odd carboy, DIY help needed

[Gusizhuo]

I am in Taiwan and trying to find some functional equipment for home brewing. Here is what I am working with:

It is a 5 gallon carboy with a large opening about 10 inches across. The questions at hand are:

1) Any ideas for how to custom make a bung/airlock assembly for the top?

2) Is an airlock even needed when brewing? I have heard a lot about open fermentation and using rags, plexiglass, or clear plastic wrap over the top. Essentially, is a container sealed 100% from outside intrusions really necessary?

NOTE: I am asking in reference to mead, barley wine, and more standard beers.


On a different note, check out this thing I found at the same store! It is a traditional sake fermentation vessel!!! I will use this one for sure, but I would still like to make the carboy functional.

 

[Gusizhuo]

damn, my pictures didn't post... I guess they need to be web based and I think at this time I am not allowed a gallery from this site

 

[ScubaSteve]

try using a site like photobucket and enter the URL. On another note....just use buckets! Those have got to be readily available....
If you have a solid way of sanitizing your equipment, you should be fine. If you must, you can sanitize a piece of saran wrap and tape a square of it over a hole in the top of the bucket. If you tape 3 sides down and leave the 4th side open, you have an effective "flapper" valve.

 

[abracadabra]

I thought that the guy who mentioned taking a plastic tupperware type bowl and placing it in the opening was a good idea. You could put some water in the bowl to help keep it in place.

The issue of whether or not you vessel is air tight only really comes into play in the clearing and aging stage. the first week or 10 days during the initial stages of fermentation it's not that difficult to keep the beer away from oxygen exposure because of the positive pressure created by the fermentation process.

 

[Philip1993]

You've got a really cool fermenter. It will work just fine with a rag, but will make better beer if you keep dust/air out. There are several commercially sold fermenters that are NOT sealed, just a lid.

A wooden/ceramic/plastic disk, a sheet of rubber, and a weight would make a fabulous cover. Just glue the rubber sheet to the wooden disk. When CO2 is being generated, it will burp. When it's not, the weight will seal the container from air/dust.

Get creative. For the disk, try a dinner plate, glass tabletop, glazed ceramic dish for under a potted plant. For the weight, a potted plant, a bottle of sake, or even a gallon of water.

 

[Gusizhuo]

Ok, I made a lot of progress and have been able to get a brew of mead going successfully. Here are some pics of what I am using.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6865&l=5abb0&id=714217636

 

[BigJay13]

That is pretty cool...hope your brew turns out good!

 

[Docapi]

Rather than messing around with a homemade airlock, have you thought about just going with a blow off tube?

Stick one end of the hose where you have the airlock, and stick the other end in a jar or glass of water.

Seems like it would be a lot easier.

Just food for thought.

 

[GjG]

I admire the persistance and ingenuity. Second vote for blow off tubes. The plastic cups seem kind of over complicated.

 

[Robar]

Thirds on the blow off tube. That carboy rocks!! I wish they were readily available here. If you could get those in 6gal it would be a dream primary carboy, very easy to clean. Good luck on your brew.