# Help Required! No Chill Cube Wont Seal



## Charst (21/8/11)

Hi Ive only cubed one other beer before, I just finished brewing a beer and transferring to the willow jerry can and now i fill to the top and the bastard won't seal. Definitely sealed early today when i sanitised it, but now it's hot it won't. any thoughts?


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## pk.sax (21/8/11)

maybe clingwrap the top and secure with rubber band and try to chill the beer down asap and pitch today!


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## Charst (21/8/11)

practicalfool said:


> maybe clingwrap the top and secure with rubber band and try to chill the beer down asap and pitch today!




No go I only just pitched the 1 litre starter of yeast into 4 litres of starter tonight. was planning on brewing another saison next week and pitching both then.


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## pk.sax (21/8/11)

Charst said:


> No go I only just pitched the 1 litre starter of yeast into 4 litres of starter tonight. was planning on brewing another saison next week and pitching both then.



Worth pitching a sachet of US05 in there?

You can always take the opportunity to brew this one again in a few days


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## Charst (21/8/11)

practicalfool said:


> Worth pitching a sachet of US05 in there?
> 
> You can always take the opportunity to brew this one again in a few days



ha the regularity of my brewing it's be a couple weeks. no spare yeast, only the saison. no chance to get to a home brew store in the next 48 hours.


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## Tony (21/8/11)

have you lost the rubber seal out of the lid when you cleaned the cube?


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## pk.sax (21/8/11)

If memory serves me right, ur not that far from Manticle in Brunswick.... Give him a holler maybe


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## Charst (21/8/11)

Got it! 

Rubbers in there, I keep threading it off centre. I unscrewed a little and squeezed it to reduce air once before, but once the wort touches the cap and the cap gets hot and i can't seal it again.

Changed lids and I got it on and sealed but there is quite a bit of air in there, infection chance if i leave it a week?


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## ratchie (21/8/11)

Charst said:


> Hi Ive only cubed one other beer before, I just finished brewing a beer and transferring to the willow jerry can and now i fill to the top and the bastard won't seal. Definitely sealed early today when i sanitised it, but now it's hot it won't. any thoughts?



I have a few big rubber bung's that I use when the lids won't seal, very handy to have as a back up.


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## Charst (21/8/11)

ratchie said:


> I have a few big rubber bung's that I use when the lids won't seal, very handy to have as a back up.


 cheers for the idea, did you get them at your LHBS? I know I can get bungs but haven't noticed ones that big at Grain and Grape


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## Tony (21/8/11)

a bit of air is ok if its still steaming hot.

I lay the cube on its side to steralise the inside of the cap and sit it bach op strait after 15 minutes.

This also checks the seal...... it will leak if its not sealed.

cheers


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## pk.sax (21/8/11)

towel aroud the cube thighs on both sides and PUSH like it matters 

EDIT: Just don't burn urself, those 2nd Degree burns are painful


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## ratchie (21/8/11)

Charst said:


> cheers for the idea, did you get them at your LHBS? I know I can get bungs but haven't noticed ones that big at Grain and Grape




Yes LHBS but G&G should have some 45mm diameter small end 50mm other end.


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## andreic (22/8/11)

I had a cube not seal properly the other day after doing a double batch. 1st cube sealed up fine, but I could not for the life of me get the second one to seal. I tried just about everything I could think of...

In the end I wrapped some plumbers tape around the thread and got it to seal up fine. Maybe that's an option for anyone else having this issue.


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## argon (22/8/11)

If it's a blue willow Jerry can then I've had plenty of problems using them. The trick to sealing them is to not overtighten the lid. It will keep jumping the thread and losing the seal. Just turn it back half a turn and it will seal up fine. 

Fwiw I don't use the blue one's anymore. The fresh wort kit one's are the best and can be as tight as the proverbial giving a great seal.


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## Thirsty Boy (22/8/11)

A little bit of keg lube on the lip does wonders for cube sealing. And i second the "dont tighten too much" sentiment. Tighten till you feel the seal "bite" then just a little more and it should be OK. For future brews, have a chek of the lip of the cube and make sure ithas no lumps and bumps... Shave them smooth with a sharp blade if it does.


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## Charst (22/8/11)

argon said:


> If it's a blue willow Jerry can then I've had plenty of problems using them. The trick to sealing them is to not overtighten the lid. It will keep jumping the thread and losing the seal. Just turn it back half a turn and it will seal up fine.
> 
> Fwiw I don't use the blue one's anymore. The fresh wort kit one's are the best and can be as tight as the proverbial giving a great seal.




Thats exactly what was happening but i just though i couldn't get the thread straight. Bummer the blue jerrys don't seal as well, the only reason I'm using them at all is so i can ferment double batches in my fridge. I thought the heat was slightly warping the thread, will try to be a little gentler in future.

more air in the cube than i would have liked but my starter isn't ready so i'll have to run the gauntlet. 

cheers


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## Siborg (22/8/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> A little bit of keg lube on the lip does wonders for cube sealing. And i second the "dont tighten too much" sentiment. Tighten till you feel the seal "bite" then just a little more and it should be OK. For future brews, have a chek of the lip of the cube and make sure ithas no lumps and bumps... Shave them smooth with a sharp blade if it does.


I've only ever used the blue willows. Only had poor seal on one of them, it was due to what thirsty described. Just a little excess plastic that needed to be shaved off. It's sealed fine ever since and I tighten it up as much as I can by hand.


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## Wolfman (22/8/11)

I got some yeast if ya need it.


