Beer disaster

I once handed out some home brewing advice about whether you had to use an airlock when fermenting using a fermenting bin. I said you dont need to, just leave the lid on loose and that will be fine.

Well this morning I saw the error of my ways. 10 litres of Belgian trappist ale fermenting nicely , in my cloakroom/cupboard which houses the boiler control system so its a constant 21C or so in there. Perfect for fermenting. I opened the door to bring it out for racking and what do I see crawling around on the lid?

ANTS!!! fucks sake! And yes there were little ant bodies floating around the beer with a smile on their face. Grrrrrr! I considered filtering them out,but common sense took hold and I had to chuck the lot. what a waste.

SO , always always use a sealed lid with an airlock!!

which is what I have just done with my 2nd all grain brew. bit of a experiment this. pale,amber and chocolate malt this time. bit overpoweringly chocolate malt smelling and tasting and I didnt even put much of it in (100g). this will either be horrible or be quite stout like.