Beer gets contaminated/oxidized if I take the lid of after fermentation for minutes?

[Elysium]

After the main fermentation is over...after a week or so. I tend to take the lid off and dry-hop or just remove the valve so that the liquid in it wouldnt get sucked in as I open the tap to get a sample.

Can my beer get contaminated or oxidized/contaminated during those few minutes while it is without the lid? Obviously, I am not sweeping the floor while the beer is open....meaning that I dont create a draft and make dust fly into the fermentor.....but still wondering if tiny particles that are not visible can fly into it and cause spoilage.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Once primary fermentation is complete, there are 2 things that naturally protect your beer and INHIBIT infection. Alcohol and co2. Removing the lid can and does disturb the co2 layer. Removing the airlock can provide a pathway for airborn bacteria to enter the fermenter. Try placing a saucer with a teaspoon full of unfermented wort near your fermenter to see just what your airborn infections can look like. If you are conerned about suck back, you can use sanitizer or vodka in the airlock. You cna also change the airlock liquid. Certainly remove the airlock before you remove the lid, if you must, but I would advise returning the airlock as soon as possible.

 

[SEABrewer]

After primary is complete, contamination is a lot less likely, especially if the lid is just open briefly to add dry hops or take a gravity reading. Most of the sugars in the wort, which provide a haven for nasty critters to grow, have been replaced by alcohol, which is much less inviting to those critters. That said, you should always sanitize anything that comes in contact with the beer from the time you're doing with the boil until it's served.

Oxygenation is a bigger concern and some folks are pretty militant about doing anything they can to reduce oxygen exposure after they aerate their wort when pitching the yeast. I'm not that strict and have opened my fermenter to check gravity, add hops, or rack to secondary without any ill effects. The key is to not do it very often and always exercise basic sanitation.

 

[unionrdr]

I sanitize & fill my dry hop sacks before openning the fermenter to drop them in,minimizing exposer time. Wild yeasts & other nasties settle straight down. They aren't nija acrobats. so do things quickly & you should be ok.

 

[JohnSand]

It can become infected, but caution will probably prevent it. I ferment in an old musty basement. If I open batches down there, they become infected. Instead I take them into the clean kitchen, spray the rim with Starsan, make my additions, reseal, wipe down. It stays clean.

 

[SEABrewer]

Oh, and you mention opening the tap to get a sample, which implies you have a fermenter with a spigot. If that's the case, you can take samples without exposing your beer to oxygen or other critters, but be warned that some folks have had issues with contaminants growing in the spigot itself. Ideally, you'd be able to take it apart and give it a good cleaning between batches, but if that's not doable then you should just pay extra special attention to it when cleaning.

 

[unionrdr]

I def learned the hard way recently to remember to clean the spigot parts & mounting hole between every single batch. Lacto infection got in from some crud on the threaded part where the lock nut goes on the inside. Clean & sanitize'em every single time.