Would you pitch it?

[scoundrel]

So I need to brew tonight since I'm leaving on vacation. I pre-make starters in a pressure cooker at 15lbs pressure for 20 minutes. I grabbed one of my jars, shook it and set it aside while opening my yeast. When I opened the jar I didn't get the typical vacuum seal Psst sound. At the time I didn't think much of it. Looked and smelled fine and as of this morning, the yeast are eating it up. Being that it wasn't vacuum sealed, would you pitch the starter? The starter wort was a month old and could have lost it's seal with me shaking it. It wasn't bulging but I do worry about Botulism and don't have time to make another starter.

 

[djsethall]

Meh, What does it smell like?

 

[scoundrel]

Meh, What does it smell like?

Smelled fine to me. Looked fine. Yeast seemed to like it I guess I'm being a bit over concerned since this batch is for a party and I hate to get anyone sick. Getting people sick isn't the best way to promote homebrewing. It's a 7% beer so I'd suspect the alcoholic environment isn't the best environment for Botulism or other baddies.

 

[phenry]

Smelled fine to me. Looked fine. Yeast seemed to like it I guess I'm being a bit over concerned since this batch is for a party and I hate to get anyone sick. Getting people sick isn't the best way to promote homebrewing. It's a 7% beer so I'd suspect the alcoholic environment isn't the best environment for Botulism or other baddies.

Pathogens can't survive in beer. The worst that could possibly happen is a lactic acid bacteria infection or mold, neither of which will smell or taste good at all.

Also, why not just make starter wort immediately prior to pitching yeast? That way you're guaranteed a sanitary environment for your yeast to grow in.

 

[scoundrel]

Also, why not just make starter wort immediately prior to pitching yeast? That way you're guaranteed a sanitary environment for your yeast to grow in.

It's a pain in the a$$. I like making 14 or so jars at a time so I can whip up a starter in a pinch. I'm totally confident all is well when the vacuum seal is good. This the first time I had one that wasn't. Plus if it wasn't midnight and I was thinking, I would have skipped it and made one on the stove real quick.

What makes me think I should be ok it that it was in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes at 240+ degrees and never opened until last night. I suspect that if the toxin was killed, there would be no way for it to reproduce unless I opened the can and re-contaminated it, but I'm no expert on these things.

 

[phenry]

If I were to do it that way (I guess you could say I do too, I've started priming with gyle), freeze the wort and then when you need to use it, thaw it out, put it in your pot, add water to account for boil off, boil it for 10-20 minutes to sterilize, cool, pitch yeast. Using a flask that you can boil in makes things easier too. Just my $.02.

 

[scoundrel]

If I were to do it that way (I guess you could say I do too, I've started priming with gyle), freeze the wort and then when you need to use it, thaw it out, put it in your pot, add water to account for boil off, boil it for 10-20 minutes to sterilize, cool, pitch yeast. Using a flask that you can boil in makes things easier too. Just my $.02.

Wouldn't boiling it be enough assuming the jars were vacuum sealed? Going forward, if the jar isn't sealed, I'm not using it.

Freezing seems unnecessary. I figured I could just open it, pour it in a 4qt pyrex bowl, add a touch of water, boil it in the microwave for 5 minutes, cover it with foil and set it on an ice bath. Then pitch the yeast and throw it on a stir plate.

 

[scoundrel]

Nevermind. I see your point. Don't bother with canning. But thawing would take some time.

 

[phenry]

Nevermind. I see your point. Don't bother with canning. But thawing would take some time.

Yeah, it does, and can sometimes be a pain if I forget to set the wort out early enough. But once it thaws enough to pour the giant ice chunk out, you can just melt it in your pot. I figure freezing, even though it won't kill all the organisms that potentially made it into the wort, will stop any mold or bacteria from munching away on the sugars in the fridge, however slowly. And then boiling prior to pitching kills them.

I dunno, this is just how I go about things and they seem to work for me so far. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?