Air exposure

[HB2112]

Brewed my 2nd batch last Saturday. By Sunday night fermentation was going great. By Monday morning all of the headspace was gone and I was getting concerned since some of the foam was getting in the airlock. So I put a blowoff tube on the airlock and placed the tube in the water and all was good until this morning. I went to check on it and the weight of the blowoff tube had pulled the stopper out of the fermonster sometime in the middle of the night. I grabbed another washed sanitized airlock and put the stopper back in. What are the chances that the batch is ruined? I keep the fermonster in the room under the stairs so there's not much airflow.

 

[McKnuckle]

If there was still active fermentation and CO2 egress from the fermenter, it's probably perfectly fine. Remember that many breweries conduct open fermentation in wide exposed tanks, where the heavy krausen cover protects the beer. I'd be more concerned if the yeast had fallen below the surface, as would occur a couple of days later in the process.

 

[HB2112]

Thanks for the response. Yes it's still actively fermenting with bubbles coming out of the airlock. I'll keep my fingers crossed

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Wow! Sounds like you've got a great, strong fermentation going, HB2112!
I'm with McKnuckle on this. I once did an DIPA that blew its top in the middle of the night was was likely exposed for hours. The beer turned out great. When you've got a fermentation rolling like that those yeasties you're using are ravenous and likely to kill anything that tries to jump in on their feast. As long as you've been using good sanitation protocols, overall, I'd be really surprised if you got an infection.

Just for the sake of giving unsolicited advice, I've pretty much done away with bubbler airlocks. Couple of summers ago I was brewing a witbier that was pretty low ABV, and out of nowhere it took off like a rocket! Blew right through my bubbler. I just use blowoff tubes for all my beers now. It's saved me a lot of potential messes.

 

[HB2112]

Thank you Iowa and the guy at the brewing store said the same thing. I went by there to get grains and supplies for my next brew on the way to the river. Going to do an IPA this time. I'll use the blowoff tube next time around, but I have to either tape the stopper on the fermonster or figure out a way to support the blowoff tube so it doesn't pull out the stopper. The little room under the stairs is kept very clean since this is also the area where I start my mycelium for my mushroom growing hobby. My shop should be started by this spring which will have space for both. I need a space where I can stand up in.

 

[bracconiere]

i really wish shipping wasn't a pita....i swear i'd drink every f'up'd batch! lol , if only i could buy every every homebrewers dumper for the price of milwakee's best...