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## Charst (22/8/11)

shan0066 said:


> I got some yeast if ya need it.


cheers for the offer but I'm brewing the second batch of 2 saisons saturday. want to pitch both at the same time so i can follow the same fermentation temp regime.


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## Wolfman (23/8/11)

No probs. Seems as though there is a few of us in the inner north on here.


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## mje1980 (23/8/11)

I cubed a batch yesterday, and a few hours later was in the garage. I saw it wasn't "sucked in" like normal, so i gently squeezed it, and it wasn't sealed "f*ck"!!. I had an infection not long ago so i am a bit paranoid now. I resealed it, and while it was still warm, and the air in there surely would have been sterile then, im worried about it. Looks like my 6% mild will get fermented with koelsh yeast, as i have a koelsh just about ready to keg. Hope it tastes ok!!


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## Thirsty Boy (23/8/11)

mje1980 said:


> I cubed a batch yesterday, and a few hours later was in the garage. I saw it wasn't "sucked in" like normal, so i gently squeezed it, and it wasn't sealed "f*ck"!!. I had an infection not long ago so i am a bit paranoid now. I resealed it, and while it was still warm, and the air in there surely would have been sterile then, im worried about it. Looks like my 6% mild will get fermented with koelsh yeast, as i have a koelsh just about ready to keg. Hope it tastes ok!!



6% mild??

You could always use a nice dried yeast on that brew... Nottingham, So4, Windsor. Gotta be better than a completely different style of yeast.


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## manticle (23/8/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> 6% mild??



Don't let Ron Pattinson hear you say that.


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## Guysmiley54 (23/8/11)

I like the idea of trying a mild but I would prefer the abv to be around 4.5% as I do like to feel _some _effect! I have been put off though as I don't want to pervert the style.... 6%!! And I thought I was being greedy :kooi:


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## manticle (23/8/11)

Some historical milds were well above that. Styles are not fixed in concrete.

Suggestions from the BJCP suggest historical mild was mildly hopped rather than specifically low alcohol (something that has been rubbished by other beer historians with access to brewing records that suggest it is mild because it is young/unaged, not low hopped or low alc). 

All very interesting and worth reading about and confirms the idea that beer continually evolves and styles can only ever describe it as it may be at a fixed point.

Bottom line - don't worry about perverting a style. Just brew good beer. Because you home brew, you can make whatever you want. Learning from others who've done it before is smart, getting bogged down in definitions/limitations is not.


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## mje1980 (23/8/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> 6% mild??
> 
> You could always use a nice dried yeast on that brew... Nottingham, So4, Windsor. Gotta be better than a completely different style of yeast.



I'm not a fan of dry uk yeast, I much prefer the liquids. Yes this is a different mild to what I normally brew. Rather brew with the koelsh than it go bad!


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## Guysmiley54 (23/8/11)

manticle said:


> Because you home brew, you can make whatever you want. Learning from others who've done it before is smart, getting bogged down in definitions/limitations is not.



+1 Mate. This is a philosophy I apply to many areas of my life.

Might start planning a stronger dark mild. Am I really thinking of a slightly stronger Southern Brown? Maybe a weaker Brown Porter


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## Yob (9/3/13)

Im in this boat ATM, thinking of just letting it ride overnight and pitching tmoz.. surely the sucked in airspace is gunna get pretty hot in the current environment with the wort??..

thought I had it and then heard a glug as it started leaking on the Brewhouse floor.. only lost a litre or so before I noticed it...

bastard thing <_< wasnt the cube I had noted as lid seal issue... grrr..


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## Nick JD (9/3/13)

The reason cubes don't seal is due to the moulding process leaving a rough and uneven face around the rim of the outlet.

A flat block of wood with some ~220 grit sandpaper on it will true the mating face and lead to a perfect seal. Often you can actually pick a flappy lump at the mold face off that's the culprit.


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## Yob (9/3/13)

..well.. not attacking it with sandpaper ATM so gunna just let it ride... not much different a scenario to the slow chill I was tempted to do to begin with...

I may fast chill the lt of extra wort I have in a jar and throw a starter in overnight... that'll fix it's little red wagon...

there is always something on a brewday that tries to feck you over... you just ahve to be adaptable enough to go with it and recover.

be bamboo not oak on brewday


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## felten (9/3/13)

A bit of lube on the rubber seal/opening of the cube has fixed my cube sealing issues.

Teflon tape worked as well but its easier to just use some keg lube.


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## Yob (9/3/13)

ooh... good idea.. will give that a crack

ed: no dice... so close.. tempted to throw it in the deep freezer for a few hours and pitch tonight...


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## TSMill (11/3/13)

I've used the silicon baking tray I bought for gaskets on weldless fittings. 3 layers deep gives a good seal, and I find the lids are easier to remove from the cold cube.


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## Aaron1.0 (13/4/14)

I'm glad I just found this thread, though I wish I read it earlier. Damn blue willow containers.

I managed to get it to seal after shaving a bit off and using plumbers tape as suggested. AHB saved the day.

I also noticed some ugly air pocket bubbles in the seam weld inside, hopefully these don't cause troubles with cleaning. 

Teething issues aside, I'm loving no chilling - I don't have to worry about preparing yeast, sanitising the fv and worrying about our unboiled rainwater (which hasn't caused any troubles for the record) all at the same time.


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## Hpal (14/11/14)

I had the same problem with blue willow can, the top wasn't square with the thread. Boiling hot wort in there and it wouldn't seal! I ended up carefully getting a Stanley knife and shaved off the high spot on the lip to square it up, it cut easily while hot and it sealed up ok after that.


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