I forgot to put water in the airlock! What do I do now?

Question

I forgot to put water in the airlock! What do I do now?

Diego Biscaia

2019年5月24日 08:49

I did my first brew (all grain), some things were complicated to achieve and finished at 4 o'clock in the morning because I decided to start at 10 pm (big mistake).

At the end of it all, after I sanitize equipment and put the wort in the fermenter bucket, I sealed and placed the arilock.

Only to realize that I did not put water in the airlock after only seven days of fermentation!

What can I do now? A second fermentation? Set everything out and redo my beer?

The airlock ("S" type) that I use is this: http://ebrew.com/Products_A/airlock_s-type.jpg

Topic first-time-brewer airlock all-grain homebrew

Category Mac

FishesCycle · Accepted Answer · 2014年10月4日 16:01

Your beer is almost certainly fine, and you don't need to do anything except fill the airlock with water, and attach it to the fermenter. The release of CO2 in the fermenting beer creates positive pressure within the fermenter, which will help keep out oxygen and spoilage organisms. After fermentation is complete, it's possible for gas and bugs to enter through the airlock, but they'd have to get around the s-curve, so it's unlikely that there was any significant contamination.

A lot of traditional breweries ferment in open containers, and still manage to make excellent beer. Google "open fermentation" and take a look a the images.

mc0e · Accepted Answer · 2014年10月4日 15:27

@derek.cormier and @bughunter are generally correct. You have a very good chance of everything being fine. Besides oxidation though, you also should consider possible infection of the brew by unwanted wild yeast or bacteria. A lot depends on how fast your ferment got started, and the presence of fruit flies and the like which spread wild yeast from rotting fruit in the area.

If your ferment got off to a good start, then the intended yeast will have bred up quickly, so as well as helping avoid oxidation, you'll be less vulnerable to wild yeast and bacteria infecting your brew.

It's probably a good idea to drop a crushed campden tablet into your brew. Commercial yeast is bred to survive the sulphur dioxide that this releases into your brew, while it will kill most wild yeast and bacteria. The SO₂ bubbles off so will have little effect on the final brew, although there are a few people out there who react badly to it even in very small quantities (they know who they are, and have problems with almost all commercially produced wine).

bughunter · Accepted Answer · 2014年10月4日 04:09

RDWHAHB. Your beer is probably fine. Gases generally flow out during primary fermentation, not draw in. If you want to leave the beer in primary for a while, put some water in the airlock. If you want to rack to secondary, rack. Now actually might be a good time to take a hydrometer sample. Taste the sample to convince yourself that your beer is OK.

derek.cormier · Accepted Answer · 2014年10月3日 20:55

Seal the beer off from oxygen as soon as possible. If you decide to use the airlock, use sanitized water only.

If you have access to CO₂, put a layer of the gas over your beer as soon as possible (then close it off). If you've achieved your desired final gravity and you don't need to let it sit in the fermenter any longer, you could also bottle it or keg it right away.

If you're lucky, you shouldn't need to do anything. Because CO₂ is heavier than oxygen, and CO₂ is a byproduct of fermentation, during fermentation, and for some time after fermentation, there will be a layer of CO₂ protecting your beer from oxygen, as long as you don't mess with it too much.

To decide whether your ruined your beer or not, John Palmer's site may be helpful (http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21.html)

I forgot to put water in the airlock! What do I do now?

About