Plug popped off overnight - are my 5Gs of Kolsch ruined?

[Cello]

Hi guys,

I'm on my second brew ever - my first was a 1G kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop, and I'm on my first 5G, book-recipe brew right now.

I was using my 5G setup for the first time and threw the Kolsch together before bed. When I got up this morning, I saw that the plug had been thrown off the carboy and was lying on the ground next to the tubing/sanitizer bowl.

I taped the plug back on before heading in to work. Question is, was that too long for it to be open to the air for about 6 hours, and may contamination have set in? Is there something I can do to limit that? I'm hoping the tape was enough, but I won't know for sure until I get home.

Sorry if this question has been addressed elsewhere, it's possible I'm not using the right terminology when I search.

Thanks!

 

[lebucheron]

You're fine as long as you sanitized the plug after it came off.

 

[Cello]

Oh phew. I think I managed to rinse it in that bowl first, but in that post-waking-up-pre-work haze it's a little muddled. Thanks for the quick response!

 

[woozy]

All sanitation is a numbers game.

You odds would be better if this had never happened. *BUT*. That it happened means that fermentation is preceding nicely. And that means that the air flow has been mainly in one-direction: co2 expanding out. That means air flow in the other direction, nasty microbe infected air flowing in, has been fairly minimum. Thus the odds and numbers are still very much and very highly in your favor.