Hello,
I brewed my 2nd Batch in two weeks last night (Belgian Wit); everything went well until I transferred it to the primary. As I put my airlock in to the top of my plastic bucket the rubber grommet in the lid split and half of it fell into my wort! Needless to say I took off the lid and it was nowhere to be seen. I spent 15-20 minutes trying everything with a slotted spoon etc. to remove it from the bottom of my bucket with 5 gallons of wort. My options were:
1. Leave the rubber grommet in my wort throughout primary fermentation.
2. Remove the rubber grommet by going elbow deep in my wort to find it with my hands.
Needless to say I did #2, stuck my entire arm elbow deep into my bucket and successfully removed the rubber grommet.
I rigged my airlock back to the top of the bucket with metallic HVAC tape but I'm now worried I could have contaminated my entire batch which smelled and looked great. Will there be any way to tell if my batch is infected? I used a liquid yeast which I activated for 3 hours before pitch time, It is just slowly beginning to ferment now, will this kill off any bacteria?
Any suggestions or thoughts appreciated.
I brewed my 2nd Batch in two weeks last night (Belgian Wit); everything went well until I transferred it to the primary. As I put my airlock in to the top of my plastic bucket the rubber grommet in the lid split and half of it fell into my wort! Needless to say I took off the lid and it was nowhere to be seen. I spent 15-20 minutes trying everything with a slotted spoon etc. to remove it from the bottom of my bucket with 5 gallons of wort. My options were:
1. Leave the rubber grommet in my wort throughout primary fermentation.
2. Remove the rubber grommet by going elbow deep in my wort to find it with my hands.
Needless to say I did #2, stuck my entire arm elbow deep into my bucket and successfully removed the rubber grommet.
I rigged my airlock back to the top of the bucket with metallic HVAC tape but I'm now worried I could have contaminated my entire batch which smelled and looked great. Will there be any way to tell if my batch is infected? I used a liquid yeast which I activated for 3 hours before pitch time, It is just slowly beginning to ferment now, will this kill off any bacteria?
Any suggestions or thoughts appreciated.