Stopper eased out of lager during "lagering." Oxidation?

[jph2275]

I have a noble and run to the pils from Austin Homebrew supply in the works. I had a great 3 week @50-55 primary, 1 week long diactyl rest, then racked to secondary glass carboys and deposited in my chest freezer at 34 degrees.

I was super bummed to find out that 2 weeks into lagering I come out to check on them and both of their rubber stoppers have "eased out" to where they are somewhat loose they were not air tight, but they haven't been jostled at all and unmoved for 2 weeks.

Have I oxidized my beer?


I'm going to try to re-secure them and hope for the best. Any ideas? Thoughts? Am I screwed? Any ideas on my outlook?

Thanks

 

[freisste]

I'm sure you're fine. Airlocks by design are not airtight. I'm sure everything is fine.

Do you sanitize with starsan? Because that stuff is crazy slippery. I had to wipe it off of my stopper and carboy mouth to get the stopper to stay in place.

 

[Clonefan94]

No more so than what you already did while moving it to secondary. (This isn't a smart ass remark. I just mean to say racking probably has 100 more times a chance of introduction of oxygen than beer just sitting still.) One trick I always use before I rack to secondary, is to hit the carboy with some CO2, to hopefully settle below the air in the carboy so I get at least a little protection. Either way, without some major air pressure changes, it's doubtful the air above the beer was disturbed at all. I would say the chances are pretty low any damage has been done.

 

[BigFloyd]

I'm thinking that you're fine. If they were just loose and not off, how much O2 do you think could have actually gotten through those itty-bitty cracks?

 

[jph2275]

I'm sure you're fine. Airlocks by design are not airtight. I'm sure everything is fine.

Do you sanitize with starsan? Because that stuff is crazy slippery. I had to wipe it off of my stopper and carboy mouth to get the stopper to stay in place.

Glad to hear. I use star san and yes I had that same dilemma. I hated to touch the carboy neck and stopper with an "unsanitized" paper towl but fingers crossed that won't cause any problems. My rubber stoppers have been used on my 6.5 gallon carboys exclusively so they are almost squished to fit, making them difficult to seat on my glass secondary.

 

[jph2275]

I'm thinking that you're fine. If they were just loose and not off, how much O2 do you think could have actually gotten through those itty-bitty cracks?

Ha well not much I suppose. This is my first time using a secondary and I've definitely had some time invested in these brews. Call me a bit paranoid

 

[jph2275]

No more so than what you already did while moving it to secondary. (This isn't a smart ass remark. I just mean to say racking probably has 100 more times a chance of introduction of oxygen than beer just sitting still.) One trick I always use before I rack to secondary, is to hit the carboy with some CO2, to hopefully settle below the air in the carboy so I get at least a little protection. Either way, without some major air pressure changes, it's doubtful the air above the beer was disturbed at all. I would say the chances are pretty low any damage has been done.

What is your method for hitting the carboy with c02 if you don't mind me asking? What you said about the racking makes a lot of sense. I feel kind of silly for not thinking of that myself

 

[Clonefan94]

What is your method for hitting the carboy with c02 if you don't mind me asking? What you said about the racking makes a lot of sense. I feel kind of silly for not thinking of that myself

I just turn off one line of CO2 at the distributor, unscrew it from my ball lock disconnect, spray the line with sanitizer, then push it partway down into the carboy. Then I open the valve slightly on the distributor to let some CO2 in. Shut it off, hook that line back up to the keg. I'm not worried about filling the bottle with CO2, just enough to hopefully get a layer resting on the bottom. hopefully reducing any oxygen contact as much as possible. Plus, when have a beer that's going to sit and age for a while, I feel a little more comfortable knowing there is CO2 sitting on it and not just regular air.