Missing two pieces of my 3-piece airlock for daysssssss

[ryancrook]

HBT community,

Need some input on what could go wrong with my situation that just happened recently. I didn't realize I was missing the centerpiece and lid of my 3-piece airlock after my fermentation finished. It was likely like this for maybe a week. As soon as I realized it I purged the head space with CO2 and replaced the airlock. My oatmeal stout has taken on an off flavor that I can't describe and I'm worried it will just get worse over time. Has anyone else had this experience before, or think that my beer may be ok? I'm pissed because I was going to enter this into a local club competition next month and I'm afraid I'll just have to dump the batch.

 

[mcotter]

Was the airlock clean/sanitized? Was it kept in a closed fermentation chamber that is reasonably clean and is free of mold? If so I'd imagine it's just fine. Either way I wouldn't dump it, once you're certain fermentation is complete I'd bottle/keg as normal and see how it turns out.

 

[Calder]

Likely the only thing that could go wrong, would be acetobactera. You would know if you had this (vinegar).

Chances are nothing happened as a result of the airlock missing pieces.