#*&%!!! Airlock Fell Off Carboy

This morning I took a peek at my carboy and found the airlock on the floor next to it. I have no idea how long it was off, it has been maybe a week since I last checked it.

There is a thin film of what might be settled dust and several light tan specs of something floating on top as well as one ant crawling aroung the mouth. There is some condensation inside the carboy. It smells OK.

Any thoughts? If it is infected how long will it take to show? I was planning to bottle this weekend. Maybe I should hold off for another week to see what happens?

Thanks in advance for the help.

I will bet that you are fine. It happens all the time. If you were that close to done, then there should have been a good blanket of c02 over the beer. If you really are worried, just give it another week before bottling. Go ahead and take a small taste sample now so you can compare it. Again, I bet you are fine.

arturo7 said:

This morning I took a peek at my carboy and found the airlock on the floor next to it. I have no idea how long it was off, it has been maybe a week since I last checked it.

Click to expand...

Over a week since you checked it last? What is wrong with you man
I check mine at least twice day, maybe more often. I love watching the little bits floating around, so relaxing.

Only kidding, you should be OK, like was said, you should have developed a nice layer of CO2 by now, but kill the ant, nasty little buggers.

Here's what you do...

1. Clean the airlock.
2. Sanitize the airlock.
3. Put the airlock back in place and fill it. (I use vodka.)
4. Relax!

Thanks guys. I was hoping for replies like this. Guess I'll just RDWHAHB and hope for the best.

I agree with everyone else you should be fine.

FWIW: I was fermenting a Saison in my attic a few months back, so i could get it up to the right temp (95), and i went to California for a few days, when I came home and looked in on it the carboy cap had blown off at some point over the weekend and was lying on the ply wood next to the carboy, with the blow-off tube still attached, i am not sure how long it sat like that but it turned out great.

Cheers

people used to (and still do) open primaries...nothing but a piece of linen over a bucket...with no problems.

risky, sure, but not necessarily a guaranteed infection.

I saw an actual brewery doing open fermentation although I can't quite remember which. You should be fine though..

I wish that I was soooooo calm. I even check my beer in the middle of the night (3a.m. to be exact - that's when I feed the 5 week old.)

It should be fine. In fact it will probably be the best beer that you have ever brewed.

if it's open pull a sample out and taste it.. maybe dry hop it, then plug it back up.

uglygoat said:

if it's open pull a sample out and taste it.. maybe dry hop it, then plug it back up.

Click to expand...

Interesting point there, hops do have an antibacterial effect so it could help.