Help! carboy cap blown off, beer oxidized!

[aangel]

So I've been fermenting a roughly 5 gallon batch of 1.050 wort in a 6.5gal better bottle with carboy cap and airlock. (in a temp controlled chest freezer at 18C). For reasons outside my control I was unable to monitor it on day 3-5 of fermentation. It's now day 6, and I discovered the carboy cap blew off! My beer's been sitting, open to the air, for at least 3 days.

How can I revive this? For now I've sanitized the cap and airlock and reattached them. Should I rehydrate some DME, add it to the fermenter, and hope the yeast reawaken and use up the now abundant oxygen available to them?

 

[moreb33rplz]

Delete this post, ferment the beer, and never mention this incident to anyone.

 

[joe_four_strings]

The master brewers can correct or add, but I think the co2 blanket in your carboy head space caused by the fermentation keeps the oxygen out of the beer. You should be fine after replacing the airlock.

 

[aangel]

Skipped the DME. Just shook up the carboy a bit, hoping to rouse the yeast enough to finish the job. Also, man my idea of just dropping the hydrometer in the carboy and monitoring its progress was a flop - can't monitor what you can't see, with the headspace completely covered in muck.

 

[Monty91]

It will be fine. Google "open fermentation" and you'll quickly realize what happened to you isn't a big deal. So much CO2 is produced in the first week that you won't have to worry about it.

 

[aangel]

Thanks everyone. Gotta say though, it was a bit unrealr - the airlock was filled with solid gel-like krausen. Had the consistency of refrigerated bacon grease.

 

[MaxStout]

I love the versatility of carboy caps, but don't trust 'em to stay on. Get a ss hose clamp and cinch that on next time.