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airlock knocked off, twice
First brew, still sweatin' it. Didn't siphon chilled wort but poured it ALL into 1st fermenter, then cooled down wort to only about 95 before adding yeast. Next, as i was stirring I dropped my spoon in and without thinking reached in and grabbed it. Now, noticed both before and after moving from 1st to 2nd fermenter that the airlock was knocked off of the fermenter(s), (probably by the kids). Overnight both times. This is my major concern. How much damage have I sustained? 11 days in and anxious to bottle.
Did the yeast survive!?! Pitching yeast at 95 is very hard on the little guys, and for the most part will just kill them off. Yeast should only be pitched at around 70 degrees or so. If the yeast did make it past the scalding then they will make it past the airlock being knocked of a couple of times. The CO2 that is produced during fermentation will push any air, and nasties that the air contains, up out and away from the beer/ wort.
ID
There's only one way to tell... take a sample! Taste it, smell it, see if it seems OK. I realize you don't have much of a benchmark to compare against, but if it seems fine, it probably is.
Oh and send the rugrats to bed without dinner! 
You gotta keep better control over those things. Mine are in the basement in a fridge far away from those that would inadvertently damage them (7, 5, and 3 y.o.)
RussRex wrote:
First brew, still sweatin' it. Didn't siphon chilled wort but poured it ALL into 1st fermenter, then cooled down wort to only about 95 before adding yeast.
Pitch your yeast as close to fermentation temps as possible. Pitching that high could kill of the yeast (yeast usually die off at 105F) and will result in really high fermentation temps. This will lead to off flavors and fusel alcohols that taste like paint thinner and will give you incredibly bad headaches.
RussRex wrote:
Next, as i was stirring I dropped my spoon in and without thinking reached in and grabbed it.
Eh, worse has happened and beer has turned out fine. Guess you'll have to wait and see.
RussRex wrote:
Now, noticed both before and after moving from 1st to 2nd fermenter that the airlock was knocked off of the fermenter(s), (probably by the kids). Overnight both times. This is my major concern. How much damage have I sustained?
If the beer was fermenting while the airlock was removed then hopefully the expulsion of CO2 prevented any wild yeast or bacteria from entering the bucket/carboy. Even if some did, hopefully it was overrun by the yeast and your beer will not suffer any consequences.
RussRex wrote:
11 days in and anxious to bottle.
Give this 2-3 weeks before bottling. Some kits give ridiculous instructions on brewing and fermentation. Don't be in a rush; the yeast work at their own pace. If you were to bottle too soon you may end up with bottle bombs if fermentation isn't complete. Also, yeast need time to clean up any by products created during fermentation (ex: diacetyl and acetaldehyde). Additionally, the longer you let the beer sit, the less sediment you will end up with in your bottles.
where was your hand prior to washing it in the wort. LOL. Worst case it's a good lesson on sanitaiton and organization.
if it goes bad you will know. most likely the hand dip contaminated iti f anything did. that's IF anything did. the airlocks getting knocked off aren't a big deal as long as you resanitized them before putting them back on.
Send the kids to military school. then you can brew all you want. that's why I have dogs instead of kids. Can't shoot the kids of they piss you off. LOL. Just kidding.
let us know how it comes out.
DC
Try one of these for your airlock. They are quite a bit harder to knock off. Just put your airlock in the center hole.
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/5_GALLON … P_P169.cfm
Thanks for all the reassuring comments. Probably gonna bottle this weekend since it looks as if things are still on track. Obviously next round will do better...
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