# Newb: Can Someone Explain To Me The Gladwrap Lid Concept



## Crambo (8/4/11)

I am enjoying my first brewing experience but am looking at making things easier by using a fridge in my garage that is at the moment not used at all. Thing is my fermenter will not fit in there with the current bubbler airlock and have read some threads suggestiing to use gladwrap as a lid to enable fitting into a fridge. So my question is, what is this gladwrap concept, how can it work? Is th co2 not meant to escape, how does it do so through the gladwrap? Would it not expand and tear? Cheers

Also, has anyone had luck finding a bar fridge that fits a fermenter with the airlock? My current fermenter is a30L taller narrow type, total height with airlock is 70cm or just under.


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## JestersDarts (8/4/11)

Crambo said:


> I am enjoying my first brewing experience but am looking at making things easier by using a fridge in my garage that is at the moment not used at all. Thing is my fermenter will not fit in there with the current bubbler airlock and have read some threads suggestiing to use gladwrap as a lid to enable fitting into a fridge. So my question is, what is this gladwrap concept, how can it work? Is th co2 not meant to escape, how does it do so through the gladwrap? Would it not expand and tear? Cheers
> 
> Also, has anyone had luck finding a bar fridge that fits a fermenter with the airlock? My current fermenter is a30L taller narrow type, total height with airlock is 70cm or just under.



Pull out the rubber ring in the fermenter lid, Use this to hold the gladwrap on - like a big jar of homemade jam.
The CO2 WILL escape. It will work its way out around the edges. The Gladwrap will bulge which indicates CO2 being produced, without exploding your fermenter, without tearing your gladwrap, without causing a housefire.


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## Mayor of Mildura (8/4/11)

If it does blow up post up some pics


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## j1gsaw (8/4/11)

I use clingwrap on one of my carboys when im fermenting 3 in the chest freezer, its easy, just take the big rubber oring from the carboys lid, and place about 2/3 layers of clingwrap over the top of your barrel, and use the oring to keep it in place etc. I sterilise the oring before i use it as im a paranoid bugger. The co2 will escape, it has evil evil ways of getting out, so no need for any holes to be punched imo. Not sure about any bar fridge you could find big enough to fit a 30L barrel, your better off getting a decent sized chest freezer and fitting a temp master to it or etc. Few options available. cheers

*sigh*... always beaten....


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## trussyd (8/4/11)

The glad wrap lid is a fairly self explanatory concept. You use glad wrap instead of a lid. 

What I do is just cover with a single layer of cling film (I have to use two sheets to get across the whole fermenter) and use the rubber seal tube that was in my fermenter lid to keep it on. The CO2 is still able to get out as seal capable of withstanding any sort of pressure is not formed. The positive pressure from the fermentation in the inside means that CO2 is always trying to get out so no nastys can get in.

I'm sure someone will chime in with a photo before too long.


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## thylacine (8/4/11)

Gladwrap with rubber band enables 4x16.5L fermenters (ex-FWK) in a 150L chest freezer.


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## DanRayner (8/4/11)

Alternatively, ditch the airlock and tape over the airlock hole with gaffer tape and put the lid on the fermenter a little looser than you normally would.

Bacteria aren't magic, they can't fly upwards and around things, they can only go with airflow and so they are not going to be able to find their way through the thread of your fermenter lid and into your beer.

And if you still have doubts, CO2 generated from fermentation will constantly push out (positive pressure) through the gap between the lid and the fermenter. I haven't used an airlock for the last 120 batches or so and I've not had any dramas - and it's so much easier (less things to worry about)

And just remember, many traditional British breweries (Samuel Smiths), some American ones (Anchor) and at least one Aussie one (White Rabbit) have open ferementers (no lid  ) and just rely on the kraeusen to protect the beer from the elements.

Cheers!

D


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## muckey (8/4/11)

gladwrap works!!

it's really just there to stop anything falling in the wort - bugs, dust etc. - a barrier to stop anything getting introduced that will spoil the beer. Air lock, while fun to watch and listen too does exactly the same job.

advocates of gladwrap love it because they can stare into the top of the fermenter and see the state of fermentation instantly. It's also ben the subject of some "interesting" pictures - when yeast attacks. h34r: 

having said all that, I have not used the gladwrap method. I still use the fermenter lid but have a sanitised shot glass upturned over the airlock hole.


