Glass in Beer? Broke Hydrometer

[foam_top]

I was just finishing up my brew day and my hydrometer broke right in my wort. I think it might have already been damaged cause I was not gripping it that hard. I was able to retrieve the split pieces rather quickly. I butted the two pieces together to see if there were any missing fragments but it's hard to tell. Not only did I not get my gravity reading but now I might have small shards of glass in my beer! If I had a mesh strainer I would have grabbed a second bucket and run it through, but I don't. Any ideas on where to go from here?

Thanks in advance.

(If only there was a tube-like container that came with hydrometers... oh wait) - Lesson learned

 

[Hello]

Personally, when dealing with the prospect of glass shards in anything, I tend to be more cautious and dump the drink. In your case, it's an entire batch of beer, which makes the decision slightly more difficult. Still though, I'd get rid of it. There's no telling whether there is a sliver of glass and if so, who knows what damage it could do. Maybe I'm just neurotic, so take that with a grain of salt...I suppose.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Fragile little f*ckers, indeed. Hopefully (but not likely) your last one to break on you. Testing tubes are the way to go. However, I'm going to say you're probably fine. Should settle out with the trub (heavier than the liquid). When racking later for bottling or kegging, maybe leave just a bit more in the bottom so it doesn't risk getting sucked up, but any glass should sink down pretty good, and won't be floating around.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Oh, and, use your own best judgment... I'm not a scientist. May need to compare the weight of some of the glass versus a duck to see what's heavier, just to be sure.

 

[Aristotelian]

I am loving my refractometer right now.

Looks like it broke in the middle, so you are only worried about glass, nothing toxic. If you want to be super safe, you could try running the wort through coffee filters. I think coffee filters would create less oxygenation than mesh too. It will take a while but it would give you piece of mind and might save your beer.

 

[Maylar]

I would dump it, unless you can pump it through a fine filter at the end of fermenting. No cheesecloth strainer would be adequate, IMO.

 

[broadbill]

+1 to testing tubes....putting a hydrometer into the wort directly is a penny-wise, pound foolish approach as you now know. Your two options are to dump the entire batch and be 100% safe or rack off the top, leaving a healthy buffer of beer behind to prevent sucking off any shards which is less than 100% safe. Either way you are going to lose some beer.

 

[JonM]

Three things that, if they're in your beer, dump it:

1) Poison
2) Broken glass
3) Bird crap

Sorry, but it's a dumper. Glass in your throat/intestines/etc is not worth it.

 

[Homercidal]

It sucks, but I wouldn't keep it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Let it ferment as is.
Then when you rack it to your bottling bucket, tie a well sanitized, very fine mesh hop sack around the bottom of your racking cane or auto-siphon. I'm referring to the really tightly woven nylon mesh. No glass can make it through there.

Next time use a plastic hydrometer jar (those with the 3" wide foot) to measure your samples. Those are virtually unbreakable, even if you drop them.

Your hydrometer itself remains a fragile instrument though.
If its storage tube happens to have no solid bottom, but a plug, tape that plug down to the tube or you'll have another surprise waiting for you...

 

[murphyslaw]

Its probably okay to drink. Glass wpuld fall to the bottom, probably not get picked up by the racking cane, and if you keg, it would either come out in the forst pint or not at all.

BUT , there's no way id ever risk that.

Would you even enjoy drinking it? I think it would be in the back of my mind with every sip. I certainly wouldn't serve it to anyone else.

 

[IslandLizard]

Very small pieces of glass may remain suspended or get suspended again when you move the fermentor or start racking. Hence using that very fine mesh filter I mentioned over your racking tube will prevent any of them from being transferred.

If done correctly, your beer will be safe.

 

[Pariah3j]

I would second the ideas of running through a coffee filter or very fine mesh hop sac when racking it. IANAD (I am not a doctor) but I believe any glass small enough to make it through that would be safe. I also wouldn't offer any of this beer to anyone else just to be safe - you at least can weigh the risks if you decide to keep it.

 

[UndeadFred]

Honestly the glass will settle into the trub. Run it through the finest strainer you can and be extra careful to get NO trub when you transfer. Waste more beer than you would normally when doing this. You likely be fine. But it's up to you ultimately do determine this.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Pitch your yeast, wait a few weeks, bottle in 40 oz bottles. Now you have a full batch of tipping beer for the homies.

 

[dwhite60]

Tough call. I'd probably let it ferment out completely and give it an extra week. Then I'd rack it into kegs, bottles whatever but, I'd leave a couple inches of beer in the bottom of the fermenter. I'd siphon and not let my inlet get into the stuff at the bottom of the fermenter. My bet is you'll be fine.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[foam_top]

Thanks for all your input.

I'm not going to do anything drastic yet and proceed as normal. Even if it's undrinkable I'd like to see how it turns out (looks, smell etc). I considered buying one of those brita pitchers and, after bottling, just filter each beer upon opening. As mentioned above, a very fine nylon mesh during racking might work too.

I have some time to think, but drinking glass shards isn't something to take lightly!
Thanks again.

 

[MaryB]

This with the 1 micron filters would remove all glass http://www.northernbrewer.com/beerbrite-beer-clarity-filtration

 

[schematix]

i'd keep it, but maintain a cautious distance from the bottom (2"+).

i would not label myself as extremely risk averse though - more of a calculated risk taker. i think any glass will settle to the bottom.

don't filter it though. you'll just end up oxygenating it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for all your input.

I'm not going to do anything drastic yet and proceed as normal. Even if it's undrinkable I'd like to see how it turns out (looks, smell etc). I considered buying one of those brita pitchers and, after bottling, just filter each beer upon opening. As mentioned above, a very fine nylon mesh during racking might work too.

