The little black o-ring that seals it off popped and went into the beer!!!

So I just got done with my first brew, I go to put the Airlock on and push it down on the lid. The little black o-ring that seals it off popped and went into the beer!!! Now it is sanitized, but I wouldn't imagine it being good for it to sit there for a whole week. What should I do?


Another quick side question, I got some more yeast for my next brew in, how does it need to be stored?

Thanks,
Chris

The black ring in your beer is 100 times better than sticking your arm (or anything else) down in there to get it... just let 'er ride. She'll be fine.

2) fridge

If you push the airlock in with out the o ring does it seal? Push it in till it is tight, unless its way too small that should seal it, you could test a good seal by pushing down on the lid. If when you push the lid down the liquid level in the airlock goes up your good. If that doesnt work I would just sanitize a spoon and fish it out.

Yeast in the fridge.

chefchris said:

So I just got done with my first brew, I go to put the Airlock on and push it down on the lid. The little black o-ring that seals it off popped and went into the beer!!! Now it is sanitized, but I wouldn't imagine it being good for it to sit there for a whole week. What should I do?


Another quick side question, I got some more yeast for my next brew in, how does it need to be stored?

Thanks,
Chris

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Grommit will not hurt anything, just leave it. Do you have another lid that you can use on this bucket?

Yeast should be stored in the fridge. Shelf life will depend on how its been handled thus far but for dry yeast is years, smack pack probably weeks, liquid vial probably less.

John Beere said:

The black ring in your beer is 100 times better than sticking your arm (or anything else) down in there to get it... just let 'er ride. She'll be fine.

2) fridge

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+1 on both counts.

My first batch i dropped a bung into it. I accidentally used one just slightly too small and as i went to push it down, it fell right in. I didn't fish it out until i racked to secondary and no harm came from it.

I believe that my very first post here was the same thing! I pushed the grommet right through and left it there for about 10-12 days until I racked the beer. It was fine. Just relax and don't worry about it!

What I do now is put the airlock into the lid, and then the lid on the bucket, and it never happened again!

If your air lock won't fit and you don't have an extra lid do this.

1. Get a large sheet of saran wrap.
2. Fold it up into a square.
3. Sanitize it.
4. Lay it over hole in the lid.
5. Then push the lock into the hole until its snug. (Repeat folds as necessary to get a snug fit.)
6. Then pull the airlock out with the saran wrap.
7. Poke a hole into the saran wrap on the end of the airlock so the CO2 can pass thru.
8. Press it back into the hole.
9. Wait to see pressure build.

Now you are "GOLDEN" - like the beer I am drinking!!!!

Thanks a lot guys for the quick responses. I have to say for that being the only thing that went wrong, it was a pretty good first brew day.

Thanks again.

PS - The seal is fine without the grommet.

chefchris said:

So I just got done with my first brew, I go to put the Airlock on and push it down on the lid. The little black o-ring that seals it off popped and went into the beer!!! Now it is sanitized, but I wouldn't imagine it being good for it to sit there for a whole week. What should I do?

Click to expand...

This is so funny because the very first brew photohand and myself did we did the same damn thing.

John Beere said:

The black ring in your beer is 100 times better than sticking your arm (or anything else) down in there to get it

Click to expand...

OK we didn't have this forum for assistance at that time so....... We did the arm thing.:cross: Beer turned out good I mean as good as a first "arm beer" can
Thanks for the reminder!!
JJ

Ditto on grommet lost in first batch/placed arm in first batch fishing out grommet.

My advice:
1) Follow the wisdom of previous posts and don't fish it out
2) Buy a second grommet - Murphy's law dictates that if you don't have a second one, you will continually lose it in future batches. As soon as you buy a spate, you will never lose it again
3) Place the airlock in the lid (without liquid in the airlock) before placing the lid on the fermentor

Regardless of what you do, chances are everything will turn out all right. Let us know how it turns out.

Wait so is it sealed where the air lock is? Cuz if its not you my friend could have a problem

fat x nub said:

Wait so is it sealed where the air lock is? Cuz if its not you my friend could have a problem

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Yes, it is.

Welcome to the fraternity of homebrewers!!! You just had your o-ring cherry busted.

Consider it extra flavor and just use another one. I doubt it will hurt anything if you sanatized it before using it.

Same thing happened to me on my first batch back brewing after a 10yr layoff, not to mention scorching the wort and spilling some on my kitchen floor when transfering it to my primary. Yes it was a bad day, I was dropping F bombs like mad and my wife looked at me and said, "isnt this supposed to be enjoyable? ) lol. All in all it was supposed to be an Oberon clone, turned out bitter now I call it my butt beer, I just have a few here and there after drinking the good beer from my second and third batches because being a good Polock I cant waste alcohol. Ken

Has everyone done this? I have. Just remember, don't fist your wort!!

This must be some kind of a right of passage in homebrewing. I think it was batch 3 when it happened to me. I did "fist" that one after sanitizing my arm. I soon realized that I don't have to press so hard, fill the airlock after placement in the lid, and my local hardware store has those grommets.

Get a step bit and drill that lid hole out to an inch.
Get the appropriate sized drilled stopper (I think I use a #5).
Stick sanitized stopper in lid hole.
Place airlock in stopper.