howdy, beer hivemind,
i brewed a belgian dark strong on sunday, and after about 48 hours of strong fermentation the krausen died down - to reveal two dead earwigs floating in the beer.
i suspect they got in there while i was cooling, just after the boil. ideally they got in while it was still hot (maybe even fell in during the boil) and they were disinfected by the heat. however, i have to assume that they crawled in after that, and that they dragged in whatever nasties they had on their bodies. i know that fruitflies can carry all sorts of bugs on them and i can't see why it wouldn't be the same for earwigs.
any thoughts on the chances my beer will develop an infection? the beer is somewhere around 8-9% alcohol now but assuming the insects got in there before pitching whatever bugs they were carrying had a chance to start growing before the sacc was pitched.
i suspect that in the end i'll just have to wait this one out and see what happens, just wondering if something similar has happened to anyone else. thanks!
i brewed a belgian dark strong on sunday, and after about 48 hours of strong fermentation the krausen died down - to reveal two dead earwigs floating in the beer.
i suspect they got in there while i was cooling, just after the boil. ideally they got in while it was still hot (maybe even fell in during the boil) and they were disinfected by the heat. however, i have to assume that they crawled in after that, and that they dragged in whatever nasties they had on their bodies. i know that fruitflies can carry all sorts of bugs on them and i can't see why it wouldn't be the same for earwigs.
any thoughts on the chances my beer will develop an infection? the beer is somewhere around 8-9% alcohol now but assuming the insects got in there before pitching whatever bugs they were carrying had a chance to start growing before the sacc was pitched.
i suspect that in the end i'll just have to wait this one out and see what happens, just wondering if something similar has happened to anyone else. thanks!