Loose stopper

[SnakeHandlerIIPA]

Just got finished adding some hop pellets to my secondary and noticed the rubber stopper was loose. Tried pushing it down and it popped right back up. Doesn't seem to be making a very good seal. The beer has been in the secondary for a week. How big a deal is this? Also, I'm new to home brewing, this is my 2nd 5g batch. I'm using an 3 piece air lock on the secondary, is this even necessary? There has been no activity in the airlock whatsoever since I racked to the secondary.

 

[BlindFaith]

Just got finished adding some hop pellets to my secondary and noticed the rubber stopper was loose. Tried pushing it down and it popped right back up. Doesn't seem to be making a very good seal. The beer has been in the secondary for a week. How big a deal is this? Thanks.

You mean the airlock stopper or a solid stopper? You shouldn't dry hop with a sealed stopper as the hops will create gasses that need to escape. I did that a couple weeks ago and I had a lot of pressure behind the stop. It also caused a good bit of foam in my primary. Just use a regular drilled stop with an airlock. If it is the drilled stopper shooting out, you can try drying off the inside of the carboy spout with a paper towel.

 

[SnakeHandlerIIPA]

Yeah it's a drilled stopper with an airlock. I'll try drying it off. I was expecting a fight after the time I had getting the stopper out of the primary. Is this the kind of thing that could ruin a batch of beer though?

 

[daksin]

Yea, drying off the stopper and the neck of the carboy should do it.

 

[Zuljin]

Or wrap some tape around the stopper.

 

[RM-MN]

You could just set it loose in the top of the carboy. Nothing is likely to get in through that tiny opening.