do i need to worry?

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DaytonFlyer

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When i went to go poke my air lock in the rubber grommet poked through. I had no mean of plugging the hole and had no luck fishing it out with the 3 foot spatula. So i lathered up my arm with some anti baterial soap 3 times and washed it off till i was positive that all the soap was gone. . . I got the rubber thingy out though. Hopefully this doesn't affect the beer i'm pretty confident that my arm was pretty clean but you never know. Anyone think that i'll have any issues?

As i read in another thread if you thing you might have ruined your beer you probally going to be ok.

Also, my OG was .004 under what the recipe stated (1052-1054) it should be, could this have anthing to do with the fact that i scorched some the liquid malt when i poured it in? (i did mange to get the burnt stuff out before it started to boil and need to add the hops).

Will any of this harm the beer. this is only my second brew (the other one just got finished yesterday and i had an empty fermenter :cross: ). Any help will be appriciated
 
Don't pitch it, wait it out and see. More than likely you're ok, it's not as easy to infect a beer as one would think (imho).

EDIT: poor choice of words for me.. by `don't pitch it` I meant `don't throw it out` :D
 
I disagree. Pitch right away. The best way to keep the infection possibility down is to get a solid yeast infection quickly eating up the sugar and making alcohol which will supress any nasties. I'd say you have about a 99% chance of being good to go. Bad infections seem to happen most often when you think everything is perfect.
 
LOL. The same thing happened to me about 3 and a half weeks ago. Reference very first batch. I see this is a common problem. With the 2nd batch, I installed the air lock BEFORE putting the lid on. Then filled with water after the lid was on. You'll find also boiled water works to lubricate it slightly too as it passes through the airlock.

Oh, and just to clarify. You folks mean pitch the yeast into it, not pitch the batch out the door, right? I'm getting used to this terminology thing.
 
Everybody's reached into their beer before, and for most people that hasn't been the batch that got infected. You'll almost certainly be fine.

As for OG, it's almost impossible to miss with extracts. The two possibilities are that you topped off with too much water or that you didn't stir enough after you topped off. Either way, you'll be fine.

Kai
 
Thanks this makes me feel better. I have high hopes for this one and really looking foward to seeing how it turns out. It smelled so good while i was boiling it, i can't wait to see how it tastes. Its my first beer with hops (as for my first batch was a hefe) this batch is a German Octoberfest.

As for pitching it ASAP it was already pitched when i had to reach in. I was placing the lid on for the final time and putting the air lock on to go put it in its happy place to do it thing when "plop" in goes the rubber thingy. But i'm glad to hear from you guys that i "should" be ok. (note to self - press air lock into lid BEFORE placing lid on bucket)

if you want the entire list of what i used feel free to ask

Thanks for your help guys the forum has been a great deal of help in helping me start my home brewing. :mug:
 
Hah! I just reread the second post and I see where the word "pitch" has the possibility of causing confusion. In aviation we have phrases that are banned in the cockpit due to their ambiguity. The classic example is "Takeoff Power". That could mean to go to full throttle (like during takeoff), or it could mean to reduce power slightly (like while on final approach at slightly too high a speed or altitude). Ha, "pitch"!
 
I'm using the word pitch as in pitch the yeast?

This is what you guys are saying correct?
 
Ha! I think Hopleaf was telling you to not throw the batch out (pitch in the sink). And we were telling you to introduce the yeast (pitch in the batch). Which you've now told us you had already done, so all is right with the world:drunk:

See that's what I mean by confusing, ambiguous terms! This is fun.
 
i had an emergency a few weeks ago bottling my Fat City Wheat. the spigot on the bottling bucket was not threaded correctly and when we set it on the counter *pop* it popped out and started pouring beer all over the floor. We put a hand over the whole, then my friend had to reach his arm inside so that he could put the spigot back on. no washing of the hands or anything.
i think i'm changing the name to Hairy Hands Hefeweizen :drunk:

kinda gross thinking about it, but so far the bottles have been good (although it's not quite finished.) i think i got lucky with this one :D
 
Sounds like that one's gonna make it. But I'd hold one bottle back for about 6 months just to see if anything gross pops up;)
 
DeathBrewer said:
i had an emergency a few weeks ago bottling my Fat City Wheat. the spigot on the bottling bucket was not threaded correctly and when we set it on the counter *pop* it popped out and started pouring beer all over the floor. We put a hand over the whole, then my friend had to reach his arm inside so that he could put the spigot back on. no washing of the hands or anything.
i think i'm changing the name to Hairy Hands Hefeweizen :drunk:

kinda gross thinking about it, but so far the bottles have been good (although it's not quite finished.) i think i got lucky with this one :D

If it's drinking fine now, then drink it as fast as possible. :drunk: I've had batches taste fine for a month or two, then BAM, the bottles all went and turned infected on me.
 
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