Did I kill my wort??

[sawwas72]

Ok, so I brewed a partial-mash Irish Stout. The boil took way too long and I ended up with 4 gallons instead of 5. Added my yeast that had been started 3 days prior. The morning after, it's churning like crazy and I'm a happy man other than the 1 gallon shortage. So yesterday evening I boil a gallon of water, cover it tightly with foil and cover with a lid to protect it from contamination. This morning, it's at room temperature, my primary is still churning, so I add the water to my primary. I get home this evening at 6 and it's still got movement but nothing like this morning. Did I kill it? It's only the second full day in the primary. Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[JLem]

You didn't kill it - it just slowed down. The yeast are fine and they will make you beer.

I'm curious though why the boil "took way too long" and left you with only 4 gallons. Did you need to boil off more water to hit your target OG? If so, adding the gallon of water back in just changed that.

 

[sawwas72]

No, I was doing it with a friend's equipment and it took forever to get to a full boil. I started off with six gallons because I usually loose a gallon in the boil. I know that doesn't make sense, since it took so long to boil but I guess I was still losing due to evaporation.

 

[sawwas72]

Oh and thank you very much for the reply. You have put my mind very much at ease.

 

[JLem]

No, I was doing it with a friend's equipment and it took forever to get to a full boil. I started off with six gallons because I usually loose a gallon in the boil. I know that doesn't make sense, since it took so long to boil but I guess I was still losing due to evaporation.

It makes sense...you will still get evaporation even if you are not at a full boil.

It sounds like adding the water back may put you back on track with your original recipe. Did you measure the OG of your 4 gallons? Since you boiled off more than originally intended, I assume the OG was higher than expected (by about 20%). Adding the gallon of fresh water will dilute your beer back down to where it would have been if you had started with 5 gallons.

 

[sawwas72]

I did not take an OG reading before the water. Man, I really wish I would Have now! Afterwards though, I was at 1.045.

 

[gypsyhead]

You didn't kill anything bud, you just may have diluted a bit, which is actually a good thing sometimes. Depending on the strain, once the alcohol %, pH, or residual sugars reach a certain point, the yeast starts slowing down. If you thinned out the brew after some fermentation occurred, you may actually increase the viability of the yeast... though more appropriately, you may have introduced too much oxygen or possibly contaminated the wort when you added the additional water, which could (only very possibly) screw things up down the line, though it sounds like you took fairly appropriate precautions.

On another note, if your OG is high enough, it may require an extra O2 addition 12 hours after inoculation to promote proper yeast growth, so you may be in great shape.

Overall, rdwhahb

 

[sawwas72]

Thanks "gypsyhead". I'm hoping for the best and at the very least I've learned a lot.
BUT, I have a more daunting update... My wife tells me today, that the morning after brew-day, she came downstairs to find that the bung had blown out of my carboy, so she just stuck it back in. AHHHHH! It had been without a stopper all night. Just open to the air and then replaced without sanitation. She says "well I put it back for you". God love her.
So anyway, if this batch turns out to bee drinkable at all I'll be happy. Wish me luck!

 

[sawwas72]

By the way, my yeast was:

WYEAST YEAST STRAIN: 1099 | Whitbread Ale

 

[TTB-J]

Thanks "gypsyhead". I'm hoping for the best and at the very least I've learned a lot.
BUT, I have a more daunting update... My wife tells me today, that the morning after brew-day, she came downstairs to find that the bung had blown out of my carboy, so she just stuck it back in. AHHHHH! It had been without a stopper all night. Just open to the air and then replaced without sanitation. She says "well I put it back for you". God love her.
So anyway, if this batch turns out to bee drinkable at all I'll be happy. Wish me luck!

I'm confused, do you not have an air lock on your carboy? Either way, the exact same force that pushed the stopper out of the opening likely kept any air from being able to come into the carboy - it's fine.

 

[sawwas72]

No, I put a blow-off tube on instead of an airlock. That particular bung has a more slick surface than the one I replaced it with. I usually go straight from the sanitizer to the carboy and I guess the wet bung in the glass carboy just didn't have enough grip and blew it out.

 

[JLem]

Thanks "gypsyhead". I'm hoping for the best and at the very least I've learned a lot.
BUT, I have a more daunting update... My wife tells me today, that the morning after brew-day, she came downstairs to find that the bung had blown out of my carboy, so she just stuck it back in. AHHHHH! It had been without a stopper all night. Just open to the air and then replaced without sanitation. She says "well I put it back for you". God love her.
So anyway, if this batch turns out to bee drinkable at all I'll be happy. Wish me luck!

I'm sure everything is fine. Nothin was going to get in while fermentation was active and there is only a minor chance of contamination from stopper. And even then I would be surprised if anything would take hold. RDWHAHB.

 

[sawwas72]

I'm sure everything is fine. Nothin was going to get in while fermentation was active and there is only a minor chance of contamination from stopper. And even then I would be surprised if anything would take hold. RDWHAHB.

Thanks JLem,
Hopefully it will all be ok. I'll let you know in a month.

 

[homebrewdad]

You're perfectly fine. It blew out because of the pressure of the CO2 spewing out - the odds of anything getting in are quite low.

I'm going to place a wager now that you end up with... BEER!

 

[geeyoupee]

Thanks JLem,
Hopefully it will all be ok. I'll let you know in a month.

I think you will be fine because there's a crap load of yeast in there. If any bacteria got in there, it will have a hard time with all the competition.

 

[sawwas72]

Irish Stout turned out awesome! F.G. right @ 5 and very clean taste. No off flavors at all! Thanks for everyone's input. I'm sure I'll call on you again. Cheers!