First time brewer questions...probably obvious

My wife bought me a basic beer making kit about 4 years ago and I just got around try trying it out yesterday. I put it off for a while because I was afraid of opening the door on a new hobby, I tend to get a little obsessive about my hobbies and sink a lot of time into them ;-)
I, of course, had to replace the ingredients since the environemnt they were stored in was not optimal. I opted for what I thoguht was the most simple path for my first try, I got a kit with malt extract and am trying an english brown ale.
I was pretty meticulous about cleaning everything and repeating sanitization of anything that I thought needed it.
Now, while I don't have high hopes (ok, maybe I do) for my first brew, "drinkable" would be acceptable. That said, when I went to check on the fermenter this morning I found that the top of the plastic fermenter had apparently blown completely off leaving the fermenter with a fully open top in a closet in my basement. My question to the experts is: Is this batch likely ruined? The top could have potentially been off for anywhere from 1 to 15 hours. I sanitized the top and the ferment tube and replaced it. If there is even a remote chance it will turn out as at leasst passable as beer and not taste absolutely horrible I'll go ahead and finish it out. If it's a >75% chance the wort is ruined I'll scrap it and start a new batch.
Any insight or advice is welcomed.

Thanks!

It'll be fine. If you had enough fermentation to blow the lid off, no way any nasties got a chance to get in there and take hold. Resanitizing the lid and the airlock is fine. Are you using a blow-off tube? You said "fermenter tube" and I'm not sure if you meant an airlock or a blow-off tube. Either way is fine, but if you're using an airlock and it clogs again, it might blow again. Probably not, maybe it'll settle down now, I just wanted you to be aware of it.

As Yoops said you're probably fine, so don't worry about it. The first beer I ever made was in a sanitized garbage pail with a loose lid and it didn't get infected.

I doubt, however, that you'll end up with a simply passable beer. I would predict it will actually be damn delicious and something you can be proud of!

I'll also apologize now on behalf of homebrewers everywhere, since you're the type to become obsessive over new hobbies. There is no hobby more addictive than homebrewing.

Your wife will rue the day she ever bought you that kit!

YooperBrew said:

It'll be fine. If you had enough fermentation to blow the lid off, no way any nasties got a chance to get in there and take hold. Resanitizing the lid and the airlock is fine. Are you using a blow-off tube? You said "fermenter tube" and I'm not sure if you meant an airlock or a blow-off tube. Either way is fine, but if you're using an airlock and it clogs again, it might blow again. Probably not, maybe it'll settle down now, I just wanted you to be aware of it.

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Yes, I mean the airlock. I'm not sure where I got the term fermentation tube. I think I read that in one of the books I read on brewing, or possibly just pulled it out of thin air. It did in fact blow again, right after I posted. I sanitized everything again and fixed the airlock, it was not working properly and was causing pressure to build. Hopefullt it will not happen again and hopefully my batch wasn't completely ruined. Either way, lesson learned.
If I can make a few successful batches I may invest in some nice glass fermenter carboys.

buraglio said:

I tend to get a little obsessive about my hobbies and sink a lot of time into them ;-)

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I think you have come to the right place!

buraglio said:

Yes, I mean the airlock. I'm not sure where I got the term fermentation tube. I think I read that in one of the books I read on brewing, or possibly just pulled it out of thin air. It did in fact blow again, right after I posted. I sanitized everything again and fixed the airlock, it was not working properly and was causing pressure to build. Hopefullt it will not happen again and hopefully my batch wasn't completely ruined. Either way, lesson learned.
If I can make a few successful batches I may invest in some nice glass fermenter carboys.

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Well, I suggest a blow off tube since it blew again. It's easy, just a length of tubing (maybe from your racking setup) stuck in the hole instead of the airlock. You would sanitize this tube and stick it in the hole, and then put the other end in a pitcher/jar of sanitizer half way up. You'd make sure the open end was under the sanitizer. Like this: http://bp1.blogger.com/_IBkEquNpF74/RqA8EsaJThI/AAAAAAAAAGM/9O2hQDwAuao/s1600-h/blowoff1.jpg

YooperBrew said:

Well, I suggest a blow off tube since it blew again. It's easy, just a length of tubing (maybe from your racking setup) stuck in the hole instead of the airlock. You would sanitize this tube and stick it in the hole, and then put the other end in a pitcher/jar of sanitizer half way up. You'd make sure the open end was under the sanitizer. Like this: http://bp1.blogger.com/_IBkEquNpF74/RqA8EsaJThI/AAAAAAAAAGM/9O2hQDwAuao/s1600-h/blowoff1.jpg

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It seems to be working correctly now, but if it fails again I'm going to make a blow off tube as you suggested. I'm pretty excited...I've been reading all week and I think I have my next few batches decided upon. I'm hoping to debut something around the holidays and let the family give opinions. Thanks again for all the advice and the super quick responses.

Orpheus said:

Your wife will rue the day she ever bought you that kit!

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I have no doubt of that. I think she's already seeing it too... I'll have to make her a Frambouis or a fruit sweetened mead (Melomel?) to make up for it. =)

people have found the whole lid to their bucket fermenter on the floor, and they're beer turned out fine.

In ancient times, they put no lid on the fermenter (often a large ceramic 'urn' shaped vessel), or they might put a piece of cloth over it.

RDWHAHB!