plunk!

[Bruce G]

So there I was, putting the stopper and airlock on the carboy full of freshly brewed beer. Stopper kept pushing itself out. I tried drying it off with a paper towel to get the sanitizer off, and the stopper kept squirting out. Push it in a little deeper...looks like it is staying put. Go wash the boil pot, come back and the stopper is at the bottom of the carboy. Foil over the top, so it should work fine, but any ideas on how to get the stopper out when I rack off the beer? I have some ideas, but hoping for a magic bullet.

Part 2, how should I avoid this problem next time? 6.5 gallon glass carboy, white rubber stopper with airlock hole. do I just need a bigger stopper? Seems like it would squirt out even worse.

By the way, "squirting out", "push it in deeper", "bigger stopper". The seeds are planted for a few good one liners.

Thanks in advance.

Bruce

[manwithbeers]

Getting that stopper out will be tricky but try this and you might get it.

You need a shopping bag. The slippery plastic type.

Once the carboy is empty and preferably dry, you need to fold or squish the bag into a long thin line so you can stuff half the bag into the neck. Just half the bag. Leave the other half sticking out the top.

Now you need to invert the carboy and jiggle the thing so that the stopper positions it's self next to the bag and pointing the right way. Smaller end closest to the hole.

When it is positioned you want to rotate the carboy onto its side at 45 degrees or so, so that the stopper falls onto or into the bag within the carboy. Maneuver that bag and carboy by twisting the bag so that the stopper is surrounded by bag. Pull the bag out with the stopper in it. It may take quite a bit of force but it will come out.

I first saw this on a youtube video of some guy getting a cork out of a bottle. I've never tried it myself. With a large carboy it might be a good idea to try to do this with a second set of hands.

[brewinhard]

A bent wire coat hanger will help in this process as well.

[Grizz]

I think a small amount of pbw and water would greatly help in getting out the stopper.

As far as next time with your stopper. I made a wire cage like on a corked bottle out of plastic coated wire. Works great.

[Bruce G]

Thanks for the tips. The bag trick sounds like so much fun I might have to try it. Off to find it on youtube...

[Travisty]

I always had problems with stopper not staying put too so I started using carboy caps instead. No problems now! Well, not with that aspect at least.

[Weenie Boy]

I first saw this on a youtube video of some guy getting a cork out of a bottle. I've never tried it myself. With a large carboy it might be a good idea to try to do this with a second set of hands.

And a pair of gloves, leather.


Weenie Boy

[Old_Skool]

Number 7 stopper


And yes I check mine for the first 24hrs to see if it has worked loose - the damned unicorns will not leave air-locks alone