A screwdriver fell in just-cooled wort...corrective action?

The other day we brewed an all-grain stout, boiled, and started to cool it with the immersion chiller. Got to about 120 F, and a screwdriver rolled unexpectedly and ended up right in the pot.

Crap.

120 degrees won't kill germs. So we put it back on the burner, heated back to 180, and timed for about ten minutes (by the end of which it was just over 190), then started over cooling as if we just ended the boil.

Total time about 20 minutes till we started cooling again.

Relevant recipe bits:
1oz UK Goldings 60 min
Whirfloc/Nutrients 10 min
1oz UK Goldings 5 min

We RDWHAHB'd afterward and had a good laugh, but still...crap.

We figure it's going to be a bit more bitter than we'd intended due to the 5 minute hops being reheated to 185ish - won't it?

Should we have added more nutrient?

What would you have done differently in this situation (besides not letting a screwdriver fall into cooled wort)?

You did everything perfectly. No need to add anything extra. A few extra ibu's is a small price to pay. I would not have done anything different.

I dropped my turkey baster into my ferm bucket on my last batch. It was 'kinda' clean, so I just left it. Turned out okay in the end.

In hindsight, I should have done what you did, and boiled 'er back up.

You did good. I probably would've just rolled with it (pun intended) and not heated it back up. But I'd be willing to bet you wouldn't notice a difference from the extra 5-10 mins.

Time to think of a screwdriver-pun name.

Flathead Irish Stout.

Brewed a zombie dust clone a few months ago that was dubbed "greasy pliers" after a stuck kettle valve repair mid-cool found a set of greasy pliers (greased with food-safe silicon) at the bottom of the kettle for the remainder of the cooling.

lol


Didn't re-boil or anything, just RDWHAHB'd and everything turned out fine.

Veronis said:

Flathead Irish Stout.

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Flathead Irsish Stout. Very funny!

I did the same thing except with a flashlight. Dropped it right in the mash. Whatcha gonna do? I got it out asap and just changed the name of the beer Flashlight Hefe.

I think you'll be fine. You might like it so much that you drop another screwdriver in next time. Maybe try a #2 Phillips next time just for some variety.

I dropped my cell phone in an IPA. It got dumped.

I wouldn't have reheated it.

If I had, I would have tossed in some extra flavor/aroma hops.

In any case it would still be (and is) beer. Enjoy!

I don't think the vodka or orange juice will cause any off flavors

ya as mentioned above i would have reboiled it for ten minutes, i think theres a possibility of the beer not having the aroma as you'd expect and the taste would be minimal (depending on your taste buds). i also think clarity would be an issue too but all in all it should be fine.

did your yeast start yet?

Checking back in -

Flathead Stout turned out great and I couldn't be happier that I didn't break the batch. No detectable off flavors/weird aromas/bitterness/etc. from the mess-up.

The bad news is everyone really really likes it, and now I'm down to five bombers and a six pack.

So the real question is, next time do you throw in a screwdriver intentionally?

Yes.

We're also going to try a few additional batches - we'll cool them to 120 and toss in vice grips, hammers, pipe wrenches, jackhammers, and snow plows if I can rent one cheap.

Miley Cyrus has been discussed as well, but she won't return my calls.

Your screwed.

Veronis said:

Yes.

We're also going to try a few additional batches - we'll cool them to 120 and toss in vice grips, hammers, pipe wrenches, jackhammers, and snow plows if I can rent one cheap.

Miley Cyrus has been discussed as well, but she won't return my calls.

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You had my interest up til "Scank Stout"

Had a sponge fall in just before I transferred to carboy...just pulled it out and crossed my fingers. Everything ended up okay