Using Glad Wrap On Fermenter?

[PhilipB]

For my third brew I used glad wrap and the rubber from the lid.
How long can I leave the brew sit after it has reached final sg ?
Will it start allowing oxygen in?

 

[chappo1970]

For my third brew I used glad wrap and the rubber from the lid.
How long can I leave the brew sit after it has reached final sg ?
Will it start allowing oxygen in?

Should be fine for a week or two as long as you leave it undisturbed. I gather you are meaning FG (Final Gravity) and not SG (Starting Gravity)? Otherwise pitch now ASAP!!!!

Cheers

Chap Chap

 

[Parks]

He probably means final Specific Gravity

 

[damienkelly87]

Phil,

CO2 is more dense than oxygen, meaning it is heavier and will always give you a nice little barrier between your wort and oxygen. Provided you don't disturb it, it will sit happily for weeks.

Cheers

 

[Superoo]

You should be able to leave it indefinately, as the brew will have a co2 layer on it, keeping the oxygen out.

But in reality, you probably dont want to go over say 3-4 weeks as the brew is sitting on dead yeast etc.

Do some searching on 'secondary fermentation' here for a solution if you need to leave it longer.

Secondary (racking) is simply transferring your beer to another sanitised fermenter to get it off of the old yeast, and allowing it to condition longer.

There is lots of opinion / discussion about its merits and drawbacks.

Edit: lots of people (me included) use gladwrap, it allows you to see the krausen clearly, gives you a better idea of how its going without having to take the lid off when the wort is vulnerable in its early days.

 

[punkin]

Do you guys poke holes in the gladwrap or how do you manage the gas release?

 

[Parks]

Do you guys poke holes in the gladwrap or how do you manage the gas release?

No need - the gas finds a way.

 

[argon]

The Co2 will get out... it's not like the fermentor will catch fire without a few holes poked in the wrap

 

[.DJ.]

the gas finds a way out as the seal is not airtight.. Tight enough so no bugs get in though

no need for holes...

 

[Maheel]

Do you guys poke holes in the gladwrap or how do you manage the gas release?

i dont worry about holes, it just gets out somehow... the rubber ring does not seal it super dooper airtight and it just finds a leak

if i pull off the GW to throw in a kitten i just replace it with new GW

 

[RdeVjun]

[beaten...] punkin, no, definitely no need for holes in the clingfilm. You can use either the fermenter lid seal (or where that's absent I use a string of pipecleaners) to secure the film and its a fairly loose seal, so it allows the gas to escape without the need for any other venting. The film bulges a little when things are rocking in there and occasionally krausen touches the film but its never any biggie and I've never had one fail me.

 

[Bribie G]

I didn't know you smoked a pipe, RdeV.
I've been a clinger for over a year now and swear by the method - CO2 molecules are unimaginably small and find their way out, even though the film may be bulging alarmingly. After primary, if I'm busy / lazy I crank the fridge down to really cold and just leave it there for up to 2 weeks. Aldi have a 600m Roll of clingwrap on special at the moment. Should keep you going for a wee while :icon_cheers:

 

[PhilipB]

thanks for all the responses. I am planning to bottle on Sunday.

The other day when I looked at it it was still creating bubbles. so was planning a reading on Friday and Saturday to confirm prior to Sunday.

I mean't Final Sugar level reading apologies for confusion.

I like the glad wrap method. It lends to watching the brew for activity as apposed to an airlock bubble.

 

[XavierZ]

I use glad-wrap all the time now.
Could never get a good seal with the original lids.
best of all, it's clear and you can peak inside!

 

[Superoo]

dont rush too much to bottle it, a bit of conditioning time has never made a beer worse as far as i know...

 

[ianh]

Me I would leave it for another week before bottling.

In the old days before plastic fermenters, I used to brew in plastic dustbins with just the loose fitting lid, use to throw in the hydrometer and remove lid to take readings, never had any problems.

Don't worry have a beer.

 

[d3vour3r]

FYI dudes

SG = Gs = Specific gravity

specific gravity in lamens terms is the mass of something per m3

therefore if your starting gravity of a wort is 1050, it will be 1050kg/m3

the reason it drops is because as sugars are eaten by yeast, alc and CO2 is produced, CO2 leaving the beer and pure alcohol has low SG, so as the wort ferments it drops in SG, ie mass per m3

water is 1000 kg/m3

OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity) are home brew terms

soz for the highjack, just seems alot of ppl dont get this.

to much thinkin.... need more beer....

 

[Mikedub]

I'm on board with the clingwrap thing now,
since I ditched the airlock chicks find me sexy as,
'hey babe, come back to my place and I'll show you my krausen'

 

[punkin]

Thanks guys, i have lots of loose fitting lids for my high alcohol ferments where it's protectedby the alc level, but have always used an airlock with beer.
It's just that the saison i put down in the shed on the w'end has a piss poor fitting lid that the rubber ring keeps dropping out of.
I'll gladwrap it. A few rubber bands looped together should take care of the clamp side of things.

 

[Bongchitis]

FYI dudes

SG = Gs = Specific gravity

specific gravity in lamens terms is the mass of something per m3

therefore if your starting gravity of a wort is 1050, it will be 1050kg/m3

the reason it drops is because as sugars are eaten by yeast, alc and CO2 is produced, CO2 leaving the beer and pure alcohol has low SG, so as the wort ferments it drops in SG, ie mass per m3

water is 1000 kg/m3

OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity) are home brew terms

soz for the highjack, just seems alot of ppl dont get this.

to much thinkin.... need more beer....

Still not clear on this specific gravity thing! Alot of us haven't been brewing very long and don't understand science stuff. Whats m3? h34r: