and stuck the other end down in the airlock-fitting. Checking the tubing for smell and taste after I melted it and cleand it. It works. If i'm gonna go fancy about it I'll find a welder who can close one of the ends of a short piece of SS pipe I've got laying around.

So, the new technique will be spunding it a while after adding dryhops. The hops will make the beer release some more co2 due to adding nucleation sites, and we're all set. If not dryhopping I will just raise the temp the last two days and spund it at the raise.

A small step for me, a huge IDGAF for mankind

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

BowAholic said:
cool...so you use a bottling bucket for fermenting? I have seen others mention it..how does it work for you..?

I wouldn't call it a bottling bucket? It's just like a normal fermentation bucket you can get for cheap, but I've added spigots to all of them, so I don't have to fiddle around with opening the lid and using and sanitizing a wine thief for taking samples. And I can keg with a closed loop by purging a keg, connect gas out to the airlock-hole, and beer in from the spigot.

I'm happy with it and would't go back to opening the lid for samples or kegging/bottling. You just have to clean the spigot aswell between brews, but its def worth it.

thekraken · Jul 24, 2015

Smellyglove said:
And I can keg with a closed loop by purging a keg, connect gas out to the airlock-hole, and beer in from the spigot.

Well that's a neat trick! That way you avoid having to hook up co2 to the carboy like I've seen in other closed transfers. Any problems keeping sediment out of your keg?

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

thekraken said:
Well that's a neat trick! That way you avoid having to hook up co2 to the carboy like I've seen in other closed transfers. Any problems keeping sediment out of your keg?

I get some. But since my ball-lock-connector (or whatever it's called) for beer in is threaded, I just unscrew the hose and point it to the drain so the first sediments will go that way, and then close the spigot and connect the hose to the ball-lock again, then continue filling. That's especially important for IPA's so the hopmatter don't clog the ball-lock, thats a pain.

If doing this then sediments is usually a non-issue, you'll always get some of that yeast though, but it's not much. I just let the keg sit for a day or two and dump the first pour after that. When filling bottles from the keg there is almost 0 yeast sediment in the bottles, atleast you can't see any yeast in the bottle.

IslandLizard · Jul 24, 2015

I lay a small washcloth soaked in Starsan on top of the grommet hole. Simple and effective.

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

IslandLizard said:
I lay a small washcloth soaked in Starsan on top of the grommet hole. Simple and effective.

That's not the point why I'm doing this. I don't want AIR going into the fermentor.

Brew_G · Jul 24, 2015

So your concern is air getting into your beer during cold crashing, correct? And you keg, correct?

Then why not rack to your keg, then purge and cold crash in the keg itself? Perhaps I'm missing something...

Smellyglove · Jul 24, 2015

Brew_G said:
So your concern is air getting into your beer during cold crashing, correct? And you keg, correct?

Then why not rack to your keg, then purge and cold crash in the keg itself? Perhaps I'm missing something...

If I don't CC in my fermentor I'll get a lot of debris, possibly clogging the ball-lock and losing a lot to trub. And a hot keg in the fridge gives me a lot of condensation. But I'm all good now.

IslandLizard · Jul 24, 2015

Smellyglove said:
That's not the point why I'm doing this. I don't want AIR going into the fermentor.

Sorry, I thought you didn't want air infiltration because of possible infection.

BowAholic · Jul 24, 2015

Just a though...but if you remove the airlock to put a piece of tape over the hole...won't you be letting more air in than you'd possibly get from just leaving the airlock during the cold crash?

Smellyglove · Jul 26, 2015

BowAholic said:
Just a though...but if you remove the airlock to put a piece of tape over the hole...won't you be letting more air in than you'd possibly get from just leaving the airlock during the cold crash?

I don't think so. I'll be swapping the airlock with the piece of tube (read a few post up if you still think I'm on the tape..) when there's overpressure in the fermentor. I think it's all about timing and right amount of liquid in the airlock for not getting that tiny amount of air into the carboy.

Gavin C · Jul 26, 2015

deleted. Irrelevant info.

Smellyglove · Jul 26, 2015

Gavin C said:
I must say @day_trippr has this nailed in the method he showed.

This is my solution. Patent pending. Not airtight but eliminates suck back of airlock fluid.

Cold Crashed and Ready to keg
View attachment 292431

If I was using a bucket I would remove that airlock and put duct-tape over the hole.

Futher up in the thread I said that I tried the tape, and it didn't work, not tight

I just stick a piece of tube which seals agains the airlock-fitting, and the end sticking up from the fitting is sealed.

Gavin C · Jul 26, 2015

Sorry, i missed that. That sounds like a good idea.

I wonder does air get in anyway unless positive c02 pressure is applied to counter act the increased pressure outside the fermentor during the crash.

I like your small stream big river analogy. Very appropriate to lots of things, brewing included i think.

I'm all for the elimination of O2 and like you it does bug me during the cold crash. I do like to crash before I keg. A closed transfer is next on my DIY list.

lakota · Jul 26, 2015

I use a small piece of plastic wrap quadruple folded to cover the grommet hole and then a 1" or so piece of dowel rod to plug the hole. Even initially vigorously shaking the bucket to aerate it holds with no problems. I Starsan the grommet hole, plastic wrap and dowel before use.

Smellyglove · Jul 26, 2015

Gavin C said:
Sorry, i missed that. That sounds like a good idea.

I wonder does air get in anyway unless positive c02 pressure is applied to counter act the increased pressure outside the fermentor during the crash.

