Added unboiled wort to fermenter!

[jimmiec]

Could he throw some campden tablets (potassium or sodium metabisulfite) into the fermenter to kill the lacto or bateria and then package beer?

[thefirstleachy]

Cheers Kev. The annoying thing is I've been brewing for years and don't see myself as a beginner. It's just one of those "I could kick myself" moments. I am usually very careful with sanitisation and boil things and spray things with star san. On a positive note I've read a little about sour beers and will have to try one to see what they are like.

I've also read a bit more about lactobactillus infections and although most of it goes over my head I've noted that not all types are hop resistant.

"Resistance to hops is a prerequisite for the ability of lactic acid bacteria to grow in beer and thus cause beer spoilage. Hop compounds, mainly iso-α-acids, were described as ionophores which dissipate the pH gradient across the cytoplasmic membrane and reduce the proton motive force (PMF). Consequently, the low intracellular pH (pHin) interferes with essential enzyme reactions and PMF-dependent nutrient uptake is hampered, resulting in the death of cells of hop-sensitive strains (34, 37, 49)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1610305/

So let's hope it's not lactobactillus brevis or the like and it's not resistant to hops!

Jimmiec - I was thinking whether something like that would work. Would it not effect the beer in other ways?

I've just sampled the beer and it tastes fine. It is down to 1010 so I'm now cooling it to drop the yeast etc. I don't think the beer looks excessively turbid or anything but it's hard to tell as there is yeast and dry hops floating around too. Are there any other warning signs to look out for or is it just waiting to see if there are off flavours!

[jimmiec]

Not sure about the campden tablets but I think any residual sulfur would be scrubbed out by the CO2 and in wine helps prevent oxidation.

Sour beers can be clear so don't think the clarity will identify it too much. The gravity will drop even more if there is some infection or lacto and may thin it out the body but it will take time. Still some sugars left at a 1.010 for the lacto to eat, which could drive it down to 1.000 or lower. If you bottle watch out for over carbonation or gushers.

[Kev888]

It's just one of those "I could kick myself" moments

Ah well we all have those - if you ever find a way to stop them you must let me know! On my last brew day the strike temperature was "Lo-Batt" and my scales broke too so with the unfamiliar backup set I used lbs instead of kg until I realised how light the grain bucket was. Doh!

Cheers
kev

[gregorach]

Could he throw some campden tablets (potassium or sodium metabisulfite) into the fermenter to kill the lacto or bateria and then package beer?

Sodium met doesn't actually kill much of anything at that sort of concentration, and the sorts of beasties that we're worried about here are pretty mental hard. Pasteurisation would be the only way.

[Rookie]

How long did it actually set before you added it? If it was only a few hours I doubt that anything bad had enough time to get a foothold.
I'm betting you'll be fine.

[thefirstleachy]

I have an 80 litre thermobox as a mash tun which holds the temperature well. The wort would have sat in the bottom of that for approximately 2 hours 30 mins (60 min boil, cooling and then a really slow run off from boiler to fermenter due to using hop pellets and a mesh hop filter).

I then poured the wort into my 5 litre jug where it probably sat for about 10 mins before I chucked everything but the last litre or so in. I have had the fermenter at 8c from last night onwards. The beer is still at 1010 and is getting a little clearer. It tastes fine so far and doesn't have any sour twangs yet. I've just put some isinglass in for the first time and will cask tomorrow afternoon and then leave for a coupe of weeks to condition. So we'll see what happens. I'll post an update when it comes to drinking time.

[thefirstleachy]

Ok so here is an update. I racked the beer on Sunday into a firkin, a plastic 25 litre pressure barrel and the remainder in about 20 bottles. I used primings in everything. The firkin and keg have been in the garage and the bottles have been under the stairs carbonating.

As usual I couldn't wait a week even to try the beer and see how things are going. I tried the beer from the plastic pressure barrel last night. I was impressed with it being fairly clear due to the isinglass as normally it would take 3 or 4 weeks to get to that stage. It tasted quite good for the stage it's at. It tasted hoppy with a bit of sweetness and it felt like there was a little bitter/astringent aftertaste. I thought that this may be due to it still being young and the flavours haven't yet married and mellowed. It is definitely drinkable now.

Tonight I thought I would try a bottle. I have only tried one. It was a lot clearer, which is to be expected as its conditioning in a smaller container, however it seemed to lack body and seemed more bitter/astringent.

It's amazing how different vessels change a beer. However I'm still not sure if a bacterial infection has taken hold or not as I understand bacteria can strip a beer of its body and make it astringent. It's not lip smackingly astringent. I wasn't sure whether the bottle is more advanced in conditioning due to its size and therefore the beer in the firkin and barrel will eventually turn out like this. Or whether this would get better with time as it is still young.

Any thoughts?

[gregorach]

I think it's too early to say.

[greenxpaddy]

Beer conditions quicker in the larger vessel.

[darkonnis]

You'll just have to wait and see, I mean, horror stories aside we are all assuming such beasties where in their to start with. You may of had a lucky escape, who knows, you'll just have to see. Theres nothing to be done for it now except sit and wait, and drink it as you go.