Forgot the airlock during the 2nd fermentation

[Brynachndlr]

I am new to wine making but not necessarily brewing. In the past I have made cordials, liquors, beers, and meads. It is actually my cordials & liquors which got me into wine making, as quite a few use wine or mead as a base.

Therefore I figured I would try my hand at wine making. I purchased a William’s California Wine Kit in Merlot. Everything went well during the first stage, and then I have to fly out to Vegas for a medical conference. Luckily I flew home the night before I needed to transer it to the secondary carboy. I don't know know if it was the jet lag, the busy schedule, or just a huge rookie mistake but I forgot to put the airlock back onto the fermenting juice. That was Sunday.

Come Tuesday evening, while racking my pomegrate pepper liquor, I noticed the airlock OFF of the carboy. I quickly cleaned it, sanitized it, pull water on it, and placed it on the carboy....

My question is- how badly did I ruin my first batch of wine by not having the airlock on it during the 2nd fermentation? Is there any way to check to make sure it is still ok? Worse case senerio do I at least get some vinegar that I can bottle and flavor? Or is the entire thing ruined at this point?

Thanks for any recomendations or suggestions
-Bryna

 

[Rocky]

Bryna, what was the SG when you transferred the batch from primary to secondary, i.e. from the fermenter to the carboy? How full was the carboy? Hopefully it was up to the neck of the carboy and not just to the shoulders. You could be okay if the SG was around 1.030 to 1.040 when you transferred and there was still a healthy fermentation occurring. Also, if you minimized the exposure to air by filling the carboy, that would help. Have you tasted the wine?

 

[JasonH]

Like the above post stated, if it was still fermenting vigorously the wine may not have been harmed at all. Even if it wasn't, I'm sure the batch will be fine (especially if it was properly sulfited and topped up). Winemaking is pretty forgiving.

 

[robie]

Your wine will be fine. During secondary, less CO2 is being created, but still enough to protect your wine for a few days without the air lock. You don't typically top off a carboy during secondary because of the CO2. However, without the air lock installed and filled and the carboy having a lot of head space, it would tend to have a little more access to oxygen. Still, not that much over that short of a period, so don't worry about it.

By the way, you should not use plain water in the air lock. Use your Kmeta sanitizing solution or something like Vodka. That way anything that tries to swim in your air lock will not be very healthy.

 

[grapeman]

Ditto what robie said. You will be fine.

 

[alisonvanhoy]

I had a three piece airlock and forgot the middle piece inside (that lets out the co2). I put water in it, but didn't put that piece in during the FIRST fermentation. Is my wine ruined?

 

[jamesngalveston]

nope your fine...the water will still let the co2 out, but not let the air in.

 

[WI_Wino]

I had a three piece airlock and forgot the middle piece inside (that lets out the co2). I put water in it, but didn't put that piece in during the FIRST fermentation. Is my wine ruined?

Probably not ruined but you should get the middle piece in asap if you haven't. The water isn't/wasn't doing anything. The small cap has holes in it so while it is better than no cap it still wasn't airtight.