Thoughts on this disaster???

[timtoos]

Hi all,

I took the day off work today to do a brew. I thought with the weather so nice it would be rude not to

What a day, hit all my numbers and was well chuffed. Then disaster struck.

I was cleaning out my gear whilst my FV was oxygenating and my little girl decided it would be good to turn my FV lid upside down and the kitchen towel which was placed over the lid top ended up in the wort.

I don't know how long it was in there - I noticed it by chance as I walked through. Absolutely gutted about it. There's always something.

Anyway, what's your thoughts? You think things will be ok and clear of infection? The lid was sanitised and the kitchen towel was clean.

The yeast I pitched I was going to top crop. Will this still be ok to carry this out and subsequent brews be ok?

Thanks

 

[Galena]

Might as well carry on now and see how it does, hopefully no nasties got in, if it tastes okay when fermentation is done then it should be okay. It certainly won't affect subsequent brews so long as you have a good cleaning and sanitising procedure.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Oh no! Sometimes you just love them soooo much, and other times...

If you mean kitchen roll then there’s a good chance all will be fine. If you mean the hand-towel you keep in the kitchen, only you know where that’s been!

The amount of yeast added to a fermentation is pretty massive so there’s a good chance you’ll get away with it because any other nasties will be far smaller in number

 

[timtoos]

It was the cloth used to dry dishes. I don't think it had been used but it was on the hob top. I have no idea apart from that.
Cant believe it still. I don think I've ever had this done before. I've usually caught any mishaps before they happen.
The beer was the Pale Fire, I've never had it and really looking forward to it. Typical... Fingers crossed all will be ok.

 

[timtoos]

Hang on, I think it was used by the other half as she was doing sugar craft decorating. Not sure what this will mean

 

[Gerryjo]

Chuck in the yeast and it'll be fine as there have been a lot worse found in brews that have been great.

 

[timtoos]

Hope so. Its rare things go to plan during a brew day and with hitting my figures like I did including mash pH (always struggle here) - well it was almost to good to be true. And it was. Fingers crossed it will have no detriment and it will be decent.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Hang on, I think it was used by the other half as she was doing sugar craft decorating. Not sure what this will mean

In that case you might be 1% or 2% higher on the ABV!

 

[Rodcx500z]

As above chuck the yeast in, if it is the best brew you have done give your little girl fiver

 

[timtoos]

Cheers all, hopefully it will be ok with no harm done

 

[StJayJay]

The actual problem may be the beer turns out spectacularly good but you’ll never be quite able to recreate it!

 

[The Baron]

It'll be fine you seem to think it was a clean tea towel, just go with it and don't get too anal on it unlike some

 

[Pezza24]

It'll be fine. Unless you used it to wipe up some raw egg.

 

[Didge]

Mankind was brewing long before bacteria or sanitisers were ever discovered, and I'm sure most of them lived to brew another day.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, albeit with a little ring burn.

 

[531Man]

Mankind was brewing long before bacteria or sanitisers were ever discovered, and I'm sure most of them lived to brew another day.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, albeit with a little ring burn.

then again, as Sam Outlaw sang,
"It might kill me,
It might kill me,
It might kill me,
It might"!

 

[DocAnna]

If it was immediately before adding the yeast then I'd have been tempted to bring it back to a boil briefly to resterilise the wort. After you've added the yeast then you're in the domain of crossed fingers and hoping the yeast added out competes the bacteria, you'l know soon enough!

A

 

[nickjdavis]

I dropped an oily rag in my FV once...wouldn't worry about a tea towel at all.

No sense on giving up on a brew just because it "might" have an infection....carry on as normal, put it down to experience and be careful in future to do your best to prevent "little fingers" from getting involved in your brewing....something that's difficult if you are brewing in a family space (rather than say in the garage or man-shed) I know....but good practice to get into...especially at times when hot wort is present.

 

[timtoos]

I brew outside but carried the FV into the house for adding oxygen. I was cleaning up outside when the the little monkey did the deed.
I have a shed I did used to brew in but the condensation was really bad. I don't really want to add a massive extractor in there as when we build a garage I will probably use that instead. I tried venting outside via a hose but it was hit and miss.
Using a BM I need a fairly level ground and around the shed its a mess. We built this house last year and we haven't had the chance to landscape, hence its still a building site.

 

[Clint]

There's a story on here somewhere about someone having a cat in their fv...

 

[timtoos]

Oh heck