Open Fermentation

[fivetide]

So, what are your views?

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[booldawg]

Wouldn't trust it personally. Don't fancy opening up the possibilites of nasties from rogue yeast, bacterias, insects et al from dropping into the brew. The protective yeast head dies down after a couple of days which would go some way to protecting your brew.

Even though I don't ferment under airlock I do find a lid (slightly cracked open) does create a certain positive pressure with the CO2 which will hopefully disallow most harmful wild yeast, bacteria etc from finding its way into the FV.

In a nutshell I don't see what benefits would be acheived from open fermentation.

[agentgonzo]

Agreed with booldawg. I can't see any advantages. Very few breweries ferment with open topped FVs (ignoring lambics). Breweries *can* get away with using open fermentations because their yeast head is 3-6 feet thick, rather than the normal 3-6 inches that homebrewers get. This provides a large barrier to nasties getting in that you just can't reproduce in a homebrew environment. Apart from being able to look at it and smile, I see no advantage.

[Scooby]

Sounds like and American switching from choirboy to the English bucket fermenting,
we have all been doing it for years, he even says;

'Keep the lid on most of the time. This helps to trap the CO2,'

and,

'Once the ferment is producing large quantities of foam/krausen, it is good to leave the lid cracked, but as soon as the krausen begins to subside, keep it covered.'

So whats new

[fivetide]

Yup - agreed, we basically do ferment 'open' here don't we, using buckets and airlocks rather than choirboys and blow-offs.

Mmmmm... six foot krausen... (good name for an indie band, that!)