FV not airtight?

[Shaun-p]

A couple of years ago I got a brewing set up and last year I did my first brew, a nice drinkable bitter. At the time i noticed a lack of bubbling in the airlock. I put it down to a roughly cut hole that i had made for the airlock. It fermented ok and I have nearly drunk it all. A couple of weeks ago I started an IPA. I gaffer taped it round the airlock both sides and there has been the occasional bubble but not much else. It appears to be fermenting ok and is nearly ready for the hops.

Could it be just a dodgy seal on a fermentation vessel (big plastic one) and a) is that ok b) can i fix it should i get a new one? I have put the lid on and pressed it down right the way round. It seems as good a seal as it can be.

 

[RichardM]

Just leave it as it is. It doesn't need to be air tight

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I would say don't worry about it - I use big (30L) plastic bins and I just rest the top on loosely

 

[moto748]

I would say don't worry about it - I use big (30L) plastic bins and I just rest the top on loosely

That's just what I do. It stays in the bucket for whatever, 4-6 days, say, and then gets transferred into demi-johns under fermentation locks, so that I can see what's going on.

Don't be paranoid about air ingress! Unless you've attacking it with a whisk, it shouldn't be an issue!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

During the fermentation you're pretty safe once the yeast is established, as it will dominate the microbiological environment and crowd out any other beasties.

However you do want the yeast to get established quickly at the beginning of the process, before anything else nips in there. This is one of the strongest reasons for making up a starter culture, IMHO ;-)

I think hygiene is very important, but there's also a tendency to overdo it a bit. Personally I like to occasionally remind myself that people have been brewing beer for a loooooooong time without the benefit of cleaning products...

 

[Shaun-p]

Cheers all.