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Beer/second fermintation

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Expert: - 7/15/2009


Question
im brewing a batch of american lite beer im useing 2 5gallon buckets and i have transfered into the second bucket after 5 days now should i keep the cover on tite or leave it on loose to breath? thanks

Answer
At this point Jody, breathing is not good.

Before the yeast kicks in, oxygen is good for them since it helps them build strong cell walls. From that point on, you want to keep oxygen away from you beer because it will make it taste stale quicker.

Keep the lid on tight but use an airlock.

Happy fermenting!

Chris Bushman
Colfax, California

Beer

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Chris Bushman

Expertise

I've been homebrewing beer and mead for about 15 years. I've made beer trips to the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany, and Belgium.

Experience

I've brewed a couple of hundred all-grain beers and a few dozen meads. I'm a member of the Maltose Falcon's Homebrew Society, the oldest homebrew club in the US. I've attended the Homebrewers Fantasy Camp at American Brewers Guild. In real life I am Optical Effects Supervisor and Laboratory Supervisor for a large movie visual effects house in Hollywood. I've been a fireman, a teacher of English in Okinawa, a personal computer tutor. Other hobbies include orchid culture, koi keeping, photography, sausage making, pickling, and ham radio.

BS Zoology, UC Davis

Member, Society of Motion Picture/Television Engineers http://www.smpte.org/ - Member, American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ - Member, Quarter Century Wireless Assn. http://www.lockport-ny.com/radio.htm - President, Zen Nippon Airinkai, So Cal Chapter http://home.earthlink.net/~filmlabrat/ - Member, Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society http://www.westval.com/mfalcons/ - Alumni, American Brewers' Guild http://www.abgbrew.com/

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