To Lift the Cap off The Primary Fermenter or Not?

[nubrew]

Hi All,

New to brewing.

We’ve got our primary fermenter in the garage on a table, started brewing last night. It’s a plastic bucket/pail with a fairly loose fitting lid (it’s just sitting on top, not held in place).

I see the home-brew community is sort of indifferent and/or opinionated as to whether to leave a cap on the primary fermenter or not. Lots of people say oxygen is crucial during this stage.

Would it be worth it to lift the cap off the pail today for a few seconds to take a peek inside as well as let some oxygen in? Or would this contaminate the brew? Is the loose fitting lid already enough to allow for some oxygen exchange?


Additionally, we've got windows in the garage, so sun is getting in. I've read during bottling that it is important to keep out of any form of light the bottles, is this at all important during primary/secondary fermentation?
Thanks

 

[bolus14]

At this point if you want to peek it's not going to hurt, but once fermentation starts you don't want to introduce anymore oxygen. When fermentation first starts you'll have enough CO2 pushing out of the wort and headspace that O2 won't really mix in. Having a lose lid will allow for some O2 exchange once fermentation settles down. If you have a rigorous fermentation the krausen could push the lid of which leads to a mess, increased chances of infection, and increased chances of oxygenation.

That said there are some styles and some brewers the use open fermenters, but these are kept in climate/air controlled rooms so infection is unlikely and I have read that many times if you walk into these rooms it's difficult to breath due to the yeast pulling much of the O2 out of the air.

As far as light goes you mainly want to prevent UV light from "hitting" your beer. Assuming you're using the typical white, food safe buckets we use, I believe it is rated to block UV. To be safe you can just put a dark shirt, pillow case, etc over top of it.

 

[SirSpectre]

Tighten that lid. It should have all the O2 it needs before fermentation starts. Get that air lock on and filled properly with sanitized water. If air can get into the fermenter, so can wild yeast and bacteria.

Get it out of the sun to a cool dark place. What yeast strain did you use? typically a stable temp of around 70 is a good average for ale yeast and it depends on the strain, but over all proper temperature control is required for a good beer.

 

[kh54s10]

How warm is the garage. You will want to try to keep the wort in the mid sixties for the first 5-7 days of fermentation.

Do not mess with it. Aerating the wort should have been done before the yeast was added. If you used dry yeast aeration is less important because of the drying/packaging process. Wait 10-14 days then take gravity readings 2 days apart, if the readings are below 1.020 and the same both times then it is safe to bottle. Store them somewhere dark and about 70 degrees for at least 2 weeks and sometimes 3 or more for carbonating.

Since you have a bucket lid that doesn't seal I would bottle this a day or 2 after you have reached final gravity. (no longer than 2 weeks unless it takes longer to reach FG, but it should be done by then)

Keep the bucket out of the light. You could bet a box, cut out one end and a hole in the top for the airlock if necessary and put it over the bucket.

 

[nubrew]

Tighten that lid. It should have all the O2 it needs before fermentation starts. Get that air lock on and filled properly with sanitized water. If air can get into the fermenter, so can wild yeast and bacteria.

Get it out of the sun to a cool dark place. What yeast strain did you use? typically a stable temp of around 70 is a good average for ale yeast and it depends on the strain, but over all proper temperature control is required for a good beer.

Are you referring to the airlock once I transfer wort to the carboy? There is no airlock on the bucket, just the lid. Should I fill that airlock completely to the brim with sanitized water?

If I throw a heavy dark blanket over top of the bucket it will add weight to the lid and should tighten it slightly.

 

[nubrew]

How warm is the garage. You will want to try to keep the wort in the mid sixties for the first 5-7 days of fermentation.

Do not mess with it. Aerating the wort should have been done before the yeast was added. If you used dry yeast aeration is less important because of the drying/packaging process. Wait 10-14 days then take gravity readings 2 days apart, if the readings are below 1.020 and the same both times then it is safe to bottle. Store them somewhere dark and about 70 degrees for at least 2 weeks and sometimes 3 or more for carbonating.

Since you have a bucket lid that doesn't seal I would bottle this a day or 2 after you have reached final gravity. (no longer than 2 weeks unless it takes longer to reach FG, but it should be done by then)

Keep the bucket out of the light. You could bet a box, cut out one end and a hole in the top for the airlock if necessary and put it over the bucket.

Garage is a little chillier in winter, around 66F-69F.

 

[kh54s10]

Garage is a little chillier in winter, around 66F-69F.

