Poppin' the Stopper

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

Moderator: slothrob

Post Reply
jcassady
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 8:53 pm
Location: Gillespie, IL, US

Poppin' the Stopper

Post by jcassady »

Hi all, quick question. I purchased a 5 gallon carboy and a #7 stopper with hole from morebeer.com. I racked my Rasberry Wheat into in last week, and I pushed the stopper in and secured the airlock (after the stopper was in). The next morning I found the stopper almost all the way out of the hole. When I touched it it felt like it would just fall out. So I jamed the thing in as far as I could, but yet again it tried to work its way out.

Question is, what is the secret to using a carboy and stopper???
BillyBock
Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:37 am
Location: Ohio

Slippery When Wet

Post by BillyBock »

I always had a heck of a time with those, especially when they were still wet. All I could ever think to do was to dry it with a paper towel--I know, technically it's not sanitized then. Then I switched to those snap-on flexible carboy caps (I forget what they're called).
Dr Strangebrew
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 7:01 pm
Location: Lincoln, NE, US

I'll take a S.W.A.G.

Post by Dr Strangebrew »

This is just a guess, but if the beer wasn't fully fermented when you transferred it to the secondary it would still produce CO2. This will increase the pressure in the headspace above the beer/wort. As this pressure increases it will exert an increasing force on the sides of the vessel, top of the vessel and the surface of the liquid. Whichever of the three is the 'weakest link' will determine what will happen.

For example, when you bottle beer the cap is snug, the bottle isn't cracked, therefore as the pressure in the headspace of the bottle increases the excess CO2 is dissolved in the beer thus producing carbonation.

Suppose now that you don't have a snug cap. What would happen to the cap? After some amount of pressure is built up in the bottle the cap would probably fly off.

I think that is what's happening here. The wort probably wasn't fully fermented when transferred, and the stopper doesn't have a good enough hold on the carboy to prevent it from slipping out because of the increasing pressure.

This explanation also explains why after a certain amount of time the stopper fits snugly in the hole on top of the carboy.

Cheers,
Nate
jcassady
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 8:53 pm
Location: Gillespie, IL, US

Duct Tape

Post by jcassady »

I knew I should have bought the cap instead of the stopper.

Would it be a bad idea to tape the thing down?
Post Reply