Beer Travel

[wwright]

I'm looking to move a carboy full of fermenting beer a couple hundred miles via car. Dangerous, I know. Most is interstate. If I were to remove the airlock and put on a solid stopper, would it keep the beer from becoming aerated? As long as it has been fermenting a week or so, I don't imagine the pressure would make it explode...but would it be ruined from all the sloshing?

 

[Spartangreen]

Leave the airlock on.

 

[wwright]

Wouldn't that allow oxygen in as is sloshes?

 

[prpromin]

That's all kinds of trouble waiting to happen. You're going to need to move it, I would imagine, buckled into a seat. It's going to be exposed to light, so you'll need to cover it. Depending on temp and altitude change, you'll probably get suck back from your airlock, which isn't a problem till it runs dry.

Is there no way to bottle it before you go? I assume you're moving or some such thing.

 

[wwright]

That's all kinds of trouble waiting to happen. You're going to need to move it, I would imagine, buckled into a seat. It's going to be exposed to light, so you'll need to cover it. Depending on temp and altitude change, you'll probably get suck back from your airlock, which isn't a problem till it runs dry.



Is there no way to bottle it before you go? I assume you're moving or some such thing.

Indeed I am. It's 5 gallons of wheat beer with Cooper yeast. I was thinking it needs a minimum of 10 days.

 

[prpromin]

My initial response is don't move it. It might be done fermenting, but you'll need some gravity readings over a few days to figure that out - which you might not have.

If you MUST move it, I'd suggest a solid stopper. I hate to disagree with Spartangreen (especially since we have the same university loyalty). I just think you're going to suck all that sanitizer into the beer and then the airlock will be dry. Probably even wrap some sanitized plastic wrap around the mouth to hold it in place. Carefully move it to the car, buckle it in and cover it all the way with a blanket/towel. If you have a buddy that can babysit, even better. Drive immediately and carefully wherever you're going and unload. Carefully remove the stopper and put a fresh airlock in.

Again, first choice is not to move it. I hope others will chime in so you have some options.

 

[turkeygecko]

Can you keg it? Solves the light issue and you can purge the keg with CO2. If it's really fermenting still, use the relief valve once in a while to release pressure.

 

[max384]

If I had to move a fermenter, I'd move it from the carboy into a plastic fermentation vessel. No way I'd want to travel with five gallons of beer in a glass carboy. After finding a 3" crack on the bottom of my six gallon carboy after carrying it up a flight of stairs to bottle it, I don't trust them at all. In fact, I got rid of all my glass carboys and replaced them with Better Bottles.

 

[wwright]

Sounds like the consensus is to not move it. Thanks guys

 

[ktblunden]

The problem with a solid stopper is that you're creating a potential bomb with fermenting beer, temperature changes, altitude changes, sloshing, etc. I'd be less concerned about aerating the beer and more concerned about possibly filling the inside of your car with beer and flying shards of glass. Let it finish if possible. Failing that, I'll echo the above suggestion and say transfer to a plastic fermenter for transportation.

 

[TallDan]

If you transport it in the carboy, you don't need to worry about aeration since the carboy is full of co2 from fermentation.

I'd keep it in the carboy with the airlock and transport like that. Putting a solid stopper on it risks having pressure build up and popping the stopper off and spilling beer out of the top. The airlock prevents that. Sure, it might suck in some of the liquid in the airlock and let some air in, but probably less air than you'd get by replacing the stopper with a solid one.

You definitely want to secure it in the car as best as possible, but i'd say you're better off with it on the floor of the car than on a seat. As others said, protect from light and temperature fluctuations as much as possible. I've driven about 30 minutes with a carboy on the floor of the passenger seat of the car in a milk crate and it was fine.

 

[TallDan]

The problem with a solid stopper is that you're creating a potential bomb with fermenting beer, temperature changes, altitude changes, sloshing, etc. I'd be less concerned about aerating the beer and more concerned about possibly filling the inside of your car with beer and flying shards of glass. Let it finish if possible. Failing that, I'll echo the above suggestion and say transfer to a plastic fermenter for transportation.

I don't know what kind of stoppers you use, but any normal stopper would pop out long before a glass or plastic carboy would explode. Sure, the stopper popping out would make some mess, but the carboy isn't going to explode. If you've ever blown a stopper/airlock off of a carboy with a vigorous fermentation, it makes a mess, but it certainly doesn't cause the carboy to explode. This is the exact same situation.

The only way the carboy is going to be damaged in this situation is if it's not properly secured in the vehicle and move/falls if he has to make a sudden stop. That would happen with an empty carboy just the same as a full one.

 

[bamamckay]

I have a lake house approx 80 miles from home. I often brew at the lake house and just throw the fermenter (plastic bucket type) in the car anywhere from 1-4 days later. I have done this many times and have never had a problem.

 

[GarageDweller]

its a wheat beer, so it will be decent when its fresh. if you bottle it immediately after you reach your FG you could be all gravy. do a gravity reading and bottle before the move, if its finished....