AARGG! How badly did I hurt myself?

[PolyurethaneCow]

So yesterday I was brewing a batch (5 gal). Put the pot in the kitchen sink to cool and put in my wort chiller to do it's thing. Got it down to about 100 degrees pretty quickly , but it slowed down. So i decided to put some ice in the sink around the outside of the pot to help out the wort chiller and get it below 80 more quickly. pretty dumb idea.

So anyway, I'm placing ice in the sink by handfuls from my freezer ice maker bin, and of course I screwed up somehow, and one lone ice cube bounced off the center divider and right into the open pot. Apparently, I believe in the 5 second rule, because instead of grabbing my sanitized spoon to get it out, I reacted and instantly stuck my fingers in the wort and quickly fished the ice cube out. Then I realized what I had just done.

What are the chances that I DIDN'T totally infect my batch? Somebody please make me feel better!!!

 

[mb82]

Relax I have done way worse( like whole arm into fresh wort) and have not gotten an infection.

 

[CBMbrewer]

It is entirely possible that it is infected. But I would be very surprised. By pitching yeast you are adding millions of viable cells to the wort as opposed to the couple of hundred that may have gotten in from your hand and the ice. Roll with it and relax, not much you can do now. Next time, put the lid on the pot right after the boil. If you are doing extract and adding top of water, you can boil water and freeze it before hand in sanitized containers and add that directly to the wort to help cool it down faster.

 

[Zubius]

Why didn't you just re-boil for a couple minutes??

 

[pablosbrewing]

Put the pot in the kitchen sink to cool and put in my wort chiller to do it's thing

Your chiller shoud really go in the last 15 minutes of the boil to sanitize.

If something did get in, keeping the beer cold after carbonation may help:

I found out I had a problem back in the 90's by accident - Beer was fine until I had to store a few cases at above 70F for 2 months and all turned into gushers. After talking with some guys on the old Homebrew Digest we figured out that filling my sanitized racking cane and siphon hose with tap water was a likely source - I stopped doing that and the problem never came back.​

In any event, RDWHAHB

 

[Homercidal]

You will probably be fine.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

Why didn't you just re-boil for a couple minutes??

That would just be a waste IMO. If he already had it down to around 80... Then get it back to 212 and then back down again..

Like someone said above, I've done much worse than that and never had an infection. It's just a live and learn situation. It's always a good idea to have a pair of gloves near by that can easily be cleaned and sanitized if something happens. If it were me and a nice cube fell in, I would have left it alone and let it help cool the wort with all it had.

RDWHAHB!


- ISM NRP

 

[PolyurethaneCow]

I couldn't put the lid on the pot, because of the wort chiller sticking out of it.

Thanks for the input everybody - I'll just see how it turns out. BTW.... "RDWHAHB!" whats that mean?

Thanks!

 

[causeimthesquid]

I use aluminum foil instead of a lid when my chiller is going; just a suggestion

 

[JonGrafto]

I couldn't put the lid on the pot, because of the wort chiller sticking out of it.

Thanks for the input everybody - I'll just see how it turns out. BTW.... "RDWHAHB!" whats that mean?

Thanks!

Relax, Don't Worry, Have A Home Brew!

 

[joelrapp]

I've gone shoulder deep to fish something out without any ill effects. You're fine, unless you had just used that hand to wipe your a$$ after leaving a massive, well you know, in the toilet. Then you might have a problem, but the beer would be the least of them.

 

[Zepth]

If it were me and a nice cube fell in, I would have left it alone and let it help cool the wort with all it had.

I did this intentionally without ill effect. I also fished my thermometer out of a batch with my bare hands no problem. While not recommended procedures beer is more durable and hard to break than some think.

 

[RichBrewer]

The best deterrent from bacteria infecting your beer is to pitch enough yeast to get a rapid vigorous fermentation started. The yeast will overwhelm other organisms before they can take hold.
I bet your beer will turn out just fine.

 

[MrNickVT]

Im sure everything will be fine!

 

[capt82]

How did our ancestors keep it "sterile" back in the day? I'm sure we learned from their past practices, but our "unsterile" practices of today have got to be better than their "sterile" practices of those days. They made beer!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[garcia]

I've never had an infected beer.... Yet

I've done some stupid things, and nope. Not a single infected beer.

 

[Homercidal]

How did our ancestors keep it "sterile" back in the day? I'm sure we learned from their past practices, but our "unsterile" practices of today have got to be better than their "sterile" practices of those days. They made beer!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Their beer was different. They drank it VERY young, while it was still fermenting, or they drank sour beers. They didn't have packaging to compare with today's containers. Their beer was exposed to much more oxygen as well.

Sanitation is not a concern if you quickly ferment and drink your beer before the bacteria have a chance to build their populations.

 

[tarmac]

I dropped a screw driver in my 80F wort while tightening my chiller hose clamps and dove in after it with sticky brew hands. No infection. Don't sweat it, pitch your yeast and stay positive!

 

[MrFeltimo]

I had my son take a big ole sniff of my delicious brew before i pitched once and he DROWLED in it, alot to, dam kid (5ys old). turned out fine.

dont worry about it.

 

[Darwin18]

Seriously, you're probably fine. You're over reacting.

 

[rolewiii]

Maybe this will help soothe your nerves for the next batch: I repeatedly sanitize my hands while brewing about 1/2way up my arm. In between every step, I grab a small spritz bottle and blast my hands a few times, shake them off, and continue. ESPECIALLY if I, in an emergency, have to use a utensil that isn't sterilized or sanitized, such as an ice cube tray.

 

[aggiejason]

I use aluminum foil instead of a lid when my chiller is going; just a suggestion

I thought I had read in another thread somewhere that you want to leave the lid off until the wort gets down below 140F because above that temp it can still be releasing DMS. If covered, it would drip back into the wort and cause off flavors. Curious if anyone else can verify or deny this...

 

[causeimthesquid]

I thought I had read in another thread somewhere that you want to leave the lid off until the wort gets down below 140F because above that temp it can still be releasing DMS. If covered, it would drip back into the wort and cause off flavors. Curious if anyone else can verify or deny this...

My understanding is a 90 minute boil will effectively remove the dms precursors. That being said, it's not as if I create an airtight seal- I had 2 infected batches in a row a few years ago. I started using foil and haven't had one since. I have never noticed a dms problem either