1st use with mini brew conical

[tarheels]

so this past weekend i brewed up an ipa and used my 15 gal. mini brew conical for the first time. it was a 5 gal batch. i'm a little concerned because i see no activity in the airlock. as you mini brew users know, the lid doesn't lock down all the way but there website says its ok because no oxygen can get in as co2 is going out. do i have a reason to be concernd. pitched yeast sat using a starter.
Thanks for the help

 

[Bellybuster]

no worries, I open ferment with just a piece of plexi sitting over the opening every time. A closed fermenter that is sealed is not necessary at all. Just gives some folks a warm fuzzy feeling

 

[tarheels]

so does that mean i wont see anything going on with the airlock

 

[nabs478]

so does that mean i wont see anything going on with the airlock

You will only ever see anything going through the airlock if the vessel is sealed.

If you a concerned about whether it is fermenting or not, smell it, look at the top of the beer, it should be a bit foamy, and you should see some scum developing on the side on the tank.

 

[Odnetni]

I would think that a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon tank would take a while to show external activity. It seems like it would take the yeast a little while to produce enough co2 to fill that space and pressurize it to the point of forcing excess through an airlock.
Let us know how it goes, though! I'm really interested in maybe buying one of these this summer, so I'll be watching this thread. Good luck!

 

[ajwillys]

If you shine a flashlight directly on the lid, you might be able to see the krausen. I do this with the buckets (same material, I believe) to tell when the krausen has dropped. This should at least give you enough confidence that its working to avoid opening it.