Forgot to boil water before cold brewing coffee for bottling tomorrow

**lex990** · 11-30-2011, 03:09 AM

I took a clean beer glass and put in 1/2 cup ground coffee. Filled full of tap and it as been in the fridge all day when I just thought that I did nothing to sterilize the glass or water. Should I redo or will my 8% stout kill any possible infection?

**Double_D** · 11-30-2011, 04:06 AM

You'll be fine

IffyG · 11-30-2011, 04:26 AM

I'd probably redo it, but I'm of the mindset that it is cheaper to redo something simple that might spoil a batch vs rebrewing said batch in the event of infection.

**lex990** · 11-30-2011, 01:58 PM

I think I am gonna boil the prime sugar water and add my coffee to that while it is hot. I think that will kill anything that is in it and also not keep the coffee hot for too long.

**Double_D** · 11-30-2011, 03:05 PM

If you're worried about an infection the last thing on the list should be tap water. It has chlorine in it.

Here:
Dear EarthTalk: Why is chlorine added to tap water? Do water filters effectively filter it out? -- J.P. Miller, Hudson, WI
Chlorine is a highly efficient disinfectant, and it is added to public water supplies to kill disease-causing bacteria that the water or its transport pipes might contain.

“Chlorine has been hailed as the savior against cholera and various other water-borne diseases, and rightfully so,” says Steve Harrison, president of water filter maker Environmental Systems Distributing. “Its disinfectant qualities…have allowed communities and whole cities to grow and prosper by providing disease-free tap water to homes and industry.”

Soo.... Do you need to redo your cold process coffee because you didn't boil the water? No. Additionally, chlorine oxidized when exposed to air and depending on who you're talking to your tap water will test zero for chlorine somewhere about an hour after it comes from the tap. Unless your municipality uses chloramine which doesn't dissapate when exposed to air. Which would mean that even after sitting over night you wouldn't have to worry about it.

**Hex** · 11-30-2011, 04:27 PM

From what I've read, the main concern would be lactobacillus, on the ground coffee. It is everywhere, and if it is present, the oxygen poor, alcohol environment will not kill this bug, and you may get continued decomposition in bottle with potential for bottle bombs and sour beer, but it takes a long time to develop...

I'd go with the adding to boiling priming sugar, and make sure to get the mixture temperature over 160f, look up pasteurization techniques.

**lex990** · 11-30-2011, 08:47 PM

I added the room temp filtered coffee to my boiling prime syrup and it hit 175 for a few minutes. I would say I'm good but I'll keep my eye on them. I'd say as soon as this carbonates. It won't last long lol. It tasted absolutely amazing before going into bottles