I like your small stream big river analogy. Very appropriate to lots of things, brewing included i think.

I'm all for the elimination of O2 and like you it does bug me during the cold crash. I do like to crash before I keg. A closed transfer is next on my DIY list.

Air gets in through my s-type airlock during coldcrash. I've seen and heard it. It might be a question about what kind of airlock you use, but I just got lots of cheap s-locks, and how much liquid you have in them, maybe? If you have enough liquid in it, maybe the negative pressure still isn't enough to pull in air. None of my fridges have the space for bigger airlocks anyway.

I opened this thread by saying I was thinking about pumping co2 through the spigot, but I've realized that it's way simpler to just use the co2 in the beer to make a positive pressure, just need to make it come out of solution.

Smellyglove · Jul 26, 2015

cmjk said:
You can just use a piece of sanitized foil and lay it on top when you cold crash. Tape it down to keep it from coming off.

I guess you just read a few posts and went straight to the reply-field

user 19629 · Jul 26, 2015

Try getting a stopper at the hardware store, instead of the homebrew store.

Bobby_M · Jul 26, 2015

I fill a mylar bag with co2 and attach it to the inside tube of the 3pc airlock with a short piece of tubing. Yes, I'm concerned about oxidizing. It's the same reason I purge kegs with co2 and fill it through the diptube.

jrstaples1 · Jul 26, 2015

Smellyglove said:
I wouldn't call it a bottling bucket? It's just like a normal fermentation bucket you can get for cheap, but I've added spigots to all of them, so I don't have to fiddle around with opening the lid and using and sanitizing a wine thief for taking samples.

Are you purging a keg and hooking up gas to the airlock each time you take samples from the spigot? If not what fills the void left by the existing beer?

Also, I'm not sure a bucket would hold positive pressure. If you look inside the lid track, there's no gasket or anything, just plastic on plastic (sometimes there's a gasket on 7 or 8 gal wine buckets). How about fermenting in a sanke keg with an airlock, then sealing the sanke just before fermentation stops? Seems maybe you could get a little positive pressure which would dissipate after cold crashing.

Smellyglove · Jul 27, 2015

jrstaples1 said:
Are you purging a keg and hooking up gas to the airlock each time you take samples from the spigot? If not what fills the void left by the existing beer?

Also, I'm not sure a bucket would hold positive pressure. If you look inside the lid track, there's no gasket or anything, just plastic on plastic (sometimes there's a gasket on 7 or 8 gal wine buckets). How about fermenting in a sanke keg with an airlock, then sealing the sanke just before fermentation stops? Seems maybe you could get a little positive pressure which would dissipate after cold crashing.

Nah, then i just fill the sample from the spigot, there's usually enough "buffer" so it doesn't suck any starsan or air in from the airlock.

It holds "enough" pressure for it to work at least, so I'm happy

h22lude · Jul 28, 2015

Bobby_M said:
I fill a mylar bag with co2 and attach it to the inside tube of the 3pc airlock with a short piece of tubing. Yes, I'm concerned about oxidizing. It's the same reason I purge kegs with co2 and fill it through the diptube.

Sorry for the highjack, are you using buckets or carboys? I've been trying to figure out how to transfer my beer from bucket to keg using co2 to eliminate o2 exposure. I feel like using an auto siphon into the top of the keg splashes a lot and exposes the beer to a lot of o2.

thekraken · Jul 28, 2015

h22lude said:
Sorry for the highjack, are you using buckets or carboys? I've been trying to figure out how to transfer my beer from bucket to keg using co2 to eliminate o2 exposure. I feel like using an auto siphon into the top of the keg splashes a lot and exposes the beer to a lot of o2.

See post #34.

Newsman · Jul 28, 2015

Well, I'm not going to argue about whether or not that tiny bit of O2 is going to cause a problem, but how about a piece of surgical tubing stretched over the intake on your airlock and then double-over the other end and tape/clamp it shut? That's about as good as you're going to get, I think.

actech · Jul 28, 2015

Bucket to keg or secondary works good. Got to dump a lil at beginning,but not much. I have an extra hose for my c02. (hose barb) Pull airlock and rubber insert hose and put about 2 psig on it and you will see the lid bulge. Then you push it into keg,carboy, second bucket etc. Gonna see about bottling this way,this weekend. Been doing it this way to avoid o2. Haven't worried about cc since I generally do a secondary in glass carboys. Doesn't seem to have enough air space to cause a pressure drop.
BUT, plan was to start secondary in buckets so no auto siphon used,now I will keep an eye on this as it would let air in where I haven't had it before.
BUT the atmosphere is what 12% oxygen ??? A 30 second co2 burst in your cc chamber would dillute that too???? Would that be low enough to not matter??

h22lude · Jul 28, 2015

thekraken said:
See post #34.

Thanks, I must have read over that and not paid attention to it. Didn't think that would work with a bucket/lid. I figured the lid would blow off but I guess at low psi it wouldn't.

thekraken · Jul 28, 2015

h22lude said:
Thanks, I must have read over that and not paid attention to it. Didn't think that would work with a bucket/lid. I figured the lid would blow off but I guess at low psi it wouldn't.

I don't think that he is doing it under pressure. I think he's just opening the valve on the fermenter from an elevated position above the keg and the goodness flows down to the keg, meanwhile the co2 in the keg is being displaced by this goodness and pushed back up into the bucket.

Need something to seal the hole for airlock in bucketfermentor

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