My airlock came off my mead...how much to worry?

[Q2XL]

I made an orange blossom mead on March 28th, 2010. It has been in the secondary for 2 months now and has cleared nicely.

I went to check on it today and the airlock was off. Now, I check it often to make sure the airlock isn't drying out. The last time that I checked it was maybe 2 days ago...3 at the most and the airlock was on it. I have no idea how it came out but it did.

I want to know how concerned should I be that it was exposed to oxygen for 2-3 days? I did notice a tiny bit off "stuff" floating on top. I used my sanitized eye dropper and got it off the mead. I am planning on transfering it to another carboy tomorrow.

The starting gravity was 1.136 and FG was 1.006-17%ABV.

Any thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

Taste it. At 17% ABV, it is probably fine if not oxidized. So, slap the airlock back on and call it good.

 

[Q2XL]

Taste it. At 17% ABV, it is probably fine if not oxidized. So, slap the airlock back on and call it good.

I did taste it and it tasted fine, but it has only been 2-3 days. I am concerned that there might be some long term effects. I also know that there is really nothing that can be done at this point.

 

[MedsenFey]

Traditional meads are pretty resistant to oxidation (relatively speaking). Still, if you haven't treated with metabisulfite, it might be prudent to treat it now (1 Campden tablet per gallon) just for added protection.

Medsen