Open top?

[nobby]

Was just wondering why we brew beer in open topped FV's and not under AirlLocks like wine.

[BigEd]

Who's we? All of my fermentations are in air-locked vessels.

[mysterio]

I do mine under air-lock too (in a plastic fermentor).

If you're using a bottom-fermenting yeast (like most of the dried yeasts, SO4, Nottingham etc), then it's safe to leave the lid off during active fermentation, unless your fermentor is somewhere manky. After active fermenation though, the beer is exposed and shouldn't really be left open for any length of time.

Top-cropping yeast (US-05 etc) can probably be left a little longer, but its safer to either loosely cover with a lid or transfer to an airlocked secondary vessel or keg.

[Gurgeh]

i have only open-fermented once and shall not again.

[AT]

Airlocks are cheap so why take the risk of an infection? airlock every time for me

[Andy]

I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.

[Horden Hillbilly]

I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.

Ditto.

[AT]

I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.

But surely your missing out on one of the pleasures of life, the chug chug of an airlock

[Horden Hillbilly]

But surely your missing out on one of the pleasures of life, the chug chug of an airlock

Not when the darn thing keeps you awake all night as they sometimes do when I use airlocks on my 5 gallon wine fermenters!

[AT]

But surely your missing out on one of the pleasures of life, the chug chug of an airlock

Not when the darn thing keeps you awake all night as they sometimes do when I use airlocks on my 5 gallon wine fermenters!

Music to my ears

[Mashman]

I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.

Me too, never used an airlock for beer.

[Calum]

I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.

Same for me

[Grot]

Open tops don't scare these guys:

Taken at York Brewery (click for full view). There's glass in there to keep the tourist from spitting in the fermenters

[J_P]

I've only just got myself a closed beer fermenter and have fermented with the bog standard bucket with the top unclipped on all other occasions.

I only bought the enclosed fermenter because I wanted to do a lager in the coal shed otherwise I'd have stuck with the plain old buckets.

Edit: I visited Theakstons earlier this year and they fermented most of their brews in large open topped tanks and Yorkshire Squares.

[razzrockbolt]

Andy wrote:
I don't bother with an airlock but snap the lid on 3/4 closed leaving 1/4 unsnapped for gas to escape.


But surely your missing out on one of the pleasures of life, the chug chug of an airlock Laughing Laughing

That's what turbo cider is for... isn't it?