So, I put my whole arm in the wort...

[Nowuries]

I pitched the yeast and everything was ready to go, I was putting the airlock into the little rubber grommet that fits on the pail lid, when the grommet pooped through the lid and into my wort, sinking all the way to the bottom. I thought about leaving it and using another grommet that I had but was worrying about it adding a rubber taste to the beer. So, since I couldn't find it with the ladel... I put my whole arm all the way to my elbow in to retrieve it. It's been 26 hours since then and no noticeable signs of fermentation.... I washed my hand before submerging it, but I'm sure it wasn't "sanitized"... I have read on here to wait and I'll see signs of fermentation but I'm still worried... even though my sign in name is NOworries....

 

[Runyanka]

check this out... should be okay!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

 

[Revvy]

At least you took the time to wash your arm first. Congratulations you are one of the few, the brave, the proud, the grommet droppers, your membership is legion and your beer will be fine...Many a first post on here, including by one of out current mods, was exactly this same issue.

it's no worse than the stories I have in here;

Read em and relax. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

And when your beer turns out fine you can add your story to the canon.

 

[BigB]

I pitched the yeast and everything was ready to go, I was putting the airlock into the little rubber grommet that fits on the pail lid, when the grommet pooped through the lid and into my wort, sinking all the way to the bottom. I thought about leaving it and using another grommet that I had but was worrying about it adding a rubber taste to the beer. So, since I couldn't find it with the ladel... I put my whole arm all the way to my elbow in to retrieve it. It's been 26 hours since then and no noticeable signs of fermentation.... I washed my hand before submerging it, but I'm sure it wasn't "sanitized"... I have read on here to wait and I'll see signs of fermentation but I'm still worried... even though my sign in name is NOworries....

Don't Worry! I have done this as well as hundreds of other here... Beer is really hard to screw up... Unless, of course, your arm was a seething pit of disease. You will find out soon enough. BTW... The grommet won't add any rubber flavors... Just get an extra grommet to keep on hand in case this happens in the future. They cost like 35cents.

 

[Revvy]

check this out... should be okay!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

Wow I think you are the first one to actually beat me to my own game.

 

[mordantly]

was it properly fertilized?

did you spray starsan or something on your arm? your most likely safe.

 

[Nowuries]

awesome guys... thanks! I read that post and your right... I'm totally not the first to have done that. Good to know!

 

[Iowabeerguy]

I pitched the yeast and everything was ready to go, I was putting the airlock into the little rubber grommet that fits on the pail lid, when the grommet pooped through the lid and into my wort, sinking all the way to the bottom.

As long as you don't call your dog "the grommet" You should be just fine - fermentation will likely fend off any minor buggies you put in with your arm. If you do call your dog "the grommet" smack with a paper and tell him to stop pooping in your beer!

Cheers!

 

[fotomatt1]

I did the exact same thing on my first batch! I finished brewing at 11:30pm and put the lid on and was so happy to put the airlock in so I could go to sleep. Pushed the airlock in, and the grommet popped off right into my beer! Ughh. I quickly wiped my whole arm down with sanitizer and went fishing. No negative effects and everybody liked my first brew.....maybe it was the arm hairs that provided that "little something extra!"

 

[Runyanka]

Wow I think you are the first one to actually beat me to my own game.

Yesssss! I'm like a tiger waiting for the kill But seriously, not oly did that thread make me laugh my ass off, it gave me a sense of calmness!

 

[Yooper]

I did the exact same thing on my first batch! I finished brewing at 11:30pm and put the lid on and was so happy to put the airlock in so I could go to sleep. Pushed the airlock in, and the grommet popped off right into my beer! Ughh. I quickly wiped my whole arm down with sanitizer and went fishing. No negative effects and everybody liked my first brew.....maybe it was the arm hairs that provided that "little something extra!"

Yep, me too. Except I didn't "go fishing"- I just got out some duct tape and afixed the airlock to that. Then, I ran to Google and googled "homebrew forum" and found this place. My very first foray into internet forums was a question about a grommet, too!

I bought another $.35 grommet, and it never happened again! I'll tell you why, though- I learned to put the airlock on the lid, and then the lid on the bucket. For the last four years, I'm like "Rainman" muttering to myself over and over that "the airlock goes on the lid and then the lid on the bucket" at the end of a brewday.

 

[BBKing]

Lol, funny story.

Experience has shown me that grommets can be more trouble than they are really worth. While 2 of my 3 fermenters have grommets on them (out of sheer laziness on my part) I favor the rubber o-rings. One on the inside of the lid, and one on the outside. Thats just one opinion from some guy on the internet.

 

[mordantly]

a benefit of the grommet is if high krausen jumps out, it's easier to clean and reinstall.

 

[BigB]

Yep, me too. Except I didn't "go fishing"- I just got out some duct tape and afixed the airlock to that. Then, I ran to Google and googled "homebrew forum" and found this place. My very first foray into internet forums was a question about a grommet, too!

