Dry Airlock oops

[bmantzey]

I've got an ipa sitting on its dry hops in a plastic bucket with one of those 3-piece airlocks.

I just noticed tonight that the airlock was so low on water that pressing down on the lid caused a whistle to come through the holes in the airlock's cap. It was clear that the water got so low that the bucket was not sealed well.

I pulled the lid off to take a look and get a sniff. The first thing I noticed was a smell like strong alcohol and hops. Besides the initial alcohol smell, it smelled very good to me! It looked fine too.

It must have been low at least a few days. Should I be concerned?

 

[Jbird]

I would never dump a beer. Full the air lock again and just let it do its thing. If you bottle it and it still taste bad give it an other week or so and try it again. That's what I would do.

 

[norsk]

It must have been low at least a few days. Should I be concerned?

Nope...

 

[NivekD]

The first thing I noticed was a smell like strong alcohol and hops. Besides the initial alcohol smell, it smelled very good to me! It looked fine too.

That's what your're lookin' (smellin') for. It'll be fine, just fill the airlock and let it go.

 

[bmantzey]

With the amount of hops and alcohol in it, I'm fairly confident that it's not infected. What I gather about oxygenation is, it doesn't appear to affect it until several weeks after it's exposure and by then it'll all be drank up most likely.

I also heard that it takes considerably more exposure than normal brewing requires, including minor mistakes such as mine. I'm not worried. Thanks for the replies.