I have some time to think, but drinking glass shards isn't something to take lightly!
Thanks again.

It would take forever to get a glass of beer through a Brita filter, besides, it will oxidize (as was said above), decarbonate, warm up, and the filter will have old beer in it which will slowly come out on your next pours... and grow nasties over time. Yuk!

Use the fine mesh, Luke!

 

[Aristotelian]

It would take forever to get a glass of beer through a Brita filter, besides, it will oxidize (as was said above), decarbonate, warm up, and the filter will have old beer in it which will slowly come out on your next pours... and grow nasties over time. Yuk!

Use the fine mesh, Luke!

i'd keep it, but maintain a cautious distance from the bottom (2"+).

i would not label myself as extremely risk averse though - more of a calculated risk taker. i think any glass will settle to the bottom.

don't filter it though. you'll just end up oxygenating it.

He hasn't fermented yet, at least at the time of the original post. Oxygenation isn't an issue, in fact he should be adding oxygen at this point.

 

[IslandLizard]

He hasn't fermented yet, at least at the time of the original post. Oxygenation isn't an issue, in fact he should be adding oxygen at this point.

Oh, his beer is already fermenting, either intentionally or not.

He was planning to pour his bottled beer through the Brita before drinking it...

 

[Aristotelian]

Oh, his beer is already fermenting, either intentionally or not.

He was planning to pour his bottled beer through the Brita before drinking it...

Even if it is Day 1 or 2 of fermentation, I think he could still re-rack using mesh and hope that the yeast consume any oxygen during the rest of the fermentation. That would be my theory, anyway, worth a shot to avoid dumping.

 

[IslandLizard]

Anecdote:
At Big Brew this year one of our venerable sour ale brewers brought a 750 of a 5-year old sour brown, and while he was pouring it out, he used a fine mesh nylon/plastic filter (it had a handle) over each glass.

When asked why he did that, he said he encountered some bottle bombs during aging and there was a remote chance some small pieces of glass could have made it into the fermentor (or bottles), not sure what had occurred. So he filtered, just to be safe. Nothing turned up, and the beer was exquisite! Dumping such a beer would have been a true sin.

The mesh of those fine mesh nylon hop sacks is even tighter than the filter he used.

 

[IslandLizard]

Even if it is Day 1 or 2 of fermentation, I think he could still re-rack using mesh and hope that the yeast consume any oxygen during the rest of the fermentation. That would be my theory, anyway, worth a shot to avoid dumping.

No, that moment has passed, the lag phase is over. No need to rack now, rack and mesh filter before packaging (bottling).

Note to OP, there's no need to rack to secondary, even if your recipe instructions tell you so. Most need for secondaries has been debunked. Let it go for 2 weeks in the primary before taking your first hydro sample.

 

[brewcat]

First order of business. Buy a test jar.

 

[Murphys_Law]

It would take forever to get a glass of beer through a Brita filter, besides, it will oxidize (as was said above), decarbonate, warm up, and the filter will have old beer in it which will slowly come out on your next pours... and grow nasties over time. Yuk!

Use the fine mesh, Luke!

I was thinking the same thing. I threw up a little when I read "Brita"!!

 

[CJ-3]

If it were me I would dump it. The risk isn't worth it to me personally.
If you keep it and you choose to share it with anyone you really should do the responsible thing and warn them that there is a chance broken glass may be in it because you can't be 100% certain you got all of it out.

 

[MaryB]

The amount of glass is going to be very tiny, he said the break was clean so at most there might be a few micro slivers. You have probably eaten far more in your food over the years...

 

[foam_top]

If it were me I would dump it. The risk isn't worth it to me personally.
If you keep it and you choose to share it with anyone you really should do the responsible thing and warn them that there is a chance broken glass may be in it because you can't be 100% certain you got all of it out.

Why would I not tell people? That's this beer's best feature...

Until now you have had beer with chili peppers, worms, insects, hemp and gold particles. Now introducing Shard-onnay Beer. Contains real glass shards! Our beer is hand-crafted with the finest pieces of hydrometer fragments. More glass shards are added to the secondary for an extra kick! Grab a six-pack and play our version of Russian roulette with your buddies!
Imperial Shard-onnay coming soon!

"The best drink I've had since Satan's Anus!" -Keith
"It's malty, caramel, roasty, citusy, and residual blood." -Jeff
"I drink it alone." -George Thorogood
"Recycling has never been easier!" -Amy
"I now poop ornaments and fine jewelry." -Chris

WARNING: (1) ACCORDING
TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN
SHOULD NOT DRINK GLASS
DURING PREGNANCY OR NON-PREGNANCY. (2) CONSUMPTION OF
GLASS BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR
ABILITY TO LIVE, AND MAY CAUSE INTERNAL BLEEDING.


All joking aside, I don't know any beer enthusiasts in person. I will be the only one drinking this batch (if I decide to do so). And believe it or not, I'm completely sober when writing this.

 

[eigua]

I considered buying one of those brita pitchers and, after bottling, just filter each beer upon opening. As mentioned above, a very fine nylon mesh during racking might work too.

Brita filters aren't meant to filter out particulates. There isn't even a paper filter inside them -- just a bunch of charcoal pellets. Pur, on the other hand, has a 3 stage filter including two paper/fiber filters. Incidentally, this is why Pur filters clog up after they've been used for a while but Brita filters never clog. I only know this because I ripped a Pur filter apart before trying to figure out why it clogged up.

I wouldn't drink the beer unless you can filter it through something at least as fine as a coffee filter.