The Fear in Long Fermentation

[FoggBrew]

My fellow brewers,

I've scoured the forum for a little while now and though I've found many answers to a handful of questions regarding my latest brew, I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on a little issue I have with cracked plastic carboy caps and long periods of fermentation.

I bottled an ale tonight after 50+ days in primary. The plastic carboy caps for mounting airlocks seem to sprout cracks stemming from the center hole after only 2-3 uses. This batch in particular really split it open (see picture) and thus has left my fermenting beer exposed to the climate that is the innards of my kitchen cabinet. For what length of time I'm not sure, but all seems well.

My FG turned out A-OK, reaching a comfortable low of 1.014. The aroma and flavor had a tinge I would liken to cider, though there is pumpkin, maple and spices in this brew that would influence notes of sweetness. The only visible concern I have are the patches of white "stuffs" that coagulated on top of the liquid while in the carboy (see other picture).

I understand a crack in the plastic cap is nothing to worry about- CO2 dominates the fight against intrusive contaminants, sure. BUT, after fifty days in primary, even if the yeast did all its work in time before the crack grew, would there be anything that could drastically affect my yet-to-be-bottle-conditioned beer?

Please, share your knowledge about the strength of a well-fermented beer and/or the weaknesses of a static batch that hasn't seen action in days (or weeks).

Recipe notes:
The screen cap is missing the pinch of Irish moss I used. 75 minute mash, 60 minute boil. Minimal time in an ice bath, relatively smooth transfer with an auto-siphon (still not sure how I feel about this tool). Fermented at temperatures ranging from 65-80 degrees. Primed for bottle-conditioning with maple syrup.

 

[Hoppity]

A photo and a recipe would have helped but my main concern is adjuncts in primary for almost 2 months, especially in a non-airtight container. I hope you racked under the floaters into a CO2-filled bottling bucket. Racking without moving it would have been optimal, just in case your floaters were nasties. If you remember your bottling sequence, putting numbered stickers on the bottles may help you track the batch.

Hope it works out, keep us posted.

(I edited this response after re-reading and realized you already bottled).

 

[FoggBrew]

I added photos and the recipe to the original post, as well as some additional notes.

I racked under the floaters, but even with minimal movement of the carboy they seemed to dissipate into nothingness rather quickly. They're bottle conditioning as we speak.

 

[Timdogg]

The white bubbles are normal i get them on every brew. I think its from co2 escaping from the trub and beer

 

[passedpawn]

I've never seen carboy caps like that. Change them out for something else asap (you probably already have).

That a pretty big gap there. Lots of 02 in your carboy, which is not a good thing, especially for an extended ferment. Any cracks will let it in fruit flies in the summer. They carry acetobacter which can reduce your beer to vinegar.

But from the pictures I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Big waxy bubbles, webs, "fur", furballs, these are the things to look out for; doesn't look like you have any of that.

 

[lapoltba]

Yep, can confirm... I used one of the rubber carboy caps when I did my RIS a while ago. I had it in primary for 3 weeks and then racked to a glass carboy for 2ndary. That sat in my basement for almost 8 months and had the exact same floaters.

As mentioned above, as long as they aren't furry or off-color you're good to go. I usually taste my beer at bottling when I measure FG just to make sure nothing went catastrophically wrong in fermentation too.

Let us know how it turns out. I may try that recipe as my first BIAB attempt. :rockin:

 

[FoggBrew]

Sick. Seems like I'm in the clear... I'm really not a fan of plastic caps, I need some rubber stoppers. I'll crack open a bottle and let y'all know how it went in about a week!

Let us know how it turns out. I may try that recipe as my first BIAB attempt. :rockin:

This was my first batch using an actual pumpkin, and in the mash at that! Hope it goes well for ya if you run with it.

 

[eadavis80]

I wonder why that cap cracked. I have 2 1-gallon jugs I recently got and they both have those caps. I hope I don't have the same problem. Good luck.

 

[FoggBrew]

I tend to use a little force when I assemble the airlock- I assume each push is a little too much.