Rubber seal in secondary

Hi all,


Here is my idiot move - This is my 9th batch - an amarillo/Citra pale ale. However, this is the first time I have used a secondary. So, when putting the airlock on the secondary, the rubber stopper fell in. So, naturally, I panicked and pulled up homebrewtalk.com, only to find about a million others who have done the same thing. For the most part, I read that the beer will be fine, especially since the lid was pre-sanitized. I rigged the airlock up somewhat tight with electrical tape, but my i'm wondering if I should go to the LHBS and get another stopper? The tape seems somewhat secure, but I have no idea if air is getting in. If any is, its probably small. But, how important is air in the secondary, and will a tiny amount of air negatively affect this batch? Or, should I just chill the F out and have a beer?

Thanks

Chill the F out, have a beer and relax. Get another stopper. I wouldnt let it go for too long but a day or two isn't going to ruin it. I'm sure there will be some scientific worry wort that will tell you different though.

Put some sanitized tin foil over the mouth and get another bung.

BTW, welcome to the club. It's happened to me twice. I never f'ing learn.

To get it out put about a litre or two of hot tap water and let the bung soften, empty the water out and monkey the bung into the mouth of the carboy, grab the bung with some needle nose pliers, pull and FOONG! Out it comes.

You can use the blown up plastic bag trick too. Hev never tried it though.

I should add its a bucket with the tiny stoppers about the size of a dime