Had no lid on bottling bucket used Foil!?!?

[Perennial Tears]

Just started brewing again and had no bottling bucket lid. I had to use foil which doesn't really give a nice tight seal. As a matter of fact, how was the beer siphoned before with the lid on? was there a hole? I think I remember a hole.

Anyway, will the beer have a chance of making it? It tastes really good at this point and is a hoppy IPA.

 

[wild]

It'll be fine. I've done the same. You can also use saran wrap and a rubber-band/bungee cord too.

Wild

 

[Fatabbot]

I don't use anything at all to cover my bottling bucket....

You'll be fine.

 

[budbo]

My bottling bucket also stays open, havent had a problem yet.

 

[Cheesefood]

By the time you're ready to bottle, the beer has a high enough ABV to prevent an easy infestation. Besides, it's only exposed for 20-30 minutes. You're fine.

 

[sirsloop]

I've never covered my bottling bucket... always racked it off the primary/secondary and immediately into recently sanitized bottles.

 

[david_42]

And since you rack off the bottom & drink the top layer (You do don't you? It's a QA thing), those bugs are headed for an early demise.

 

[SteveM]

Another who never covers his bottling bucket here.

 

[Perennial Tears]

Cool, thanks!

I can't remember if I put a lid on it or not. During the end of my brewing run I was always kegging it and shooting some CO2 into the kegs before filling.

BTW, the beer tasted fantastic......IPA

 

[Perennial Tears]

I'm watching this video podcast over at basicbrew.com http://archive-a01m01.libsyn.com/ZndveJ12bniXd2t5ZHppp5mkaXOT/podcasts/basicbrewing/bbv02-02-06.mov and they don't even use a bottling bucket. they just rack straight from the carboy to the bottle using a phil's filler at the end of the racking cane tube.

SHould this be the way to go? Why would I rack into a bucket then fill?

**EDIT UPDATE

I just realized they're using Cooper Tabs for priming. I don't have tabs, so I'll have to use the bucket with corn sugar.

 

[Exo]

If you pour your carbonation mixture into the bottling bucket then siphon your beer into your bucket it makes it much tougher to have some bottle bombs. If you pour your carb. mixture into your carboy and stir...chance for oxidation is there...

This brings up another point in the quest for sanitation...

My other hobby is serious photography. I have to wear a mask when I clean my digi-cam SLR's sensor...why...because simply breathing spews out tiny tiny particles of saliva from the mouth...yea just breathing. And the particles collect on the sensor and you can see them (trust me) on your photos.

So if breathing has an effect in that regard, simply breathing over your cooled wort/beer is potentially contaminating your batch.

Another thing is your own hair. You should wear a hat or *gasp* hairnet when dealing with your beer/cooled wort...a single strand of hair could be contaminating.

Here's another minor issue. If you cool your wort on the stove, that cooling process also goes to cool your fan/hood above your stove...and if you get condensation and a drip goes into your cooling wort....yikes.

So, all kinds of stuff to go wrong.