geopet
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- Mar 19, 2009
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Quick question about the necessity of a positive seal on bucket lids for primary fermenter buckets.
Briefly, I understand that you do not need a perfect seal when it comes to fermenting. Bugs go down and do not climb up. Meaning, you can pretty much use whatever you want to cover your fermenter. I know about open fermentation as well. This isn't a concern about infecting a beer or anything like that. More of curiosity.
I have a brew bucket that I've used from the True Brew set that has a really exceptional seal. When I used it for the IPA I made the airlock showed excellent activity and the lid did its job of staying on.
The other day I swung by my LHBS and picked up another bucket because I planned on having a couple of brews fermenting at the same time. The bucket is called the Deluxe Fermenter. When I got it home I realized that there wasn't the nice gasket on the lid that I had on the other True Brew bucket lid. I wasn't the least concerned about it, though.
I have a weizenbeir fermenting in there right now and I was disappointed to see that the airlock wasn't showing any activity although it was clear that krausen was forming and it was quite likely fermentation was happening. I wasn't worried about the airlock not showing activity because I assumed there was a leak on the lid, but I like airlock activity because it is fun. Hydrometer is the only way to tell when fermentation is complete.
So I emailed the LHBS and asked them if this bucket was supposed to have a gasket or if it wasn't. Again, not because I was worried about no airlock activity, but because I was just wondering if I could get one with a gasket so that I could get that fun airlock activity that I like. They wrote back saying that you were better off having a lid that didn't seal all that well because air could get to the yeast during primary fermentation.
I've never read or heard about this before and I was wondering what you all thought. I'm sure there is validity to the statement, but if it was completely true why would fermentation buckets have these strong seal lids at all? What's the benefit of having a positive seal versus a leaky seal? Just another fun concept to consider in this great hobby of homebrew.
Thanks!
Geoff
Briefly, I understand that you do not need a perfect seal when it comes to fermenting. Bugs go down and do not climb up. Meaning, you can pretty much use whatever you want to cover your fermenter. I know about open fermentation as well. This isn't a concern about infecting a beer or anything like that. More of curiosity.
I have a brew bucket that I've used from the True Brew set that has a really exceptional seal. When I used it for the IPA I made the airlock showed excellent activity and the lid did its job of staying on.
The other day I swung by my LHBS and picked up another bucket because I planned on having a couple of brews fermenting at the same time. The bucket is called the Deluxe Fermenter. When I got it home I realized that there wasn't the nice gasket on the lid that I had on the other True Brew bucket lid. I wasn't the least concerned about it, though.
I have a weizenbeir fermenting in there right now and I was disappointed to see that the airlock wasn't showing any activity although it was clear that krausen was forming and it was quite likely fermentation was happening. I wasn't worried about the airlock not showing activity because I assumed there was a leak on the lid, but I like airlock activity because it is fun. Hydrometer is the only way to tell when fermentation is complete.
So I emailed the LHBS and asked them if this bucket was supposed to have a gasket or if it wasn't. Again, not because I was worried about no airlock activity, but because I was just wondering if I could get one with a gasket so that I could get that fun airlock activity that I like. They wrote back saying that you were better off having a lid that didn't seal all that well because air could get to the yeast during primary fermentation.
I've never read or heard about this before and I was wondering what you all thought. I'm sure there is validity to the statement, but if it was completely true why would fermentation buckets have these strong seal lids at all? What's the benefit of having a positive seal versus a leaky seal? Just another fun concept to consider in this great hobby of homebrew.
Thanks!
Geoff