Brewing Master

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Every time I brew I do something stupid.  My last screw up was to drop my thermometer (a non floating kind) into my kettle.  Temp was 140.  I had no choice but to go get it with my hand.  Although it was HOT and was pre-boil, I’ve never lost a batch to contamination.  I try to keep everything very clean, I try to sanitize well but if you follow general guidelines like that you will be okay.  Don’t sweat it!

Response:

You might go over your "cidery" causes.  Sugar as a cause of this condition is a common misperception.  Cidery flavors are caused by stale extract.  I have used out of date extract and dry extract brews and found cidery flavors and I have made beers with fresh extract that are 50% sugar that have no cidery flavors.  I can’t recall ever tasting a cidery all grain beer that had sugar in it.  My theory is that dry malt extract does a far better job of covering up the cidery flavor of stale extract when compared to sugar, hence the association of sugar and cidery flavors.  The one problem with using dry malt extract instead of sugar is that it leaves rather high final gravities and sweet brews.  Frankly I would not recommend using any extract that has less than one year to go before its "best before" date.

You know, I was going to post the exact same response.  It appears his writeup is a mixture of the BJCP study guide and a blatant plagarism of much of How To Brew… This is one of the few areas I disagree with How To Brew on… Home Brewing by Graham Wheeler is the text which I agree with… Cheers, Mike

Response:

I really like Wheeler. — Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at www.listermann.com Free shipping for orders greater than $35 and East of the Mighty Miss.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You might go over your "cidery" causes.  Sugar as a cause of this condition is a common misperception.  Cidery flavors are caused by stale extract. I have used out of date extract and dry extract brews and found cidery flavors and I have made beers with fresh extract that are 50% sugar that have no cidery flavors.  I can’t recall ever tasting a cidery all grain beer that had sugar in it.  My theory is that dry malt extract does a far better job of covering up the cidery flavor of stale extract when compared to sugar, hence the association of sugar and cidery flavors.  The one problem with using dry malt extract instead of sugar is that it leaves rather high final gravities and sweet brews.  Frankly I would not recommend using any extract that has less than one year to go before its "best before" date. You know, I was going to post the exact same response.  It appears his writeup is a mixture of the BJCP study guide and a blatant plagarism of much of How To Brew… This is one of the few areas I disagree with How To Brew on… Home Brewing by Graham Wheeler is the text which I agree with… Cheers, Mike

Response:

The way that I understand it, you can get away with a lot on your first batch, because the nasties don’t know that you are brewing beer, and have no reason to hang around in your kitchen/garage.  Practice good sanitation, clean up after yourself, and you’ll always have less of a risk.  I used to leave the kettle overnight, and clean up the next day, but I found that’s an open invitation for bacteria.  I had an infected batch shortly after I did that.  Now, I have to be extra careful, because the nasties know that I make beer…

That’s why the whole time I was making it, I was sort of yelling, "Nothing in here but me and this, um, chicken I’m boiling…" Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement.  We shall see in about a week, I guess. Tracey

Response:

I agree with the other reply posting.  There is a chance it’s contaminated, but don’t sweat it.  Continue with the fermentation as if everything was normal.  When you transfer to a secondary, or bottling bucket, taste the hydrometer sample.  You’ll know if it’s contaminated.  It should taste like pretty good, but flat, beer. I’ve "screwed up" several batches of beer, but they all tasted great….Not everything is as serious as it may seem.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Response:

Tracey, Take the time to read my COMMON OFF-FLAVORS IN BEER article http://www.BrewMaxer.com/articles/Common_Off_Flavors_In_Beer.html I think that this will help answer some of your question on this subject. — Cheers! Matthew Dee Nerbonne President – Brewmaster – Vintner The BrewMaxer Company 843 West San Marcos Boulevard San Marcos, California 92069-4112 (800) 296-9991  Toll Free (760) 591-9991  Telephone (760) 591-9068  Fax http://www.BrewMaxer.com Store Hours:   Mon-Fri  11am to 7pm   Saturday 12pm to 6pm   Sunday     Closed – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Response:

Honey does not need to be boiled.  Be careful what you say, you’ll start WWIII. I use campden tablets in my meads 24 hours before pitching the yeast. Haven’t had an infection in 8 batches yet. JoeMan – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? People preach about sanitation all the time, but for smooth little glass things like thermometers, I’ve never worried much about sanitizing if it’s obviously clean.  I try to keep my thermometer and hydrometer clean enough that all I do is give them a good rinse with warm water before dunking them in my wort, without sanitizing them every time.  I haven’t had any problems so far, and I’ve done about 15 batches done this way.  So, if your thermometer was essentially clean as you say, you are probably O.K.  There is the chance of contamination, but it is slight. I’ve only had one contaminated brew in my history, and that was a mead that I did not boil.  I figure the wild yeast present in the honey must have taken control.  It ended up extremely high in alcohol and had a pukey smell with very ugly yeast colonies swirling around.  Needless to say I had to dump it out.  But that was my only experience with contamination, and it was because I didn’t boil it.  I learned my lesson… Honey needs to be boiled! As does any good brew. If you end up with a contaminated brew, you’ll definitely know it.  It will stink and have yucky yeast colonies that do not look like regular brewers yeast.  A contaminated brew will not harm you, but if you taste it, it will taste like puke or mold.  Very disgusting. — Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I’ll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD." — Genesis, 1973ish

Response:

My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky?

