First batch botch up?

[JillyK]

I am making the mead that is recommended for beginners with the bread yeast and oranges. All was going well until I put the stopper in and then the airlock which made the stopper fall into the mead. In getting the stopper out I shook the mead a lot. Any recommendations on if it will be ok or should I scrap it and start over? I'm leaning towards letting it be and seeing what happens.
Also, lesson learned, put the air lock in the stopper and then into the bottle.

 

[THawk]

I am making the mead that is recommended for beginners with the bread yeast and oranges. All was going well until I put the stopper in and then the airlock which made the stopper fall into the mead. In getting the stopper out I shook the mead a lot. Any recommendations on if it will be ok or should I scrap it and start over? I'm leaning towards letting it be and seeing what happens.
Also, lesson learned, put the air lock in the stopper and then into the bottle.

You should be fine. There have been cases of peoples' pets sticking their heads into a must and it turning out ok.

Welcome to GotMead!!

 

[JillyK]

Thanks THawk! I actually ended up using a cat toy to get the stopper out!

 

[fatbloke]

As already mentioned, you should be fine.......

Don't forget its often easier to put the airlock into the stopper first then stopper the fermenter. Yet you can also put a few pin holes in a childrens balloon and the stretch that onto a carboy type fermenter as a makeshift airlock too.......

 

[tophat]

I got a bung stuck into my carboy on my first batch this past Friday. Luckily I had a spare, I just funneled the must into the spare and worried all night on how to get the bung out. Mine was not a drilled bung either, I wanted to use it so I can do a no-boil method and shake the carboy like crazy when making the must. I was stumped, but seriously I'm amazed at how easy this worked.....check out the video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiMpIoCamM

If you can't view the video...in short, get a plastic grocery bag. Insert the bottom of the bag into the carboy and inflate the bag like a balloon just a little bit. It may take a second to get it blown up a little due to the carboy's internal pressure, but once you get a nice little pouch of air, tip the carboy upside down so the bung falls into/around the bag of air you made, and gently pull the bag out. I was seriously amazed at how simple this was.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I haven't tried that trick with a carboy yet (drilled bung + coathanger worked fine when I learned to put the airlock in the stopper first) but the first time I used it to get a cork out of a bottle it worked like a charm. The second time... well, it's still sitting in the basment with the cork still in, for some reason (probably the shape of the bottle's neck) the bag just can't grab the cork.

 

[THawk]

As already mentioned, you should be fine.......

Don't forget its often easier to put the airlock into the stopper first then stopper the fermenter. Yet you can also put a few pin holes in a childrens balloon and the stretch that onto a carboy type fermenter as a makeshift airlock too.......

Or as Chevette Girl is fond of doing -- using regular plastic cling wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap) and securing it to the bottle via a rubber band...

 

[JillyK]

Thanks for all the tips! It is also nice to know that I'm not the only person to do this. The mead seems to be fine and bubbling nicely.
Thanks again!