I set up blow off tube incorrectly. Did I ruin my brew?

I am brewing my first batch of beer: Seven Bridges Red Ale. I pitched the yeast about 24 hours ago and attached a blow off tube to the top of my glass carboy. I placed the other end of the tube into an empty bucket which i thought was used to catch the excess foam (the wort was filled close to the top of the carboy). Sure enough, foam began running through the tube. However, I just read that the opposite end of the blow off tube is supposed to be placed under the surface of sterilized water so as not to let air into the carboy. Did I ruin my batch by letting air come in through the tube for the past 24 hours? I have just corrected the situation by using sterilized water for the end of the tube and it is now bubbling away, but is there anything else I can do to help? I guess this is what the first batch is for: learning from your mistakes!

You are fine. Guy from White Labs, yeast guy, says not to go to an airlock until after high krausen. You just want the tube pointed down so 'stuff' doesn't come back up it into your beer.

the beer will be fine. the yeast was making CO2 and pushing that through the tube long before the foam came out so there was probably very little air that got to the beer. Welcome to the forum and good luck on the first brew!

Thanks for assurance...this site is such a great resource.

ronllave said:

Thanks for assurance...this site is such a great resource.

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One thing I've learned here is that if you're asking yourself "Did I ruin my beer?" 95+% of the time the answer is "NO!".