People preach about sanitation all the time, but for smooth little glass things like thermometers, I’ve never worried much about sanitizing if it’s obviously clean.  I try to keep my thermometer and hydrometer clean enough that all I do is give them a good rinse with warm water before dunking them in my wort, without sanitizing them every time.  I haven’t had any problems so far, and I’ve done about 15 batches done this way.  So, if your thermometer was essentially clean as you say, you are probably O.K.  There is the chance of contamination, but it is slight. I’ve only had one contaminated brew in my history, and that was a mead that I did not boil.  I figure the wild yeast present in the honey must have taken control.  It ended up extremely high in alcohol and had a pukey smell with very ugly yeast colonies swirling around.  Needless to say I had to dump it out.  But that was my only experience with contamination, and it was because I didn’t boil it.  I learned my lesson… Honey needs to be boiled! As does any good brew. If you end up with a contaminated brew, you’ll definitely know it.  It will stink and have yucky yeast colonies that do not look like regular brewers yeast.  A contaminated brew will not harm you, but if you taste it, it will taste like puke or mold.  Very disgusting. — Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I’ll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD." — Genesis, 1973ish

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I agree with the other reply posting.  There is a chance it’s contaminated, but don’t sweat it.  Continue with the fermentation as if everything was normal.  When you transfer to a secondary, or bottling bucket, taste the hydrometer sample.  You’ll know if it’s contaminated.  It should taste like pretty good, but flat, beer. I’ve "screwed up" several batches of beer, but they all tasted great….Not everything is as serious as it may seem. My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Hi Whilst I agree that, in "theory", cleanliness is important and every effort should be made to keep everything sanitized, I think that you would be very unlucky to have contaminated your beer and the reality can be summed up in the following true example. A few months ago, I added my latest 5 gallon batch to the fermentation bin, not spotting that the tap on the bin had worked loose and was leaking from the O-seal.  In a fit of panic I plunged my (unwashed) arm up to the elbow into the wort, grabbed the nut on the back of the tap and tightened it. I would add that I strongly suspect that a couple of hundred years ago, the master brewers weren’t too concerned about cleanliness.  I would also add that a visit round a small brewery would probably open your eyes just a little.  My local brewery – renowned for the quality of its beers – used to brew in open vats, with birds nesting directly overhead.  The mind boggles what the birds used to drop into the brew, but it always tasted fine.  In any case, hops apparently have a disinfecting quality in them. Regards KGB

Response:

You might go over your "cidery" causes.  Sugar as a cause of this condition is a common misperception.  Cidery flavors are caused by stale extract.  I have used out of date extract and dry extract brews and found cidery flavors and I have made beers with fresh extract that are 50% sugar that have no cidery flavors.  I can’t recall ever tasting a cidery all grain beer that had sugar in it.  My theory is that dry malt extract does a far better job of covering up the cidery flavor of stale extract when compared to sugar, hence the association of sugar and cidery flavors.  The one problem with using dry malt extract instead of sugar is that it leaves rather high final gravities and sweet brews.  Frankly I would not recommend using any extract that has less than one year to go before its "best before" date. — Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at www.listermann.com Free shipping for orders greater than $35 and East of the Mighty Miss.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Tracey, Take the time to read my COMMON OFF-FLAVORS IN BEER article http://www.BrewMaxer.com/articles/Common_Off_Flavors_In_Beer.html I think that this will help answer some of your question on this subject. — Cheers! Matthew Dee Nerbonne President – Brewmaster – Vintner The BrewMaxer Company 843 West San Marcos Boulevard San Marcos, California 92069-4112 (800) 296-9991  Toll Free (760) 591-9991  Telephone (760) 591-9068  Fax http://www.BrewMaxer.com Store Hours:   Mon-Fri  11am to 7pm   Saturday 12pm to 6pm   Sunday     Closed My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Response:

My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done.

You’re probably fine, but make sure to sanitize it next time. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky?

Fermented beer is never dangerous.  There is absolutely nothing that can survive in the alcohol and pH of beer which can harm you.  The worst it can ever do is taste bad. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***                          *** Valley Mead Brewery ***

Response:

My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky?

The real problem with contamination is that it will create off flavors in your beer. You might see these as a minor defect, although in more extreme cases they can make the beer undrinkable. Nothing which grows in your beer is going to cause anything more than minor discomfort. In some cases (for instance, certain Belgian styles such as lambics or oud bruins), an infection is desirable and enouraged.

Response:

My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

Response:

I’m going to respond like most others here would… don’t worry, have a homebrew.  :) There’s little in beer that can hurt you.  At least that’s my understanding. It might taste or smell bad but that’s all I would worry about.  Plus, there’s a good chance that nothing will happen anyway.  Just sit it out and see what happens when the fermentation is done. Cheers, Scott

Response:

The way that I understand it, you can get away with a lot on your first batch, because the nasties don’t know that you are brewing beer, and have no reason to hang around in your kitchen/garage.  Practice good sanitation, clean up after yourself, and you’ll always have less of a risk.  I used to leave the kettle overnight, and clean up the next day, but I found that’s an open invitation for bacteria.  I had an infected batch shortly after I did that.  Now, I have to be extra careful, because the nasties know that I make beer… You’re probably fine. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My first-ever batch has just been put away for fermenting.  However, I did one stupid thing there at the end – I dipped a clean but unsanitized thermometer in the diluted wort (apologies if I have some terminology wrong).  It was in only for a couple of seconds before I realized what I’d done. So I’m wondering if I’ve ruined the batch.  Is contamination inevitable after what I did?  Is contaminated beer dangerous, besides being just yucky? Thanks. Tracey

– Todd Enlund http://www.photografik.net/lonelyneuron/      "Bandits at 3 O’Clock"      "Roger.  What should I do ’till then?"

Response: