Newbie and my 6.5 gallon fermenter and possible leak issue

[nmendres]

I'm a newbie and I'm just finishing up my 3rd 5 gallon batch (a great coffee stout).

I have a Brewer's Best 6.5 gallon plastic fermenter bucket. I've noticed that on my first batch my airlock was very active for the first 3-4 days. I was brewing a Hefeweizen. I have a temperature strip down the side of the fermenter. The bucket got warm (76 degrees) during krausen. That's probably why I saw all the airlock activity. At the start of fermentation, I could push down slightly on the lid and air bubbles would come out the airlock. Just checking to see whether the airlock was functioning. Any off flavors were probably covered by the taste of the Hefeweizen. It was great; I still have four bottles.

On my second batch, a milk chocolate stout, the airlock was less active during fermentation. I could push down on the bucket lid slightly at the start of fermentation and get bubbles out the airlock. Ferment temperature was still in the mid to low 70's at peak, but still tasted pretty good/great.

My third batch was a coffee stout. The airlock was only active for four hours after a delay of two days before fermentation started. I got concerned and decided to check SG, and it was 1.022 (OG was 1.056). My recipe FG is 1.015. I did my push test and the airlock was OK. I waited a week after start of fermentation and did another SG check, this time 1.016 (almost home). My recipe says to fermentation should take two weeks. I've racked this batch to my 6 gallon glass carboy.

I've been reading Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing like a bible. I have dog-eared pages. He discusses "open" and "closed" fermenters. Most other folks have commented on these forums that if you aren't seeing airlock activity that your fermenter must have a leak somewhere. With my plastic bucket vermenter and snap on lid, I can kind of buy that conclusion that I might have a very small leak and CO2 is getting out instead of the airlock. Charlie comments that with an "open fermenter", fermenting wort should not stay in that condition for more than a week, but should be racked to a "closed fermenter" to reduced the possibility of contamination.

I know that's a lot of info.

Ok here's my question(s). Are plastic brewing buckets with airlocks considered open fermenters if they have small air leaks? If I brew this stout again, am I at risk of getting contamination while using my bucket for a full two weeks as my recipe calls for? or shoudl I just rack it at the end of week one?

PS: I haven't had a bad brew so far, everything has come out pretty good.

I'm considering getting a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only using my 6.5 gallon bucket for recipes that call for a 1 week-ish ferment.

 

[freisste]

If it's got a lid, it is not an open fermentation.

 

[flars]

Ok here's my question(s). Are plastic brewing buckets with airlocks considered open fermenters if they have small air leaks? If I brew this stout again, am I at risk of getting contamination while using my bucket for a full two weeks as my recipe calls for? or shoudl I just rack it at the end of week one?

Your bucket has a lid so it is not considered an open fermentor. You are not at risk using this bucket for your primary for as long as a fermentation takes. The blanket of CO2 on top of the beer will protect from infection as long as it remains. Transferring to a secondary eliminates most of this protective CO2.

I'm considering getting a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only using my 6.5 gallon bucket for recipes that call for a 1 week-ish ferment.

There might be a recipe that says fermentation will be done in a week, but the yeast will finish when they finish. There are a lot of variables with fermentation. Stable hydrometer readings are the only way to know when the ferment is done. Then allow some time for the yeast to clean up off flavors produced during fermentation.

 

[BigFloyd]

It's no biggie of you've got a tiny leak around the lid of a fermenter bucket. The biggest downside is that you won't be able to see CO2 bubbling up through the airlock. It doesn't increase risk of infection. On the other hand, prying the lid off too often can.

Just curious. Why would you bother racking a stout to a secondary? Don't do something just because a recipe sheet says to do it. Sometimes the info on those is really outdated or was even wrong to begin with.

Finally, don't worry if you don't get all the way to what a recipe sheet says the FG ought to be. The last few points are dependent on a variety of factors. Leave it in the primary at least two weeks to give the yeast a chance to finish eating the sugars and then eating some of the junk they produce even under optimal conditions. At that point, take the first FG reading.

 

[beergolf]

I'm considering getting a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only using my 6.5 gallon bucket for recipes that call for a 1 week-ish ferment

No need for that. So what if you have a small leak. I have a bucket that has a leak and I never worry about it. Guess what? I have done almost 150 brews and have never had one not ferment. Just brew, pitch the yeast, and then let it do what the yeast has been doing for ages. You will make beer. I often just pitch, set it in the fermentstion chamber and forget about it. It always makes beer.

Just give your beers some time to ferment and finish up. Then bottle or keg when they are done, Easy.

 

[cullen]

I used to do primary fermentation in a 6 gallon bucket with no lid and a sheet of plastic covering most of the top. I'm not proud of it; that was how I was taught. The beer was fine except for one batch which turned sour.

I wouldn't sweat too much about CO2 escaping some place besides the airlock.

 

[nmendres]

Thanks everyone for your help. I feel better about sticking with my bucket.

BigFloyd asked: "Just curious. Why would you bother racking a stout to a secondary? Don't do something just because a recipe sheet says to do it. Sometimes the info on those is really outdated or was even wrong to begin with."

The reason why I racked the coffee stout to my carboy is I might not be in town later this week and into few weeks. My SG was 1.016 yesterday, so I'm expecting it to be ready to bottle this coming weekend. In case I get called away, I wanted to get my stout off of the trub in my primary, just to avoid any off taste.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks everyone for your help. I feel better about sticking with my bucket.

BigFloyd asked: "Just curious. Why would you bother racking a stout to a secondary? Don't do something just because a recipe sheet says to do it. Sometimes the info on those is really outdated or was even wrong to begin with."

The reason why I racked the coffee stout to my carboy is I might not be in town later this week and into few weeks. My SG was 1.016 yesterday, so I'm expecting it to be ready to bottle this coming weekend. In case I get called away, I wanted to get my stout off of the trub in my primary, just to avoid any off taste.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Your stout will be just fine in the primary for months without getting an off taste. By racking it to secondary you do have a (small) risk of getting it infected and that would give you off flavors for sure.:rockin:

 

[Hello]

I'm not sure I follow this idea of getting beer off trub asap. I need to read more about where this idea comes from because it is not what I was understanding overall.

That said, stop pushing on your bottle. Just let the poor thing do its job. Disturbing things for the sake of chronically checking the airlock and seal can't be helping. Maybe it is not harming either, I suppose.

I would say that your concern about getting beer off the trub should be tabled and your concern about temperature control when you leave town should be a bit higher. I know that was what concerned me when I brewed and didn't realize how quickly my vacation was coming up.

Your beers sound like they're doing great and they sound like they'd been a success. I would run with that success and relax, just a little. Does the book you're reading talk about letting yeast do their job and all that jazz?

 

[BigFloyd]

I'm not sure I follow this idea of getting beer off trub asap. I need to read more about where this idea comes from because it is not what I was understanding overall.

It comes from commercial brewing where yeast autolysis is a genuine concern, even in the short-term. Think of a big stainless conical fermenter. The yeast drop to the bottom after consuming the fermentables and they're concentrated in a small area. The weight of all that beer is now pressing down on top of them creating pressure and an increase in temperature. That condition can cause the yeast cells to rupture and die (autolysis), leading to off-flavors.

Fortunately for us, things aren't the same in a 5-gallon bucket/carboy. It's perfectly harmless to leave the beer sit in the primary for an extra week or two. Much less risky than racking over into a secondary. If you start talking about leaving it sit atop the yeast for months at 65-70*F, there's some debate about whether or not that will hurt. I don't know, I've not done that.

 

[nmendres]

Thanks "Big Floyd" adn "Hello" for the advice.

I just got a little nervous when I messed up pitching my yeast for this batch. I'm still learning a lot, every batch helps. I just have to learn to not panic, "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew".

For my next 5 gallons, I'm leaving my bucket closed and not worrying. Yeast will take its course.

BTW, I looked at my carboy this AM. 65 degrees and nice dark stout inside. Everything looks fine.

Thanks again everybody.

 

[BigFloyd]

BTW, I looked at my carboy this AM. 65 degrees and nice dark stout inside. Everything looks fine.

Thanks again everybody.

If you haven't already done so, you might want to drape something (Like a towel) around the carboy to keep light from shining on it and skunking the hops.

 

[nmendres]

I have a big quilted blanket that gets draped over the carboy. I even cut a slit for the airlock to poke out thru. Even with the blanket, it's still stays 64 degrees.