Have a home brew and don't worry?

Hi All,

I brewed the NB imperial stout last night. Everything went perfectly until I inserted the bubbler
into the cover of my fermenting bucket. The rubber o-ring ended up getting pushed thru the cover
and landed in the brew. ( note to self: next time install the bubbler BEFORE putting the cover on )

Those o rings things don’t float ! So, my choices were to leave it there or attempt to fish it out somehow. I elected to leave it there. My thinking is that the cover (and the rubber o ring) were cleaned and sanitized so hopefully, it’ll be all right. Of course, this had to happen to a brew that I planned on aging / conditioning for the next 9 - 10 months.

It’s already fermenting this morning. Do I leave it alone ? What do you think the chances are of
this batch becoming infected ?

Leave it… More chance of contamination trying to fish it out and if the rubber was not sanitized it probably wouldn’t matter at this point if taken out anyway…
Your beer will probably be just fine.

It’ll be fine. I would transfer to another carboy/bucket for aging in 1-2 months and find your gasket then, especially if you want to let it sit for close to a year.

I’d leave it. any damage from the o-ring would already be done, but i wouldnt think it will hurt, especially something that is high gravity. i typically insert my airlock after my bucket is in place, but usually just wet the o-ring and airlock a bit with some sanitized water. that will allow you to gently work the airlock in…feels like a “that’s what she said” would be appropriate here.