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## felten (8/4/11)

more pics


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## DanRayner (8/4/11)

Muckey said:


> gladwrap works!!
> 
> advocates of gladwrap love it because they can stare into the top of the fermenter and see the state of fermentation instantly. It's also ben the subject of some "interesting" pictures - when yeast attacks. h34r:



Not saying Gladwrap doesn't work, it just sounds like a waste of effort when a lid works just as well.

But I completely overlooked the clear benefit (pardon the pun) of being able to see in and watch it all - if that's your reasoning then go for it


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## seemax (8/4/11)

The loose lid is not a bad idea... but I often leave my beers in primary for 2-3 weeks... after fermentation is complete there is no CO2 production and the upward pressure so to speak is lost. I wonder if there is an increased risk of bacteria.. how often have you left yours like this?


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## hazard (8/4/11)

DanRayner said:


> Not saying Gladwrap doesn't work, it just sounds like a waste of effort when a lid works just as well.



What effort???


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## warra48 (8/4/11)

I use a bar fridge for my fermentations. It doesn't fit the fermenter with an airlock in place, as there's insufficient headspace.
However, I do have two options which do work:
1. Gladwrap - used for most of my brews
2. Blowoff tube into bottle half filled with water. Used for wheaties and the like, as those are likely to explode out of the fermenter


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## DanRayner (8/4/11)

seemax said:


> The loose lid is not a bad idea... but I often leave my beers in primary for 2-3 weeks... after fermentation is complete there is no CO2 production and the upward pressure so to speak is lost. I wonder if there is an increased risk of bacteria.. how often have you left yours like this?



2 weeks or so, the positive pressure is not necesary per se, as bacteria do not have wings and don't actively fly up under your lid thread. Many-time AABC medal-winner Craig Webber doesnt even have a threaded lid - he has a SS fermenter (a keg with the top cut off) and a round/flat piece of SS that just sits on top - the lid/gladwrap is really only there to stop falling particles from landing in your beer



hazard said:


> What effort???



I guarantee that for most people placing a lid on top of a fermenter is less effort than fiddling about with gladwrap and a rubber band - I have enough trouble just tearing off a piece of gladwrap to cover my dinner leftovers at night 

But you're right, maybe it is no effort for some.


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## glaab (8/4/11)

I find it's easier, less to sanitize. Only prob it's caused me is last batch I dropped the rubber band into the keg when it was about quarter full so I dumped that and started again, Murphys law at work there. I relaxed the rubberband on one side and made a hole to let air in so the glad wrap didn't get sucked into the fermentor, won't fall for that one again


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## Maheel (8/4/11)

i like the glad wrap..., put it on and one rubber band and it's a window to beery goodness 

no stressing about cleaning the lids and BS airlocks, all those nasty threads or plastic folds and crevices.....


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## Xarb (8/4/11)

I've started using glad wrap and love the window into my beer making. 

The first few times I was a bit anxious about the lack of bloob bloob noises. It was like an eerie silence. :unsure:


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## muckey (8/4/11)

DanRayner said:


> Not saying Gladwrap doesn't work, it just sounds like a waste of effort when a lid works just as well.
> 
> But I completely overlooked the clear benefit (pardon the pun) of being able to see in and watch it all - if that's your reasoning then go for it




as others have said - whats the effort??

I still have the fermenter lids so I use them - I cant see through the fridge door so it doesn't matter (hmmmm webcam????)

I'm surprised that Bribie hasn't shown up with his recycled yorkshire square pic - no lid or gladwrap in site there


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## WarmBeer (8/4/11)

Muckey said:


> ... It's also ben the subject of some "interesting" pictures - when yeast attacks. h34r:


When good krausen goes bad:


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## aussiechucka (8/4/11)

I use the glad wrap lid and love it. As others say it is one less thing to clean. You can see what your beer is doing whilst ferment. It great to be able to see the activity rather than hear it. Go the cling wrap!!!


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## b_thomas (8/4/11)

I find the pro of having glad wrap instead of the lid is that you can see what's happening in the fermenter. Unless of course you have a transparent lid! The other is that it's one less thing to clean - as people have stated.


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## Fodder (8/4/11)

This article explains it well...

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showarticle=131


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