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Forgot foil lid on starter - still useable?

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Hesdeadjim

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So I got my starter all ready last night for a brew I planned to do tomorrow, however after adding the yeast to the flask I forgot to put the foil lid back on. It stirred overnight with no lid, although otherwise appears normal. I don't have any rush to brew this, so thinking the safest bet would be just to do it another weekend with a new starter, but was curious if anyone had had any similar situations. Thanks for any thoughts.
 
I would make a new starter. It is easy and you lower your risk of contaminating a whole batch of beer.

I can guarantee that bacteria fell in. Whether they would cause any problems in fresh wort, like outgrowing your yeast and spoiling the beer, you can't be sure unless you use it.
 
I would make a new starter. It is easy and you lower your risk of contaminating a whole batch of beer.

I can guarantee that bacteria fell in. Whether they would cause any problems in fresh wort, like outgrowing your yeast and spoiling the beer, you can't be sure unless you use it.

That's what I thought too, not worth the time to brew a batch only to have it go bad because of a starter.
 
New starter for sure. You are correct above in that you don't want to go through the effort required, to find out you have a bad batch.
 
Does it seem to be working well? How does it smell?

You might be on to something epic. Only one way to find out. I say pitch it and see what happens.
 
My grandfather fermented beer in an open crock with cheese cloth over the top. Was the krausen overflowing the container? If so, your probably fine. My latest starter pushed the foil off and it was caught for an hour or so. I'd probably use it but your results may vary.
 
An 'epic', open-fermentation is fine, if that is what you are planning. If you want to make a particular beer with a particular taste, you have to use a reliable process.
 

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