Fermenter Leaky Lid

[dustinp]

So I pitched my yeast and in 48 hours I found out that I had a leaky lid for my 6.5 gallon fermentation bucket. Obviously I had no signs of fermentation in my airlock during this time. After replacing my lid with a good sealing lid, I shook the bucket to get the yeast working again. I did notice that it had been fermenting a bit by the krausen marks on the sides of the bucket during the swapping of the lids . Will my beer have any ill side effects because of shaking the fermenter after 48 hours of pitching the yeast?

 

[JJL]

Not likely.

 

[Walker]

It'll be fine.

For the record, there was no need to shake it up. In fact, there was really no need to replace the lid. The CO2 produced during fermentation would have prevented anything from coming in through the leaky part.

 

[specialized]

probably not, other than it's going to take longer for all that crap to settle.

 

[r_flagg]

Ya gotta be careful what you get sometimes. Last time I picked up a bucket, it didn't have a grommeted lid, so I drilled it and made my own, only to find out there was no gasket on the lid either! I ended up using twisted up pieces of saran wrap for the last batch and was very careful not to shake it up too much. I smashed the lid down tight until the airlock stopped bubbling. Anyway, lesson learned - carboys or true brew buckets pre-drilled and gasketed, none of those cheap ones that say "Deluxe Fermenter" on the side. You'll never get a good seal on those.

 

[hudsonj6]

I get all my supplies from a place that is a bit more geared towards wine making so my primary bucket definately doesn't have an air tight seal and I don't even have an airlock on it. It works just fine so no real need to have replaced the lid or shake the fermenter. Probably won't be problems from having shook it though.

 

[gak27]

Sometimes I put a wrap of duct tape around the lid over the seal area if I'm really worried about it...works well, esp. the lighter, more flexible stuff...

 

[chriscraig]

I bought my bucket from a wine shop too. It didn't have a pre-drilled lid. They also gave me a sheet of instructions for making beer. It said to set the lid loosely on the bucket during fermentation.

 

[brian_g]

I'd be worried about beer coming out the air lock. If I'm trying to restart a fermentation, I'll give it a stir with a sanitised spoon. Usually, this isn't necessary. Yeast does a pretty good job on it's own.