Fermenter bucket lid rim leak

[nmendres]

I've been homebrewing for about a year. I have a Brewers Best fermenting bucket that appears to have a minor leak. During fermentation, I'm seeing the water level in the airlock move, but no bubbles. There appears to be a leak somewhere. It's not coming from the grommet around the airlock. I can smell fermentation faintly from around the rim of the lid. I am thinking about trying to make a gasket to fit in the lid rim. I was considering trying a layer of plastic wrap (Saran wrap). Does anyone have a better solution, short of replacing the lid? I'd like to have an airtight seal.

 

[cjbalough]

Have you tried using a rubber mallet or block of wood to "seat" the seal better? I had a lid that wasn't sealed and this helped.

 

[beergolf]

I would not worry about it. If the airlock does not bubble, guess what? it will still be beer.

 

[kh54s10]

Or you could just buy a new lid...

 

[HopSong]

Exactly.. forget about the lid.. You are simply trying to keep air suspended dust, mold, etc out of your beer. The only reason to have a seal, IMO, is to watch the bubbles. If that's your thing.. it's fixable.. Otherwise, brew on..

 

[Braufessor]

Goes with the territory on buckets. I use all buckets for fermenters. After a few uses they all leak. No big deal, those yeast are still doing their job in there.

 

[brewbama]

A layer of co2 will lay on the beer protecting it, like the guys above said the lid only keeps out air borne particulates. However a cheap fix is a $4 o ring: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/SIPHONLESS-LID-SEALING-O-RING-P3078C66.aspx

 

[unionrdr]

I had a BB ale pail that had no lid seal. Couldn't find a lid to fit that had one. I use a rubber mallet to get the lids down tight. And that prying tool all the sites sell to get the lids off. The ale pail got a bad infection recently,so I replaced it with the shorter,wider 7.9 gallon bucket from Midwest that has a seal in the lid.
The ale pail used to leak around the lid during initial fermentation when a lot of krausen & co2 were being produced.

 

[nmendres]

Thanks everyone.

I think I'll try using a mallet and block to try to seat the lid better first. I just get a little anal about keeping the inside of my fermenter clean and bug free. I couldn't picture how I could get a good seal, but I'll try the mallet. If I buy a new lid, I'm probably just going down the same road 6 months from now. If sealing the lid doesn't work, I think I might switch to a 6.5 gallon glass carboy instead.