Hi, new poster here.
I have 5gal wheat beer in a 6.5gal bucket working with Wyeast 3068, but it's behavior seems odd to me. I got away from brewing for almost 10 years and haven't used a bucket in maybe 15 years. I just found that they are not always airtight, which I think happened here. I know I pitched too warm and didn't make a starter-- the smack pack was in date and inflated, OG was just under 1060. After 24hrs with no airlock activity, I thought I'd killed my yeast. Apparently, though, that shouldn't have happened at 85°F. Still no airlock activity at 48hrs. I took a US-05 packet from the fridge for rescue purposes. At this point, the airlock did smell of banana and I opened the bucket to find a low krausen. I closed it back up and let it be. A few days more passed, still without airlock activity. It now has an unpleasant odor that I remember being normal.
So, I think: the warm pitch caused a long lag, and gas is escaping via lid seal. As primary finishes, am I risking infection if air is able to enter? Oxidation was never an issue for me in the past, and this isn't a batch that will be stored once conditioned. I guess I'll answer the questions myself soon enough! How can I smell the ferment through the lock if no bubbles? Of course, bubbles may sneak out when I'm not looking. I'll take first FG reading tomorrow. I read here that some keg lube can help the seal in the future. I'll test the seal with water when I'm done and with any new buckets.
I loved my carboys. I just can't lift them safely any more. I might try a Better Bottle soon, though.