Experiment gone wrong, advice welcome!!!

Hey fellow brewers, need some sounding boards here. My brother in law and I took a swing at some Apricot Ale. We decided to make a big boil (10 gallons) and split it up into two carboys.

Overall Wort- Leftover pulp from Apricot mastication in a grain sock
Carboy 1- We added 3.5 pounds of masticated apricot, added wort in a 6 gallon carboy, pitched and airlocked.
Carboy 2- No fruit, added wort, plan on adding the other 3.5 pounds next week after fermentation has slowed.

So, this morning, Carboy 1 popped its airlock and was furiously foaming. My thought is that there were a lot more fermentables from the apricot than I though despite a relatively middle of the road OG (1.050). Has anyone else had this happen to them before? My logic was to try it both ways and see which tasted better.

I caught it less than 2 hours after it popped off, cleaned the heck out of the neck with sanitizer, racked a gallon off into my modified auxiliary carboy (large growler sanitized) and all is as well as can be. Just hoping no nasties penetrated my batch and am very welcome to advice on fruit beers moving forward.

Thoughts?

Masticated? As in you chewed the apricots and then spat them out?

If you did that, I wouldn't be surprised if you've got infected beer.

haha, no, with this wise ass

http://thejuiceplanet.com/choosing-a-juicer-masticator.html

I was not aware that such a contraption exists. Ha ha.

Did you do anything to the outside of the apricots to sanitize them? Or did you perhaps boil them before adding to the fermenter? I don't know that I would rule out an infection just yet.

But I'm not an expert on brewing. I know a bit, but I know that there are also much more knowledgeable members here who probably know exactly what's up.

Yes, I pasteurized them before adding. Added some water and got the juice to a nice rolling boil.

Sometimes adding fruit to secondary can kick start a vigorous refermentation. I wouldn't worry! If the yeast are going that crazy, risk of a secondary infection is very low.

Thanks guys

PistolsAtDawn said:

Masticated? As in you chewed the apricots and then spat them out?

If you did that, I wouldn't be surprised if you've got infected beer.

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I never masturbated with an apricot,but one time I did penetrate a half eaten,BBQ flavored,rotisserie chicken.

PistolsAtDawn said:

Masticated? As in you chewed the apricots and then spat them out?

If you did that, I wouldn't be surprised if you've got infected beer.

Click to expand...

Ever heard of chicha? Somehow that works...

The fermentation probably just took off from the extra sugars in the apricots.

Rideandbrew said:

I never masturbated with an apricot,but one time I did penetrate a half eaten,BBQ flavored,rotisserie chicken.

Click to expand...

How was it for you? Ha ha. I did not need to know this. :cross:

drainbamage said:

Ever heard of chicha? Somehow that works...

The fermentation probably just took off from the extra sugars in the apricots.

Click to expand...

I have. I think Dogfish Head may have made one (not available for sale, just for fun). Sam talks about something like that in his Brewing Up A Business book.

PistolsAtDawn said:

I have. I think Dogfish Head may have made one (not available for sale, just for fun). Sam talks about something like that in his Brewing Up A Business book.

Click to expand...

Yeah, if you caught Brewmasters while it was on the air, they did an episode on it. They had the entire office (from the brewers to the receptionists) sitting around chewing corn kernels. It looked pretty miserable.