soap seal

[Owly055]

I'm doing some very small brews. 1.5 gallon in a 2 gallon glass ice tea dispenser with a glass lid that simply rests on top of the container. I haven't yet developed a sealing system / airlock for the container, but am considering using the simple expedient of melting some bar soap, and with a form of some sort, pouring it on the surface of the lid that contacts the top of the fermenter. I believe this will provide sufficient sealing for my purposes. I've used fermenters without airlocks that vented through threads, etc, many times. What I don't have as yet is an absolutely odorless bar soap. Can anybody make a suggestion on what product to use?

The idea is that the contact area will be glass against soap, which is fairly antibacterial, and as it is not a tight seal, pressure will lift the glass lid to vent, and it will drop back when not venting.

H.W.

 

[flars]

I would not use soap anywhere near a fermentor or other brewing equipment. Inevitably the soap will contact the beer and cause major head retention problems.

Look for food grade seals of the type used for lids on crocks. Your fermentor may also be the same size as the small canners or pressure cookers.

 

[itsme6582]

How about candle or paraffin wax?

 

[wilserbrewer]

How about a piece of Saran Wrap and a rubber band, or would that be too easy

With the soap seal, your fermenter might be clean once you transfer saving you a little cleaning work

 

[day_trippr]

Bees wax should be easier to use than most of the proffered alternatives...

Cheers!

 

[MrAverageGuy]

You know, I just wouldn't count on getting a good consistent seal with what it sounds like you have there. Could you just get a 2.5 gallon HDPE Jerrycan (less than 5 bucks at this source: http://bascousa.com/f-style-plastic-bottle-2.5-gallon.html)

 

[imasickboy]

Keg lube. Or more cheaply, frozen yogurt machine lube.

 

[Owly055]

I frankly don't see soap getting into the beer if It's handled properly. The only time the lid will be handled is when the brew is poured into the sterile fermenter, and the lid then set into place. The fermenter itself should be "innocent of soap" after cleaning between brews, and the lid is never removed until after the fermentation is complete...... but of course if I choose to harvest yeast, the small amount of soap on the rim would create the possibility of introducing it where I don't want it....... I'd love to find a flexible soft plastic / rubber material I could make a seal out of. The saran wrap and rubber band suggestion might be the most practical alternative at the moment. The unfortunate fact is that the lid and the top of the jar are not well fitted, in fact they are very poorly matched. It's cheaply made junk really.
I only use wide mouth fermenters..... I refuse to use anything else. I've discontinued using plastic, so that leaves me the choice between glass and stainless, and the options in glass are few. I've considered using a stainless steel pressure cooker drilled for a spigot as a small fermenter, but that's not a cheap way to go. It would however allow me to use the boil kettle as the fermenter, and to ferment under pressure. $67 for a 10 quart pressure cooker plus the cost of the spigot assembly, really isn't all that bad for a small fermenter. It would last forever and good seals would not be a problem.

H.W.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm missing why it's important to have a perfect seal. One of the common issues new brewers have is that their buckets don't seal, resulting in no bubbling through the airlock. Inevitably the response is to RDWHAHB. Unless the mating surfaces are very uneven, one to the other, it strikes me as being little different from a bucket lid that doesn't seal airtight.

What am I missing here?

 

[Owly055]

I'm missing why it's important to have a perfect seal. One of the common issues new brewers have is that their buckets don't seal, resulting in no bubbling through the airlock. Inevitably the response is to RDWHAHB. Unless the mating surfaces are very uneven, one to the other, it strikes me as being little different from a bucket lid that doesn't seal airtight.

What am I missing here?

Mating surfaces are extremely uneven...... the lid rocks on top of the jar. It's very bad. I would not have purchased the jug if I'd realized that it was so poorly manufactured.

H.W.

 

[laredo7mm]

...so that leaves me the choice between glass and stainless...

I posted this in a different thread a while back, but here is the fermenter I made out of a Concord Pot:

I bought a couple 30 quart Concord pots to use as fermenters. Drilled a hole in the top, soldered in a stainless barb, and used a silicone gasket that is made for a pressure cooker for the gasket. I think my lid is 14.5" in diameter and the gasket is 11.8", but it stretches around the lid with no issues. I got the gaskets from Amazon for like $7 each.

I have used it a few times without any issues. The first time I used the gasket stretched around the lid and some spring clamps to hold it to the pot. That worked out fine. The second time I put the lid on the pot and stretched the gasket around both the pot lip and the lid. This worked OK, but wasn't perfectly air tight. The third time I didn't use the gasket at all. I just put the lid on the pot and then used electrical tape to hold the lid on and make the seal. That worked fine too. Maybe not 100% ideal for the OCD sanitation people, but it didn't bother me.

 

[laredo7mm]

...I'd love to find a flexible soft plastic / rubber material I could make a seal out of...

There should be all kinds of silicone sheet and or gasket material out there. Well over a decade ago I made my own gasket for a 10 gallon paint pressure pot out of 1/16" silicone sheet. There has to be more available now days.

Edited to add: Here is a link from the first hit on a quick Amazon search:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0075ZMUOC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Homercidal]

I gotta say, the Saran Wrap and rubber band idea sounds really cheap and easy, and effective. You might consider using Turkey Bags for roasting turkeys. Less work than wrapping Saran Wrap, and reusable.

Besides that, I'd consider the wax alternative, or even not worrying about it at all, compared to messing around with soap. With a small amount of effort you might create your own blend of wax that is pliable for your needs and reusable.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Silly putty ftw lol

That was some good stuff, can you still buy it?

Play dough is food safe, you can make your own if so inclined...

 

[IrregularPulse]

I don't see a problem with the OPs idea. With all the options these days, he should be able to walk into a bath and body works and find a soap flavor to match whatever beer he's brewing at the time.

 

[beernbourbon]

Refuses to use plastic (presumably due to possible flavor/taste transfer) but is ok with potential soap taste.
Wow. Musta tried to eat from the dog zapping dog food bird feeder.

 

[TXCrash]

I don't see a problem with the OPs idea. With all the options these days, he should be able to walk into a bath and body works and find a soap flavor to match whatever beer he's brewing at the time.

And with christmas time coming, it's almost time you can get twisted peppermint bodywash. Should make a very festive brew.

I bet there's a pumpkin spice soap too.

The ideas.









True story - my first homebrew was well before I was of age. I used a scented candle to create the airlock.




Mmmmm, floral welch's wine.

 

[TXCrash]

Refuses to use plastic (presumably due to possible flavor/taste transfer) but is ok with potential soap taste.
Wow. Musta tried to eat from the dog zapping dog food bird feeder.

Did he say oowwwwwwwwwly!?

 

[Gavin C]

This guy tried wax on a somewhat dissimilar fermentor.

The results were not entirely unexpected.

Very innovative though.

Image by @iamjonsharp

 

[Zinc_Saucier]

...sterile fermenter...

Sanitized, unless you have the equipment and process to actually sterilize.

 

[user 204491]

Owly, I have certainly missed your posts.