blow off tube fell out overnight

[SeanS86]

hi all,
i woke up this morning to find that the blow off tube that's on my primary fell out of the bucket of star san and onto the floor. I had it taped, but I guess the fermentation was so active it knocked it out. I slept for 8 hours, and checked right before i got in bed, so it couldn't have been more than that, but it scares the crap out of my knowing that my brew was open to gross bacteria for so long. the only saving grace i might see is that it's a russian imperial stout finishing it's first full day of fermentation, and it sounds like a motorboat with all the bubbles it's creating. anyone have any experience with this happening to them and didn't have a botched brew/words of encouragement to help my blood pressure go back down? thanks

 

[bartyen82]

Everything is fine - nasty beasties would have to crawl up the blow-off tube against a vigorous CO2 blow off and fight against a healthy community of yeast who've claimed the sugar in your wort as their own. Enjoy your RIS once it's done!

 

[ghack]

Don't sweat it at all.

An active fermentation will put a blanket of CO2 over the beer that will keep the unwanted bacteria from getting in, and the yeast will generally out compete any that somehow might...And bacteria are not going to be crawling up the tube, they fall downwards out of the air. BTW, in olden homebrewing days it was not uncommon to ferment in open topped containers or with simply a cloth draped over the top.

 

[onemanlan]

Since you're brewing high gravity the C02 produced by your yeast caused enough up-draft prevent bacteria and/or mold spores from entering the carb. Not to mention the C02 produced is being shoved out of a tiny hole too so that's not a large area for those microorganism to enter as opposed to having the entire lid off. Secondly since you're brewing high gravity beer you may have enough ethanol to snuff out any bacterial growth of ethanol intolerant bacteria.

Edit: Doh - late

Also don't worry about bacteria moving up the tube. Just use water for your blow-off chamber there isn't a need to use a sanitizer. They're so tiny(see microscopic) that even if all of them were mobile they couldn't cover that distance during your fermentation time. That being said most bacteria aren't all that mobile - nor do they have the energy to crawl up a nutrient-less tube to get to the good stuff.

 

[SeanS86]

thanks for the reassurance guys, let me know if you want a bottle when it's done

 

[bartyen82]

Uh, sure! I just brewed a honey hibiscus wit that I'd be happy to exchange a bottle of for a bottle of RIS. I'll PM you my address, and we can get something going.