Opening the fermenter too soon?

[drummerguy]

I brewed my first batch this past Sunday and it is currently fermenting. I'm wondering if opening the fermenter too soon would cause any significant problems. I'm using a bucket and I am very curious about what it looks like right now, but I don't want to cause any issues with the fermentation. Is it okay to open it up for a look and quickly close the lid?

Also, I plan to take a hydrometer reading once fermentation has ended, but I didn't save any of my sanitizing solution. How should I go about sanitizing only my wine thief? I don't want to create an entire 5 gallon bucket of solution right now, but I will if I have to.

 

[btbnl]

Assuming that you're seeing bubbles in the airlock, then what it looks like right now is a thick head of off-white foam - just do an image search for "krausen" and you'll get the idea. It *probably* won't hurt to take a quick look, but it does risk letting something nasty in.

I'm confused about the sanitizing question - why wouldn't you just make a pint or so of sanitizer for the wine thief?

 

[Zepth]

It looks like a whole lot of bubbling crap on top that nobody in the right mind would want to drink. This is normal. If you really want to see a pulsating mess of goop you should be able to take a quick peek without any harm. I've done it countless times with no ill effects, just be sure to crack the lid just enough to take a peek and do everything in your power to prevent anything from getting into the bucket then.

You can use a bit of simple math to make up much less sanitizing solution than 5 gals, I recommend a 1 gal jug of water and a spray bottle. Use the spray bottle, make up a new jug when needed. Store extra.

 

[brewerJase]

Opening the bucket probably won't do any harm. But you are opening the door to infection. I suggest you just leave it. Not much to see in a bucket anyway.
As far as sanitizer. You don't need to make 5 gallons. I use starsan and only make 1 gallon at a time. Pick up a plastic medicine syringe from a pharmacy and one gallon of distilled water from the grocery store. Measure 6ml of starsan and shoot it in the distilled water and there you go.


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[slarkin712]

Welcome to the best hobby ever. Resist the urge to open your bucket until fermentation has completed and you want to take a gravity reading. Beer does not do well with too much exposure to oxygen. But mostly, when it's actively fermenting you want to keep the lid on to keep things out of the beer like bacteria, wild yeast, etc. There's not much to see anyway. Just some frothy kraussen on the surface of the beer. Satisfy your interest by watching the airlock bubble. But, if you must look, it won't hurt your beer much if any.
You do not need to make a whole 5 gallons of sanitizer. Just scale down the mixing amounts and make enough to fill a spray bottle. Spray your wine thief thoroughly inside and out. When you take a sample do not return it to your bucket. It is a small risk of an infection putting the sample back, but it just isn't worth the risk. If you're not using Star-San sanitizer I suggest you use that from here on out. It is very effective, easy to mix, and can last for weeks after mixing.

 

[cjonesga]

Yes, you can take a quick look. Once you put the lid back on, it should push any air out with the remaining fermentation. I primary in a glass carboy on occasion just to see the process work without having to open up a bucket.

I sometimes mix up 2.5 gal batch of Star San. It keeps pretty well also. I just ordered some ph strips to keep a better tab on it. That is about as much as I would skimp on whether to mix more or not. Your beer will thank you for keeping everything sanitized.

 

[gregfreemyer]

Also, I plan to take a hydrometer reading once fermentation has ended, but I didn't save any of my sanitizing solution. How should I go about sanitizing only my wine thief? I don't want to create an entire 5 gallon bucket of solution right now, but I will if I have to.

My lhbs sells lme in 1 gallon containers. I kept the first 5 or so to use as random vessels I use in brewing. Now I mix up a gallon of starsan sanitizer at a time. I transfer about a quart at time to another one to sanitize stuff with. The gallon might last several weeks. Ie. I use a little when racking. A little more when bottling. Quite a bit when brewing. I also always have a spray bottle with sanitizer in it available to spray down bigger items like the fermenting bucket.

 

[MikePote]

I have been brewing 6 months and probably 20 batches and still get the urge to pop the fermenter to look at my beer. It is completely pointless but I understand where you come from. Go to your LHBS and buy a 6 gallon better bottle or carboy. That way you can look at your beer all you want.

 

[drummerguy]

Thanks for all the information. I'll just work on my patience and wait for it to finish. And I'll probably go buy some smaller jugs so I can keep some sanitizer around.

 

[MikePote]

And I'll probably go buy some smaller jugs so I can keep some sanitizer around.

Just whip up a 5 gallon batch and use it for a while. I make up a 5 gallon batch and keep it around for a few weeks or a few batches, whatever comes first.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for all the information. I'll just work on my patience and wait for it to finish. And I'll probably go buy some smaller jugs so I can keep some sanitizer around.

Go ahead and open the bucket and take a look. Unless you have an unusually dirty location the chance of infection is pretty minimal in the amount of time the bucket will be open. If that weren't the case, there would never have beer beer made because closed fermenters with airlocks are a fairly recent invention. Take time to read this article from "Brew Your Own". http://byo.com/stories/item/1211-open-fermentation-tips-from-the-pros