Airlock seal is in the beer (did I ruin by beer)

I received a True Brew kit for Christmas, so I brewed my first batch of beer yesterday, put on the airlock, and it was bubbling merrily. It wasn't realy popping, and the top part was on slightly askew, so I pushed on the top of the container (a bucket). It stopped bubbling. I looked, and the little black gasket for the airlock is no longer there. I removed the top, and it was not on the surface, so I replaced the top. I was brewing an IPA, and my question now is : Is my batch ruined, and if so can I salvage it in any way. My current situation is without an airlock.
Thanks in advance!

Is that the same lid that comes from MidWEst? I have some spare seals and can get one off to you tomorrow if you'd like. Just PM me your address and you can try an emergency repair. In the meantime sterilze your airlock, put it thru a stopper, and rest it in the hole for now.....and hope somebody smarter than I (most of the board) answers.

You'll be fine. Happens all the time.

You are now a TRUE Homebrewer...

Everything's fine...one of our most famous (and cutest) moderator's very first thread on here asked the same question...and we still don't let her live it down..

Revvy said:

You are now a TRUE Homebrewer...

Everything's fine...one of our most famous (and cutest) moderator's very first thread on here asked the same question...and we still don't let her live it down..

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Paging the cutie who just got tossed under the bus.
Hey, Revvy, I just posted on a brewing thread. I think I might be sick.

shecky said:

Hey, Revvy, I just posted on a brewing thread. I think I might be sick.

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Hey waitaminute....you did?!? First Gnome then you? WTF?

That's probably only because you are lonely and sitting in a hotel room....you are forgiven, my child.

Revvy said:

Hey waitaminute....you did?!? First Gnome then you? WTF?

That's probably only because you are lonely and sitting in a hotel room....you are forgiven, my child.

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Got me pegged.

shecky said:

Got me pegged.

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Get thee to a pub...consume any Canadian Craft Beer you can find, and report back...and if you happen to take pics of any stunning Toronto waitresses,, post them pleeze...

Revvy said:

Get thee to a pub...consume any Canadian Craft Beer you can find, and report back...and if you happen to take pics of any stunning Toronto waitresses,, post them pleeze...

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Still waiting on a friend (cue Mick Jagger).
No camera, sorry.

Thanks for the quick responses! I am going to go to my local beer store (Ithaca Beer) and see if I can get some seals.

At this point I would just shove your bottling wand hose in the hole where the gasket was and run it into a jar of sanitizer OR sanitize some tinfoil and wrap that around your airlock and stick it in the hole in the bucket..I wouldn't take the lid off to try to attach a new grommet on it...

When this happened to me (and yep, it sure did!) I stuck the airlock in the hole and waited it out. You can definitely get another grommet and sanitize it and stick it in there, but it's a bit tricky to do with the lid on the bucket. You could just wait it out, and buy an extra for next time.

One tip that I learned the hard way- you can stick the airlock on the lid, then stick the lid on the bucket. Put it on tightly, then put some liquid (vodka or a little water) up to the line on the airlock. The prevents the grommit from falling in the bucket, as well as overfilling the airlock causing liquid to back fill into the bucket. Um, yeah, that happened to me to!

Ahem...just so you noobs aren't cornfused by my referring to a certain mod as "cute," despite yooper's avatar...she is quite an attractive woman..

Just to clarify things in regards to gender issues...I'm sure many of the male mods are quite attractive as well, but I for one don't swing that way...

Back to your regular scheduled thread...

Revvy said:

Ahem...just so you noobs aren't cornfused by my referring to a certain mod as "cute," despite yooper's avatar...she is quite an attractive woman..

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dang it. was hoping for another "you're the man Yooper!" comment

Most hardware stores will have them.

They are called rubber grommets. Take the airlock with you to verify a snug fit.

I'm thinking that the sizes are 7/16 inch inside hole diameter, with a 1/2 inch outside groove diameter.

Plus, your original grommet is probably in the bottom of your bucket!

Pogo

Dang dang dang.... I racked to Glass Carboy and moved my air lock to the large stopper, cleaned and then dipped into sanitizer....

Shizer! that stuff is slippery!! Pop through the top of the Carboy and into beer... Sazm Frazm Rizzm razzm. I don't have another large stopper...... Frelllllll!!

So I covered with aluminum foil and then took and wrapped twist ties around and tightened... That's the best I can do for today.

Any other ideas???

OG 1.050 ... 4 days 1.023... 6 days (today) 1.015.

Thanks in advance.

FxdGrMind said:

Dang dang dang.... I racked to Glass Carboy and moved my air lock to the large stopper, cleaned and then dipped into sanitizer....

Shizer! that stuff is slippery!! Pop through the top of the Carboy and into beer... Sazm Frazm Rizzm razzm. I don't have another large stopper...... Frelllllll!!

So I covered with aluminum foil and then took and wrapped twist ties around and tightened... That's the best I can do for today.

Any other ideas???

OG 1.050 ... 4 days 1.023... 6 days (today) 1.015.

Thanks in advance.

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relax and have a homebrew?!? got you your lhbs and pick up another, you probably did the best you can until then!