HELP! Grommet from lid fell into fermenting beer

I am brewing my very first batch and two weeks into the fermentation process I was taking my first gravity reading tonight. I removed the lid, took the reading, replaced the lid and when I put the airlock back on the lid it pushed the black grommet through the lid and into the beer!

Help! What should I do? I have another lid so I put it on and put the airlock on it. But should I just leave the black grommet in the bucket or should I get something, sterilize it, and get it out of there. I do not have another bucket to pour the beer into at this time.

Can anyone offer me advise...fairly quickly! I don't want to ruin this batch over this issue...

Thanks!

Relax! Lots of folks have done the same thing and no harm done. Leave it where it is and let your beer finish out. Keep an eye out for the grommet when you rack.

ALWAYS put the airlock on the lid then put the lid on the bucket.

assuming that everything was sanitized properly, there should be no problem leaving it in the beer, getting it out may cause more issues than the grommet itself. this issue arrises every once in a while from first time brewers, so you are not alone in this issue, next batch, drill out the hole in the lid to fit a bung instead of the grommet to avoid another grommet drowning.

What nurmey said. Your beer is fine. I'd sanitize the airlock and just place it in the hole, then look for the airlock when bottling. There's so much CO2 escaping during fermentation that it's unlikely for anything bad to get in your beer. Once you've been in the primary for 2 weeks go ahead and bottle.

Thanks guys. After waiting (inpatiently!) for 2 weeks and then having this happen, I was bummed that I might have ruined this batch. I will take your advice next time and put the airlock on before putting the lid on the fermenter. Plus I got this extra lid at my local Home Brew shop and it has a little gasket inside and seams to provide a much better "seal" than the other lid anyway.

First, RDWHAHB. Secondly, it won't hurt anything. There are a bunch of threads on here about this. Just wait untill you rack it over to retrieve your grommet. I would get a drillede stopper big enough to fill the hole in the lid in for a spare. That way, if you have more than 1 batch going and you need a grommet, you have a spare.

Man, gotta learn to type faster

First, RDWHAHB.

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+1394959634

If you haven't done this at least once you're probably doing something wrong.

arturo7 said:

If you haven't done this at least once you're probably doing something wrong.

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Sonofabitch! I knew I was failure!

does dropping the airlock in the fermenter count?

Dont worry about it. I did it my first or second batch as well. If you dig around, I've read thread of people shoving their entire arms with watch on into the fermetor to fish something out, and nothing happens.

I dont know why, but for some reason, all the starter kits I see have the tiny hole with the grommet and you shove the airlock directly into it, as opposed to a 7.5 hole and using a stopper.

Drill the hole to one inch, buy a stopper, and you're all set.


Cheers

Lucas

I pushed a too small stopper into the carboy on my second batch. Plugged Up Porter! It was sanitized, so no worries. Had to use the plastic bag trick to get it out after bottling.

Ugh - Just pitched an ale this morning... its my 92nd 5 gallon brew.... so you think I'd know better. But the damn grommet went right into the wort when I pushed the airlock into the bucket lid. When am I gonna learn!?!?!?!? I will try to relax.

Happened to me yesterday on one of the three 5 gallon all-grain batches I brewed last weekend. You don't have to be a beginner to have stupid (and preventable) accidents. It will be a while before I forget to check the damn grommet on a fermenter lid again. Still, with 5 gallons actively fermenting the grommet isn't likely to cause any problems. Hope not; it is a robust porter to replace the one in a keg that's about to kick.