Asking because my garage is still going over 90 degrees some days. And that is way too hot for fermentation of most beers.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Confusion
Why is everything in a bucket and then getting switched over to a Carboy..Its one or the other.
If you HAVENT added yeast and its just wort in a bucket then aerate away and transfer to carboy THEN add yeast.
What size bucket and how much beer? If you have 5 gallons beer in a 5 gallon pail and added yeast you need to switch it over to a LARGER carboy,a 5 gallon carboy wont cut it.When the beer ferments it "Expands" in laymans terms and will be a sticky mess on your floor.
Give more details on what you've done

Edit:By areate away I mean swap back and forth between 2 buckets splashing as much as possible or better go to Home depot and get a 2 ft paint mixer that attches to a drill and mix up the wort...opening a lid aint gunna do crap

 

[nubrew]

Confusion
Why is everything in a bucket and then getting switched over to a Carboy..Its one or the other.
If you HAVENT added yeast and its just wort in a bucket then aerate away and transfer to carboy THEN add yeast.
What size bucket and how much beer? If you have 5 gallons beer in a 5 gallon pail and added yeast you need to switch it over to a LARGER carboy,a 5 gallon carboy wont cut it.When the beer ferments it "Expands" in laymans terms and will be a sticky mess on your floor.
Give more details on what you've done

It's 23L of beer, so about 6 gallons. The bucket it's in is almost twice that. Used a brewhouse Red ale wort kit. The instructions it came with are almost identical to these: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/finevine/Brewhouse Instructions.pdf, we are on step 7 if you take a look at that file.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

The link didn't work for me. Regardless after leaving the brew kettle the wort goes into a primary,Either a bucket OR a carboy. It goes Brew kettle-primary-bottle keg.No other vessels..Skip the secondary the directions are probably telling you to do and leave in the primary the entire time

 

[ThatITGuy]

I'm a big fan of Brewhouse, locally made wort to my region(sorta). I am drinking a Brewhouse IPA right now! It's awesome for Kit&Kilo, as others have said, despite the instructions.. skip the secondary. Go 3 weeks primary, rack to bottling bucket then prime & bottle. Leave them 2-3 wks in bottles at room temp, then I usually go another 1-2 weeks in the fridge for clearing, during which time I start drinking them, checking carbonation, etc. Just for reference here's a photo of my brewhouse IPA, difference of the 1st week in the fridge (after 2 weeks bottle carb) then 3rd week in the fridge (so much clearer and carbonated perfectly!

 

[nubrew]

I'm a big fan of Brewhouse, locally made wort to my region(sorta). I am drinking a Brewhouse IPA right now! It's awesome for Kit&Kilo, as others have said, despite the instructions.. skip the secondary. Go 3 weeks primary, rack to bottling bucket then prime & bottle. Leave them 2-3 wks in bottles at room temp, then I usually go another 1-2 weeks in the fridge for clearing, during which time I start drinking them, checking carbonation, etc. Just for reference here's a photo of my brewhouse IPA, difference of the 1st week in the fridge (after 2 weeks bottle carb) then 3rd week in the fridge (so much clearer and carbonated perfectly!

Hi, thanks for the post. Yes, it's Canadian I believe (though its got the Australian Coopers yeast).

We've been following the instructions and already got the brew in the bucket, so there's no way around it. I hope everything will still turn out ok. Readings and volume have been fine (1.040 sg before we added the yeast and almost exactly 23L).

I've seen other people refer to fermenting in the fridge. Should the fridge be plugged in? Won't the cold temperature be harmful to the yeast?

Your beer turned out really clear, I hope ours will fair the same.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Hi, thanks for the post. Yes, it's Canadian I believe (though its got the Australian Coopers yeast).

We've been following the instructions and already got the brew in the bucket, so there's no way around it. I hope everything will still turn out ok. Readings and volume have been fine (1.040 sg before we added the yeast and almost exactly 23L).

I've seen other people refer to fermenting in the fridge. Should the fridge be plugged in? Won't the cold temperature be harmful to the yeast?

Your beer turned out really clear, I hope ours will fair the same.

Look up "swamp cooler" its your only choice at this point for ferm temp.Whats the air temp in your house?

 

[ThatITGuy]

I've seen other people refer to fermenting in the fridge. Should the fridge be plugged in? Won't the cold temperature be harmful to the yeast?

Your beer turned out really clear, I hope ours will fair the same.

Most Ale yeasts have a decent temperature threshold, my IPA kit came with Nottingham Ale yeast, which is good for 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F) with good tolerance to low fermentation temperatures (12°C/54°F)

So you would get best results in a temp controlled fermentation but it's not required. The temp control of the fridge is crucial, many folks on HBT recommend the ITC-1000 (check amazon) wired up to override the fridge's controller as the ITC is more accurate (0.3 degree accuracy) than a fridge thermostat (usually ~3 degree fluctuation)

I personally have not used a fermentation chamber yet, but I'm in the process of converting my mini fridge into a chamber. In the meantime I just ferment in a cool area of my home which stays around 18°C.