Glass carboy bung

[jota]

Hey guys,

i transferred to secondary last night and have a question about the bung. I tried pushing the bung down into the carboy but it keeps popping up a little bit... like it doesn't seem like its sitting in it properly. I took a big breath and blew around the bung/airlock and none of the new foam moved, so i guess its air tight, but i just wanted to make sure i wasn't supposed to do anything.

thanks,
jota

 

[Beerlord]

relax. it's probably fine.

 

[rabidgerbil]

hmm... i would advise against blowing into your beer.
you might get away with it, and have no infections, but why increase the risk?

that being said, the only point of a cap/bung/stopper in a carboy is to keep things from falling INTO the beer. you can accomplish the same thing by simply putting a piece of foil or a zip-loc baggy over the top of the carboy. you are not trying to make it air tight.

 

[DUCCCC]

The stoppers have a tendency to do this when there is any moisture on the stopper or neck of the carboy. Either dry it out well before putting the stopper in, or get either a cap or universal stopper. I've got both (regular stoppers and orange caps) and use whatever's handy and clean.

Sounds like you have a good seal for the time being.

 

[Gnome]

Clean it with vodka, It's probably wet that's why it keeps popping up. I learned this here on the HBT. mabrew beat me to it.

 

[jota]

should i try drying it now with a paper towel or let it go?

 

[jota]

i think im just gonna put the ziplock baggy on top to make sure

 

[Kayos]

Use vodka or another alcohol on a paper towel and let it quickly air dry. Then it'll be stickier in the top.

 

[beala]

A word of advice: don't push the stopper in too hard. I had the same problem with my first wine kit. The stopper would slide out, and I'd try to push it back in. My last attempt at getting it to stay was a bit too much, and I ended up pushing the stopper down, through the neck, into my carboy full of wine. I ended up leaving it in there, wine and all, for about a month. Luckily, stoppers are pretty tough, and no rubber off flavors leached into the wine. Anyway, I'd say an imperfect seal is better than losing your stopper into the carboy!

 

[Alabama Brewer]

Just dry the neck and the bung with a paper towel. I have done this for over 20 batches and never had a problem. KISS and relax