I bought another $.35 grommet, and it never happened again! I'll tell you why, though- I learned to put the airlock on the lid, and then the lid on the bucket. For the last four years, I'm like "Rainman" muttering to myself over and over that "the airlock goes on the lid and then the lid on the bucket" at the end of a brewday.

LOL I do the exact same thing! Right after I did it, then used $80 worth of Iodophor sanitizing my arm, I bought the .35 cent extra grommet... Haven't come close to doing that again since!

 

[BBKing]

Yep, me too. Except I didn't "go fishing"- I just got out some duct tape and afixed the airlock to that. Then, I ran to Google and googled "homebrew forum" and found this place. My very first foray into internet forums was a question about a grommet, too!

I bought another $.35 grommet, and it never happened again! I'll tell you why, though- I learned to put the airlock on the lid, and then the lid on the bucket. For the last four years, I'm like "Rainman" muttering to myself over and over that "the airlock goes on the lid and then the lid on the bucket" at the end of a brewday.

Lol, I'm the same way.

Except I keep telling myself "Airlock, bucket, then water. Airlock, bucket, then water. Airlock, bucket, then water."

A few bad experiences.

 

[BBKing]

a benefit of the grommet is if high krausen jumps out, it's easier to clean and reinstall.

You're kidding me right?

Just throw the darn O-Ring away and replace with another.

Takes like 1/100th the time and frustration that a grommet can take.

 

[mordantly]

gotta get some of these:

my personal wish list:

 

[ReeseAllen]

Haha, I'm impressed how quickly Revvy saw and responded to this thread. 3 minutes! He preaches patience and optimism, and rightfully so

Infections are actually pretty uncommon. Most new brewers are so paranoid about sanitation that the rate of infections among folks' first few batches is actually pretty low. Most infections come up as a result of more experienced brewers getting lazy with their cleaning and sanitization processes, or using old and scratched-up plastic equipment, and contaminating their beer as a result.

 

[tom777]

yup, did the same thing on my first batch. Like Yooper, I quickly learned to put the airlock in the lid before putting the lid on the bucket.

 

[Nowuries]

As long as you don't call your dog "the grommet" You should be just fine - fermentation will likely fend off any minor buggies you put in with your arm. If you do call your dog "the grommet" smack with a paper and tell him to stop pooping in your beer!

Cheers!

That's too funny. I did not realize that I didn't spell "popped" right. Nasty!! No, I do not have a dog name Grommet or a dog by any other name! hahaha And I'm not Wallace!

 

[Tiako]

I had the same thing happen to me and it was NOT OK lol.. It had mold all in it the next day.

 

[Nowuries]

gotta get some of these:

my personal wish list:

Excellent idea, but hopefully I learned from my experience and as one of the later posts says... put the air lock on the lid THEN put the lid on the pail! The rubber gloves could be held on stand-bye though, cause' I'm sure I'll do something else stupid!

 

[Nowuries]

Ok, so it did start fermenting today! YEAH!!! It took 42 hours after pitching the yeast for the air-lock to start burping! So, no worries though, I'm gonna go have a homebrew!

 

[Nowuries]

Lol, I'm the same way.

Except I keep telling myself "Airlock, bucket, then water. Airlock, bucket, then water. Airlock, bucket, then water."

A few bad experiences.

I think I'll start singing the same song!

 

[dlloyd]

gotta get some of these:

my personal wish list:

One of my favorite non-essential purchases yet... can immerse my hands in the crazy 150F water that comes out of my tap for 5-10 seconds no problem, makes washing bottles a breeze. Also great for 30min microwave mozzarella kneading.

 

[mordantly]

my next or from northern brewer is gonna include them. i figure you can clean the schitt outta all the fermenters (primary), keggle, etc without gettin a bath too. i like to get personal when i give a sponge bath. and if sanitized, enable work in primaries with the lowest risk... once my nut backed off and it started leaking. scared to insert the arm, i applied a side load and twisted the valve and luckily got it tight enough.

 

[eljefe]

Apparently popping your gromment is a right of passage. I popped mine on 1-6-2008. It seems like yesterday.

In addition, to answer your next question (assuming you are travelling the same question path we all did):
"There could be several reasons why there is no airlock activity. Don't worry if it is not bubbling like cray. Take a hydrometer reading about 10 days after you started fermenting then 2 days later. If the reading is the same and is less than your starting gravity, fermentation is complete"

Welcome aboard, hopefully you like it as much as everyone here does.

 

[mordantly]

wait, so "grommet popping" is brewer speak for "cherry-popping"?

 

[YnkBlu]

Looks like I got my grommet Popped last night as well.

My first batch ever. Put the cap on the bucket, I went to slide in the airlock then POP! Down goes the grommet to the deep. I went and scrubbed my arm, dried it with a clean white towel and went fishing.

So far so good.

 

[Jonathansmith2589]

Same thing happened to me today.. Talk about devastated when it happened, but now that I've read this thread, I feel much better.