I dont need any stinking bung or stopper!

[NoNothing]

I bought a new fermenter the other to get 20 gallons fermenting at the same time. However, the only bung I had would not fit my fermenter, so crap, Ive got all this delicious liquid in the carboy but no way to seal it.

Disregarding proper sanitation and and wanting to just get this crap done. I grabbed a bottle of vodka and some silicone sealant that claims to be water tight and have a 'bio seal' whatever the hell that means. So I douse the outside of my airlock in vodka and stick it in the hole of my fermenter and seal that bastard right up.

The seal has been holding fine and the pressure required to bubble is so minimal its not putting a lot of pressure on the seal itself. All things aside, Im not in any rush to put a proper stopper in here. :rockin:

 

[uwjester]

Looks like a good seal to me. The only concern I would have would be that the kreusen overwhelms the bubbler and you get some goo in the silicone. That sits for a week or so and gets a little mold on it. When you pull the airlock out, some of that mold could drop into the beer and start an infection. It seems like the stopper is easier to pull out and keep away from the beer. This seems to me like a pretty far fetched scenario though, so go for it.

Along the lines of far-fetched, I threw away all of my carboy handles. The necks on those carboys aren't really that strong. Putting all of the weight of the beer at an angle on the neck seems pretty dangerous. Sorry to be negative again, I'm usually a pretty positive guy. Just thought it needed to be mentioned.

 

[ShadowsDeed]

interesting to say the least.

Way to be resourceful.

 

[brewingmeister]

MacGruber?

 

[IrregularPulse]

Aluminum foil over the top works good too

 

[Bobby_M]

Silicone has a pretty horrible aroma when it's curing. I would have used a piece of plastic wrap and a loose fitting rubberband.

 

[weirdboy]

I would have used a piece of plastic wrap and a loose fitting rubberband.

That's what I use most of the time for primary, at least for higher gravity beers that are likely to be quite active.

 

[NoNothing]

Looks like a good seal to me. The only concern I would have would be that the kreusen overwhelms the bubbler and you get some goo in the silicone. That sits for a week or so and gets a little mold on it. When you pull the airlock out, some of that mold could drop into the beer and start an infection. It seems like the stopper is easier to pull out and keep away from the beer. This seems to me like a pretty far fetched scenario though, so go for it.

Along the lines of far-fetched, I threw away all of my carboy handles. The necks on those carboys aren't really that strong. Putting all of the weight of the beer at an angle on the neck seems pretty dangerous. Sorry to be negative again, I'm usually a pretty positive guy. Just thought it needed to be mentioned.

I should toss mine out, this carboy was given to me by a friend, I never use the handle, I just hold the keg from the neck by hand and the bottom (like all my other handless carboys).

As far as the krausen reaching the beer, not likely in this beer. I got a 3" krausen and now its starting to die down. Its a pretty light beer as is and I have a good gallon and a half of headspace. Which Im a bit bummed about, this will be under 4.5 gallons once I keg, oh well.

Silicone has a pretty horrible aroma when it's curing. I would have used a piece of plastic wrap and a loose fitting rubberband.

That was my first option. Rubber band around the base and around the airlock to hold it against both. I failed to find a rubber band, this was option 2.

Not to mention the Apfelwein on day 6 of fermentation WELL overpowers the silicone smell.

 

[throwbookatface]

Looks all good to me. Let us know how it turns out!