Beer Forum

I brewed a base beer for a sour (pitched Lambic blend and 1056) 5 weeks ago and the stopper/airlock of my better bottle primary fermenter got knocked off yesterday. I believe it was off for around 5 hours before I saw it lying on the floor. I sanitized the stopper and put it back on. Unfortunately the fermenter is under an air vent.

Is the beer likely to be infected or at this point is there enough alcohol (6%) to prohibit any infection? Also worried about too much acetobacter.

I was going to rack this and the other fermenter into an 8G barrel but am now unsure about this. I don't want to risk ruining my barrel with an infected beer.

Thoughts?

If it were me, I would probably keep it separate in its fermenter for another 3-4 wks (no risk of autolysis as the brett will clean that up if any occurs) and see if anything happens. Take a taste after that time and then make your judgement call. Was the vent blowing air over the open fermenter while the airlock was off?

Most likely you are okay, but best to play it safe before racking it into a barrel.

The vent probably came on a couple times - but not sure.

I definitely agree to let it sit for a month and check it.

colemgm8 wrote:The vent probably came on a couple times - but not sure.

I definitely agree to let it sit for a month and check it.

Keep your eyes on the surface of the beer/air interface for signs of mold. If none starts growing then the only issue you may have is a wild yeast infection or acetobacter issues.