Possible Infection Exposure for Starter

So I made up a starter last night for a batch of hefeweizen and pitched the last of the yeast that I saved from my last batch of hefeweizen (about two months ago). Anyway, I came back about an hour later to check on it and swirl it around and found that the airlock had either been knocked out or fell out on it's own. I don't know how long it was without the airlock, but now I'm concerned that bacteria or other yeast could have made its way in. Any votes? Should I brew with it? Should I taste the starter once fermentation is clearly underway?

i've always had problems with stoppers that don't quite fit the carboy/starter. the shape seems to push them back out so i usually use a half size smaller one than the HBS recommends. that seems to work the air lock takes up the remainder of the space and holds the stopper in securely. chances are your starter is fine. if it smells like yeast and looks like yeast your probably OK.

Using an airlock on a starter flask (or whatever) is a bad idea. You want to allow oxygen to enter the wort. Loosely capping the flask with sanitized foil will adequately protect the wort from contamination, yet allow free gas exchange. ie, CO2 out and Oxygen in. An airlock will only allow the CO2 to escape, but won't let any oxygen in. Bacteria can't crawl into the flask. They don't have legs. They can float around in the air attached to dust particles and such, but the foil will prevent them from falling down into the flask. An open cell foam stopper designed specifically for this use would be even a better choice. I have used both with no problems at all.

use tin foil for the starter!

BobcatBrew said:

use tin foil for the starter!

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Tin foil has become extinct. It has been replaced by aluminum foil, sometimes simply referred to as foil.