1st Brew Disaster- please help

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ekemp

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Well- i am attempting to make some hard cider as christmas presents for my friends/ family
i heated my apple cider, added sugar and while cooling, i was sanitizing my 6.5 gal glass carboy. as i was pouring out the liquid, the carboy burst, sliced my hand in 2 places and went to the emergency room.
after getting sewn up and a tetnus shot, my wort was awaiting me, and i had nothing to ferment in.
i sent my wife to the home improvement store and we bought a 5 gal bucket with lid.
i managed to snugly fit a cork and an airlock into a hole cut in the lid.
i had 5 gal of wort and a 5 gal bucket. i didnt fill the bucket to the brim but filled it pretty full.
after 36 hours, it started to bubble and i noticed some liquid on the floor around the bucket. i let it go for another 12-24 hours and more liquid was appearing.
i finally decided to open the bucket, use santized eqt. and remove about 1/2 gal of the wort.
my question is..... did i ruin my first batch by opening it up and disturbing it??? do you think that the liquid around the bucket is a result of a poor fitting lid or the bucket being filled too full? carbon dioxide is being released.
 
I hope all the people who refuse to brew in plastic are reading this! Better Bottles won't send you to the emergency room. (Sorry about your hand...I hope there was no tendon or nerve damage.)

Your airlock probably clogged with krausen, and the Co2 pressure forced the lid open. Just get a bigger fermenter for next time, and fit it with a blow-off tube that runs into a container of sanitizer. (Do a gallery search for visual examples of this.)

Just let this batch ride, odds are good it will be fine.
 
its likely to be ok, Hard cider is pretty tough to mess up... i would definatly hope you got a food grade bucket, thats your make or break now... unfortuatly you wont have your cider in time for christmas it takes about 4 to 6 weeks at minimum to be bottle able, unless you get the desired ABV and crash fermentation and force carb... that still takes time... even if your shooting for only 5% your still looking at atleast 3 weeks and you need to crash and carb and bottle and let it sit for at least a week... so in that respect as a christmas present its kind of funked... i would sugest getting a few packs of WoodChucks and pealing the lables and getting new brown cardboard holders and just saying its your brew if your hearts set on makeing a good impression... unfortunatly that not honarable but it will make everbody think you can brew... sorry about the hand and the carboy, reason number 3481 why i dont brew in glass and yes that means there are 3480 more reasons why i dont use glass... well good luck hope your batch turns out

Cheers
 
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