Brewing Master » Brewing Beer » Help! Air-leaky primary.
Help! Air-leaky primary.
Question:
I need some advice on how to salvage a potential problem. I seem to have an air leak somewhere in my primary (probably around the lid). I first noticed it when there was no air bubbling up through the airlock, but got plenty of foam on the beer. It’s been 5 days in the fermenter, and I’m worried that as the CO2 production drops, bad airs will flow in. Should I rack to a secondary (I wasn’t planning on it; don’t have another fermenter/carbuoy)? Maybe I can seal up my tub (duct tape) but I couldn’t be 100% sure of a fix. Any suggestions?
No problem. Honest. No particular amount of air will get in. A secondary doesn’t hurt, but the air leak shouldn’t affect your decision. —
Response:
I need some advice on how to salvage a potential problem. I seem to have an air leak somewhere in my primary (probably around the lid).
No problem during the first vigorous fermentation. Serious problem once the CO2 production tails off. — College, Kings Lynn, UK | entropy of Author of schcat02.zip School Timetable shareware | of conciousness, on SimTel and garbo.uwasa.fi | always increases.
Response:
I need some advice on how to salvage a potential problem. I seem to have an air leak somewhere in my primary (probably around the lid). No problem during the first vigorous fermentation. Serious problem once the CO2 production tails off.
John Palmer made a similar comment, while I posted that I didn’t think there would be a problem, although I always prefer a full secondary to a primary with head space. I don’t see how there can be any more air leakage past a poorly sealing lid than through an airlock. The leak is going to be very small (the lids fit pretty closely in the ones I’ve seen), so diffusion shouldn’t be a significant problem. If there is negative pressure due to cooling or something else (I can’t think what), then it could just as easily pull air back through an airlock. Am I missing something here? —
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I need some advice on how to salvage a potential problem. I seem to have air leak somewhere in my primary (probably around the lid). No problem during the first vigorous fermentation. Serious problem once the CO2 production tails off. John Palmer made a similar comment, while I posted that I didn’t think there would be a problem, although I always prefer a full secondary to a primary with head space. I don’t see how there can be any more air leakage past a poorly sealing lid than through an airlock. The leak is going to be very small (the lids fit pretty closely in the ones I’ve seen), so diffusion shouldn’t be a significant problem. If there is negative pressure due to cooling or something else (I can’t think what), then it could just as easily pull air back through an airlock. Am I missing something here?
I don’t think it will be That big a deal either, really. I was working from a worst case point of view ie. with cat hair floating around. Diffusion would be minimum, but there is a small chance of contamination… I was actually more interested in what he was trying to achieve with the style, and so was posting on what he may want to do after primary winds down. — Metallurgist for International Space Station Alpha My file, How to Brew Your First Beer, containing info on equipment,
terms, brewing processes and troubleshooting, is available via WWW on the Palmer House Brewery and Smithy homepage at http://www.primenet.com/~johnj/ OR FTP ftp.primenet.com/users/j/johnj
Response:
I need some advice on how to salvage a potential problem. I seem to have an air leak somewhere in my primary (probably around the lid). I first noticed it when there was no air bubbling up through the airlock, but got plenty of foam on the beer. It’s been 5 days in the fermenter, and I’m worried that as the CO2 production drops, bad airs will flow in. Should I rack to a secondary (I wasn’t planning on it; don’t have another fermenter/carbuoy)? Maybe I can seal up my tub (duct tape) but I couldn’t be 100% sure of a fix. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. BTW, using a lager wyeast, trying to make a lager-type (maybe steam beer) at about 65 degrees ferment temp. Was planning on at least 14 days in the primary. Oh yeah, and got some rotten-egg whif you guys are always talking ’bout, in case anyone’s taking a survey. Not worrying about it. Bart
Response:
<leaky primary BTW, using a lager wyeast, trying to make a lager-type (maybe steam beer) at about 65 degrees ferment temp. Was planning on at least 14 days in the primary. Oh yeah, and got some rotten-egg whif you guys are always talking ’bout, in case anyone’s taking a survey. Not worrying about it. Bart
An air leak in your primary is not a big deal, many brewers actually use an open fermenter with primary fermentation. However, you are correct that you would not want it open after the primary phase ends. Because you are attemping a lager (or steam) you should rack it to a secondary for best results. In fact, if you can lower the temperature 5-10 degrees, that would be even better. Let it sit in the secondary for a minimum of two weeks, that should scrug the sulfur compounds that the yeast are currently putting out. — Metallurgist for International Space Station Alpha My file, How to Brew Your First Beer, containing info on equipment,
terms, brewing processes and troubleshooting, is available via WWW on the Palmer House Brewery and Smithy homepage at http://www.primenet.com/~johnj/ OR FTP ftp.primenet.com/users/j/johnj