How bad did I screw up? Fermenter not air tight

[Megachimp]

Hey Guys,

I brewed my first batch of beer ever this past weekend. It was an all grain recipe. It was a clone of my favorite beer ever, Mack and Jacks African Amber.

Anyway, everything went great with the brew. I ended up nailing all my numbers. Success!

I filled my fermenter on Saturday. Let the it chill in my fermentation chamber over night and pitched my liquid wyeast 1968 Sunday morning.

So here's my issue: My fermenters are the Speidel ones. They came shipped with the tops like this: (not my photo)

http://haggeo.smugmug.com/Hobbies/home-brewing/i-mPnmpJg/0/L/DSC7977-L.jpg

I just assumed that was how the tops were supposed to go on. I just watched a video on them (thursday now) and realized I had the top on upside down! There's a rubber o ring that is supposed to face down, but it comes shipped facing up (probably to save on shipping space). It should look like this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EtuDsu_dbAI/UopQ7ZagjWI/AAAAAAAAgh4/C-f5LR5jD8U/s1600/cln_img_8812.jpg

i'm pretty sure I didn't have a 100% air tight seal on the damn thing. This might explain why I haven't seen any bubbles from my airlock.

UGH!!!!!!

It's four+ days after I pitched my yeast. I just went and flipped the stupid lid so the seal is facing down and snapped a photo of what's going on in the fermenter.

http://imgur.com/UL7kRUU

I would have expected more activity in there after four days. does this look OK, or is my first batch ruined?

 

[kev211]

I would say you're probably fine. Chances are, any active fermentation was pushing air out and not allowing stuff to come in through the non-seal. The only way to know if fermentation has occured is to take a gravity sample. But overall, chances are that your first batch is going to come out A-ok.

One thing to note, I would avoid letting the wort sit without yeast in it. That is when you are most likely to get an infection. Get it down to pitching temp, pitch your yeast and let it ferment. I would avoid letting it sit overnight. Just my 2 cents.

Congrats on the first brew!

 

[Megachimp]

I would say you're probably fine. Chances are, any active fermentation was pushing air out and not allowing stuff to come in through the non-seal. The only way to know if fermentation has occured is to take a gravity sample. But overall, chances are that your first batch is going to come out A-ok.

One thing to note, I would avoid letting the wort sit without yeast in it. That is when you are most likely to get an infection. Get it down to pitching temp, pitch your yeast and let it ferment. I would avoid letting it sit overnight. Just my 2 cents.

Congrats on the first brew!

Thanks. My fingers are crossed!

RE: letting the wort sit, Running it through my chiller, I was only able to get the temp down to around 80ish degrees. I had read that you want to pitch at fermenting temp so I wasn't really sure what to do. Thoughts?

 

[kh54s10]

As already said you probably had positive pressure keeping any contaminates out.

Whenever possible get to pitching temperatures as quickly as you can and pitch the yeast. But what you did was, IMO, preferable to pitching at 80 degrees. A lot of brewers do no-chill. They let the wort cool on it's own then pitch the yeast the next day.

As to the amount of activity you see at 4 days: That looks like what I would expect. I ferment low - about 64 -66 degrees so my Krausen might remain a little longer, but not by much.

 

[jddevinn]

You're fine during fermentation, if you leave it in there after you need a seal.

 

[Megachimp]

As already said you probably had positive pressure keeping any contaminates out.

Whenever possible get to pitching temperatures as quickly as you can and pitch the yeast. But what you did was, IMO, preferable to pitching at 80 degrees. A lot of brewers do no-chill. They let the wort cool on it's own then pitch the yeast the next day.

As to the amount of activity you see at 4 days: That looks like what I would expect. I ferment low - about 64 -66 degrees so my Krausen might remain a little longer, but not by much.

Awesome. appreciate the input. I can't wait to try my first brew! I'll report back when it's done.

 

[kev211]

Thanks. My fingers are crossed!

RE: letting the wort sit, Running it through my chiller, I was only able to get the temp down to around 80ish degrees. I had read that you want to pitch at fermenting temp so I wasn't really sure what to do. Thoughts?

I usually try to get down to the mid 70s before pitching. Since Im going straight into a fermenting chamber/chest freezer Im not overly concerned about getting it to 68. I know its technically the best way, but it works for me. I have even pitched as high as 82 with no (noticable) issues.

That being said, like kh54 said, you definitely CAN let it sit and do no chill. A lot of brewers do just that. I just dont prefer it due to potential infection. I guess what Im getting at is that (when it comes to my own beer) I would rather pitch a little warm and get fermentation started than let it sit overnight with no yeast. But again, thats my own 2 cents, YMMV.

 

[soccerdad]

I think you just invented open fermentation

 

[Megachimp]

I think you just invented open fermentation

LOL you forgot the TM

 

[FlyDoctor]

Don't worry - many very experienced Brewers simply use tin foil on the top for the first several days...look up Yorkshire squares or the burton Union system... That will calm you down

 

[C-Rider]

Thanks. My fingers are crossed!

RE: letting the wort sit, Running it through my chiller, I was only able to get the temp down to around 80ish degrees. I had read that you want to pitch at fermenting temp so I wasn't really sure what to do. Thoughts?

Here in Hawai`i I pitch when wort is down to like 79*. Never had a problem w/that in last 5 years. And I have 5 2nd place ribbons to prove it. LOL

 

[MaryB]

One of my fermenting buckets doesn't seal well. Rarely see airlock activity but it make beer just fine. RDWHAHB!

 

[Megachimp]

Thanks for calming my nerves everyone! As a complete and total noob, I've been second guessing myself every step of the process. Thank God for this website so I can verify what I'm doing is correct. I can't wait for my first beer to be done!

 

[kev211]

Thanks for calming my nerves everyone! As a complete and total noob, I've been second guessing myself every step of the process. Thank God for this website so I can verify what I'm doing is correct. I can't wait for my first beer to be done!

That tends to be the general m.o. for noobs but its all good. Eventually you get your process down and you learn what is normal and what is not. At the end of the day you've still made beer. It may end up being crappy beer, but its still beer and it could be a learning experience (I dont think that will be the case for you though as your process sounded pretty solid).