This last weekend I did my first brew by myself. not only that I decided it was smart to do 2 in the same day. Needless to say it was a very long day of brewing and in the process I made a huge mistake. After pitching the yeast on both batches and putting the airlock on I realized about 5 days into fermentation that I had forgot to put on the inner plastic cap. I'm not talking about the lid that snaps on the very top of the airlock and has small little holes to keep large debris from falling in. I'm talking about the other plastic top piece that sits on the inside and creates the bridge between the air from the inside of the keg and air from outside. That's right my beer has been fermenting with air moving in and out at will.
I asked some people at the local homebrew store and one said that during fermentation most of the air movement is co2 escaping and that air entering through the small hole would by minimal and may not have effected it much. This was not said with any kind of certainty. Another didn't seem to worried and said that unless I see fruit flies inside then it should still be fine. I don't know though I think they were just trying not to make me feel too bad.
What are everyone's thoughts?
I asked some people at the local homebrew store and one said that during fermentation most of the air movement is co2 escaping and that air entering through the small hole would by minimal and may not have effected it much. This was not said with any kind of certainty. Another didn't seem to worried and said that unless I see fruit flies inside then it should still be fine. I don't know though I think they were just trying not to make me feel too bad.
What are everyone's thoughts?
