I started brewing an India Pale Ale Saturday morning, and it is now Wednesday afternoon. I should probably be close to bottling it now, but I wouldn't know, because my airlock hasn't bubbled once.
The mistake is mine and my friend's. You see, we haven't brewed a batch of beer in over 5 years, so we've largely forgotten all the little ins and outs to everything. When we filled the 3 piece airlock and put it on the fermenting bucket, we didn't realize that the lid to the airlock was missing (or ever there in the first place) and we stuck it in the fridge not knowing our mistake. All these days later, I began getting concerned that it wasn't bubbling, and realized after looking at my spare 3 piece airlock that it had a lid, and this one we put on the fermenting bucket didn't. So, as far as I know, that would mean it can release CO2 but not necessarily keep air out. Am I right? Have I ruined it? Is there anything I can do pronto to salvage my batch or am I too late?
Also, you should note that the only place we had cool enough was my beer fridge in my garage, and the coolest we could get it was about 60 degrees, when the required temperature range was 64-72, I believe. We didn't think that would be a problem, just might cause a longer fermenting period.
Thoughts?
The mistake is mine and my friend's. You see, we haven't brewed a batch of beer in over 5 years, so we've largely forgotten all the little ins and outs to everything. When we filled the 3 piece airlock and put it on the fermenting bucket, we didn't realize that the lid to the airlock was missing (or ever there in the first place) and we stuck it in the fridge not knowing our mistake. All these days later, I began getting concerned that it wasn't bubbling, and realized after looking at my spare 3 piece airlock that it had a lid, and this one we put on the fermenting bucket didn't. So, as far as I know, that would mean it can release CO2 but not necessarily keep air out. Am I right? Have I ruined it? Is there anything I can do pronto to salvage my batch or am I too late?
Also, you should note that the only place we had cool enough was my beer fridge in my garage, and the coolest we could get it was about 60 degrees, when the required temperature range was 64-72, I believe. We didn't think that would be a problem, just might cause a longer fermenting period.
Thoughts?