MBM30075

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Last night I brewed an extract American IPA. I was going to use a copper coil heat exchanger, but it sprung a leak, so I had to go the ol' ice bath route in the kitchen sink. My wife accidentally spilled about 1 to 2 oz. of tap water into the cooling wort when it was at about 135F.

I went ahead with the batch as planned, and this morning, I have decent (expected) activity in the blow off.

Question: Did she screw it? I know it's possible to use pure tap water and not screw it up (with bacteria), and it's possible to be extremely careful and sanitary and still screw it up, but what are my chances? Also, what should I look for to tell me whether the batch is hosed? Will a taste test when racking to secondary be good enough to decide? Should I simply stick my nose over the blow off in a day or 2 and see what smell is coming out?

I want to follow RDWHAHB, but I also don't want to put up with a CLEARLY screwed up batch.

Thanks!

IrregularPulse

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There's no 'puting up with' it. Let it sit and see what it looks like in a couple weeks. Take it and go from there. It's not like you have to do anything with it.
And it will 99% be fine

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I should have stuck to four fingers in Vegas. :o - marubozo

JamesClark

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I think it's highly unlikely that the tap water will mess up your beer.

I've brewed partial-boil batches where I put gallons of tap water into the cooled wort! Came out just fine.

springer

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it will be fine ... people use tap water to top off all the time. If it city water its treated even if it's well water you can drink it can't you .

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2-0turbo

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I always top off with tap water--it helps cool the wort and I don't have the kettle capacity to do a full boil. I've done 3 batches now and no problems.

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-Matt

BB Primary 1: O'Flannagains Standard Stout
BB Primary 2: DFH-60 minute clone
BB Secondary 1: Dark Soul of the Night Russian Imperial Stout (Until Oct 2010 sometime)
Bottle Conditioning: None
On Hand: DFH-60 minute clone, Light Pilsner (Munton's kit)
Up Next: I dunno...I'm out of fermenters.

MBM30075

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Yeah, I'm actually a little suspect of our water, so we normally go through the Brita or buy water from the store.

Still, I'll let it be and see what happens.

Irregular, sure, there's "putting up with it." If it's funky and infected, letting it go 2 or 3 weeks past that point keeps me from doing another batch, right?

If it IS infected, what will I see when I go to rack to secondary? White stuff floating on top? I've never had an infected batch...

wildwest450

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Make 2 fists and ask her, head or stomach.

MBM30075

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Yeah, I'll let you know how that goes...

Dwain

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Yeah,
Like JC said:
Me too. As a matter of fact, years ago, we went to the store and bought ice and dumped it directly into the wort. Will it affect the taste of your beer? Probably. Is your palate "educated" enough to know the difference? Possibly. Mine probably isn't. Don't worry, you'll enjoy it. Also, if you don't let SWMBO know you can milk it for all it's worth(J/K). - Dwain

beerkrump

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From the title of this thread, I am severely disappointed with it's content.