Secondary left open, who knows how long!

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nhurston

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Hi Everyone,
this is my first time posting here and I wanted to get some info from folks. I just bottled a Winter Warmer last night that had previously resided in a secondary for two weeks.
My problem is that I discovered the secondary bung had come off and I don't know how long it had been that way. I keep it in a dark, non-moldy closet, and this was the first time I had laid eyes on it since racking it over. My wife goes in there often, so she might have knocked it off at some point OR pressure might have pushed it off.
The beer didn't taste wierd or anything when I bottled it, but my question concerns the possibility of off flavors coming up during bottle conditioning. Is it still possible that wierd flavors will surface while it's carbonating?

I really hope this batch isn't crap.
 
I think you will be fine. Only time will tell at this point so give it a few weeks to carb and see what you think then.
 
It's possible that it got infected and it will show up after a while in the bottles. It's also possible that it's fine! If it tastes good in 3 weeks, then it probably wasn't infected. Since it tasted fine when you bottled and you didn't see anything growing on it, that's enouraging!
 
Short of something solid crawling into your secondary, I'd say you'll be fine.

Secondaries still produce enough of a CO2 blanket over the beer to deter a lot of floating nasties.

Remember, your beer is three things: Alcohol, Hops (natural preservative) and CO2. Not a real friendly environment for germs.

Proceed according to plan and never toss a batch until it's confirmed spoiled in the bottle.
 
I feel better about it being ok since it was in a closet. if it was in my basement, which is 103 years old and mostly a dirt floor, then I'd be real leery about it.

in secondary there are fewer nasties that can spoil it due to the reasons BM mentions above.

Relax and have a beer :)
 
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