Darn o-rings

I am a newbie...

Just finished the wort on my 3rd batch ever...and As I snapped the lid on the pail (plastic kit style) I went to adjust the airlock straight...blup.

o-ring slipped. it went to the bottom.

after a good 25 minutes of fishing I ended up going in with a sanitized tongs and did submerge my hand a bit. Question is...before hands going in, I had sanitized as best as I could...but Do you think that the batch will be salvageable?

Or possibly I just brewed my first elbow ale.

thanks for your input...I looked through the forum before posting, Hope that this is not repetitious.

*it was a Amber ale...
Vinestbrew

You just have to wait and see. I have slipped putting my whole arm into the cooled kettle and the beer turned out fine.

Join the club.

Your beer will be fine. Now if a seagull poops in our fermenter while flying overhead...then you may have some issues.

I did the exact same thing with my first batch. It was fine. Sanitizer is good stuff and I'm sure it's ok.

as long as you were petting the dog, cat, and a mound of dirt before putting your hand in you should be ok.

Here is a helpful hint. Buy a replacement o-ring and put it with your brew gear. Then, next time this happens, you don't have to fish for it. Even if you never push it through again its cheap insurance.

You're part of the o-ring club now, welcome!

Wasn't yooper's vaunted first post ever here an "I dropped my O ring, is my beer ruined?" thread?

Happens all the time - I did it in my first one also, and it came out fine.

Revvy said:

You're part of the o-ring club now, welcome!

Wasn't yooper's vaunted first post ever here an "I dropped my O ring, is my beer ruined?" thread?

Click to expand...

Yep. I think my first post was just exactly that. I left it in there, though, and just put the airlock in and surrounded it with some duct tape and sanitized saran wrap.

A couple of tips to stop it from happening again- buy another $.35 grommet. Also, put the airlock on the lid, then the lid on the bucket. I'm now like Rainman muttering to myself "Airlock on the lid, lid on the bucket" over and over as I do it. It never happened again!

Trust me- the beer will be fine. Next time anything falls in (like a carboy stopper), don't worry if it's sanitized. Just leave it in there, and retrieve it afterwards.

Thanks for the hints and support...I will let ya'll know how the batch turns out. and yes....I will have extra o-rings and also be changing my approach to adjusting the airlock! (Lid off style!)