Rubber bungs

[195877]

It seems to me that the #6 drilled and non-drilled bungs (can't find any polymer #6) for 1 gallon jugs have a strong rubber odor (they're made of rubber). and I was wondering if anyone has had any bad experiences with them i.e. tainting etc.
No matter what I've done I can't seem to clean/sanitize the odor away, and for that reason I've been afraid to use them.

Strange, but my 5 gal polymer bungs fit some of my 1gal jugs but not all???

Thanks

 

[Maylar]

I wouldn't float one in my mead, but have never had any flavor tainting from them.

 

[fuelish]

Never had a problem with odor/taste. I even fermented a batch of beer once with a bung in the carboy...it was a lil wet and slippery when I put it in place and wouldn't stay in place, so I got a lil too forceful putting it in, and it went completely into the wort...LOL - luckily I had another one on hand, just let it be, and the beer came out...was an IPA, though, perhaps if it were a more "delicate" brew, there might've been an off flavor, dunno. But, no, just having it in place should not affect the taste in any way

 

[Aristotelian]

I just got some new stoppers and noticed a horrible rubber smell when I popped them open to take a sample. After letting them breathe for a while the smell dissipated, but I was very concerned about this. This batch is in bottles now, should be done in another week. I did not notice any off taste in the samples. Since then I have read that you can boil the stoppers for an hour to remove a lot of the smell.

 

[195877]

Thanks to all! I guess I'm overly paranoid (as a new brewer) about ruining my first batches since they are coming along so well thus far.

I might try the boiling suggestion just to see if it works, and, then nervously, try one on a secondary!

 

[loro]

I recently bought a 3 gal carboy and the bung I was sold was the same as the 1 gals. I was shaking up my must after pitch and my thumb pushed it all the way in.

I now have to figure how to get it out, will it make it taste off and whether I contaminated the batch. won't know for months.

 

[Aristotelian]

I recently bought a 3 gal carboy and the bung I was sold was the same as the 1 gals. I was shaking up my must after pitch and my thumb pushed it all the way in.

I now have to figure how to get it out, will it make it taste off and whether I contaminated the batch. won't know for months.

I would rack it to another container (kettle?), fish out the stopper, then rack it back in to the fermenter.

 

[195877]

So would I...but, good luck getting it out Even trying to fish it out with, say, a coat hanger or something along that line, will be tough!

That carboy could be history!

If it seems impossible...you might try holding it at the neck with a coat hanger, drilling a decent size hole in the center and cutting it in half with a jig saw while holding it ???

 

[MaxStout]

Search some scientific supply stores. Look for silicone stoppers.

 

[Maylar]

So would I...but, good luck getting it out Even trying to fish it out with, say, a coat hanger or something along that line, will be tough!

That carboy could be history!

If it seems impossible...you might try holding it at the neck with a coat hanger, drilling a decent size hole in the center and cutting it in half with a jig saw while holding it ???

There's a method of removing a cork from an empty wine bottle using a plastic bag. It'd probably work for a carboy bung too. Google brings it up.

 

[fuelish]

I had no problem getting the "fermented" bung outta the batch of beer it got pushed into....I let the beer totally ferment, bottled it, and used a cut wire clothes hanger (do they make 'em anymore???) bent to a hook on the end to grab the stopper through the hole and pull it out....wasn't terribly difficult, but qualified as a PITA....said beer was fine

 

[Nate]

I hate the smell from some of those stoppers. The universal stoppers from Northern Brewer don't have that strong smell.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Only this forum can you use the words bung, jugs, and taint all in one post and it be a serious question.

 

[Nate]

Only this forum can you use the words bung, jugs, and taint all in one post and it be a serious question.

And additionally... have a name like FloppyKnockers.

 

[Frognostic]

My friend blamed a few dodgy home-brew batches on rubber bungs.

 

[Nate]

I noticed the new ones definitely smelled worse than my older ones so I decided to drop a couple new ones into some hot water with some baking soda. It took several baths to diminish the smell and they turned the first bath into foul smelling tea (despite the baking soda). That being said, I could see how a new stopper could possibly effect the taste of a small batch if sitting in the product or maybe even at high krausen.

Bottom line... they stink and they leech something into the water to make the water stink. The hot baths in baking soda seem to help a little.

 

[gunit00]

I bought some on Amazon. They smell like new tires. Not very appetizing.

 

[burninator]

I bought some on Amazon. They smell like new tires. Not very appetizing.

You're not supposed to eat them.

 

[gunit00]

You're not supposed to eat them.

No ****. I am referring to pungent smell these new rubber bungs exude in close proximity to mead gold.

 

[Maylar]

You guys are gonna make me go take a whiff of all my bungs. (That sounds dirty somehow...)

 

[195877]

I've tried just about everything I found, on the web, for removing the smell from rubber.
*From boiling for an hour- (I too; had coloring water and rubber smell that- both, diminished during boiling while changing the water several times until it was fairly clear.
*Left them in the sun for one hour.
*Boiled them in vinegar water.
*Aired them out, outside, in the shade for a day.
*Store in open air.

The first boil removed a fairly significant amount of the foul smell , and, provided the majority of overall improvement from the group of tests; remembering this is the first test of several on the same sample (individual test were not done).

The other tests perhaps provide some improvement as a group, but none signaled as a fair contributor alone (most of the taint was removed in 1st boil).

From the original sample and of what I remember the bungs are much improved but I am still reluctant to use them, cause they still smell like rubber?

1/2 the samples were from a wine supply store on e*$y
1/2 from a popular online wine supply store

 

[Maylar]

I suspect that the smell is outgassing of whatever polymer was used to make them. It seems to dissipate with time. The bungs that I bought at my local brew store don't smell but the one I bought online did when new and doesn't now (months later). The LHBS bungs came from his bin, and who knows how old they were.

BTW if you're dealing with 1 gal or 1/2 gal jugs (#6 bungs) there are screw on caps with & without the hole for an airlock.