Demijohn Rubber Bung Alternative

[minesapint]

I am going to try my hand at a couple porters and Russian Stouts , all requiring at least a year to mature.
I am going to store them in demijohns for several months before final bottling.
When I used to brew loads of wine in the seventies I remember the corks for the airlocks not being very good at the job and the rubber bungs tended to start to perish in the confines of the damp demijohn neck.
Bungs that I have used recently have perished after six months.
The rubber bungs perishing , tainted the odd wine or two. The sniffy wine judges of the day used to describe the rubber taint as "A HINT OF DUNLOPS".
If you smell an old rubber hot water bottle or a new cycle tyre and then try a perished rubber bung you will immediately see the similarity. Dunlops'

I have tried the Durdon Park Society method of floating a short., open , fat test tube .containing sodium met. in the neck of the demijohn but things got a bit messy when I had to shift them.


Anybody know of a substitute for cork or rubber bungs that is suitable for long term storage?

Cheers all.

[Cpt.Frederickson]

Try getting some of the silicone ones. I've found them really good for meads I've had under airlock for bulk aging

[MiggyMan]

Do the sillicone ones hold in place any better than the rubber ones ?

I keep finding mine trying to escape unless everything is insanley dry.

[jimpy0]

Have you tried the cheaper plastic demi's, cling film and lid to bypass the usual rubber grommet. I have a couple and quite like them

[Cpt.Frederickson]

They can be a bit slippy but I usually pack them right in for bulk storage. Never had an issue with rubber ones slipping so may be worth getting a couple if different sizes

[MiggyMan]

If I get both the neck and the bung bone dry, i've no problem, but if they're even slightly wet it'll slowly slide out, i'm a bit worried that all the drying and rubbing is just going to lead to a higher chance of infection (and oddly, 2/3 of my demijohns are infected atm).

[Cpt.Frederickson]

http://www.brewsmarter.co.uk/silicone-b ... 1446-p.asp
These ones did the job nicely, pushed in snugly so top is pretty much flush with top of DJ. No problems with infection or ferevent drying required. They have good give so fit well in my experience. Perhaps the rubber ones you had were slightly larger. I had a problem with some slightly larger silicone ones doing the same but the 26/32 ones were perfect.

[MiggyMan]

The rubber ones are supposed to be the right size for the job, but I did read of some people having the same problem with glass demijohns and rubber bungs, I might give the silicone a go!

What would be nice might be something like the old plastic win corks you got years ago, the ones with the ridges.

In other news, I just tried the beer with additional life forms, smells fine, looks fine (in the glass)... and... tastes fine, it's getting bottled tomorrow

[jaroporter]

i've been looking for some silicone ones, but brewsmarter wont have them back in stock until the new year. brewuk do a larger size designed for the 23L carboys - and claim in an email that they'll squash into a regular demijohn though i was sceptical, especially as some of mine have slightly tighter openings. interesting to hear cpt.frederickson's experience with them.

[Cpt.Frederickson]

Larger ones will work but its a bit iffy. I originally bought six, but brewsmarter/homebrewwest gave me 3 larger ones and 3 of the correct size. The larger ones work on one of my DJs as it is an old on and the opening a little larger but wouldn't feel comfortable using it on the others.

Try here

[minesapint]

I have never heard of silicon bungs before. I think that will be the answer.
Airlock in a silicon bung and all tied down to the demijohn handles with a piece of string to stop it working loose.

As they don't have any in stock at the moment with a hole bored , I shall order up a few solid silicon bungs and bore them myself.
I remember making a right mess many years ago trying to drill a hole in an ordinary rubber bung with a twist drill.
Has anyone any experience at boring rubber bungs ?
I am thinking along the lines of making a tubular cork borer.
Thin walled steel tube , sharpened at one end and used in a drill press. Spot of liquid soap and water for lubricating the tubular borer.

Any hints as to the correct way to bore rubber bungs would be very helpful .

Many thanks to you all for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

Cheers all.

[Cpt.Frederickson]

Hop and Grape have them. I've always had really good service from them although I don't use them that regularly.

[minesapint]

Hello Captain F.
Thanks again.
I have just this minute followed your advice and ordered some from Hop and Grape.
Just like a kid in a sweet shop I couldn't help myself and got a few other bits n pieces as well.
I frightened myself earlier this evening when I found a laboratory supplies firm that sells glassware etc , and they wanted about £47 for ten bungs !!!! plus postage.
I have all the grain and hops I need , now all I have to do is finally decide on the two brews for my long term project.

Many Thanks again Captain.

And Cheers all.

[minesapint]

jimpy0
I forgot to reply to you , I was a bit carried away looking for silicon bungs.

I have a few of the plastic flat sided demijohns and use them regularly for short term storage , only for a fortnight or so.
It gives the brew a chance to drop clear before priming and bottling.
I wont use them for long term storage as I have read in a couple of places that gases can slowly pass through the plastic and upset the brew. I forget the technical side of it all, not being a chemical whizz kid.
One handy thing about them is they take up a lot less space on the shelf compared to the traditional glass demijohns.
Thanks jimpy
and Cheers all.

[MiggyMan]

So... slightly overdue update, I ended up using plastic bungs, they did the job really well though the demijohn's have now been retired for a 15l bucket for most batches