my first beer i think i ruined it !

well every one i brewed a coopers wheat today i added 1 oz star san to 5 gallons of water i put my can opener spoon airlock in there put lid on shook around let sit 30 seconds to a minuet, i went to dump water up but when i did air lock was flushed out so i had to rinse it put back in reaming solution for another 30. (is it ok to put your hand in sanitizing solution to get your items out? so i heat up the kettle and a pan of water (didn't come to boil)open my ME poured it pored water from kettle and pan into can put water in fermenter then i used teh pan to fill my fermenter from faucet from what i have told you have a ruined my beer? i mean i put my hand in santazing solution didn't boil water used unsterilized pan to fill fermenter put wort on starsan foam guys im about to cry!

I wouldn't say the beer is ruined . . . Yet. First indication will probably be at fermentation. I would continue and see what happens and take away the learning points at a minimum.

its began fermenting going strong

Your beer will most likely be fine. I put my hands into my Star San solution all the time. I also fill my fermenter with water from a faucet with a filter in the line. I also use a pitcher that I don't sanitize. I have never had an infection.

RHAHB

If it's fermenting, you're probably all right. Might taste like your hand (I'm kidding). It's not ideal, but I think you're going to make it.

First batch I did I spilled about a gallon straight over my hand and right into the fermentor.

It turned out good. I have found it's really hard to kill beer.

The president of our brew club is always saying not to stress out all the time about the details. The details are important because they help make better beer.

His favorite saying is, "If you goof up a recipe or procedure, don't worry. The worst thing that will happen is that you end up with beer".

That's good advice.

Your beer is probably just fine, especially once fermentation takes hold. I use unfiltered tap water to top up my extract batches all the time, and I am not super meticulous about sanitation all the time.

I'm not sure what I just read, but after placing some punctuation marks at various places throughout, I believe I can answer one of your concerns with some certainty. It's ok to put your hand in sanitizer. I hope that helps. Brain...hurts...

its fermenting so hard right nwo it blew the airlock out what do i do! omg it must be contamonated

joe1988 said:

its fermenting so hard right nwo it blew the airlock out what do i do! omg it must be contamonated

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I'm just a noob but I think RULE #1 is: Expect the best if you CANT CHANGE what has happened..... just cram your siphon tube in teh hole.... and cram the tube in a beer filled with water on the other end.

If its fermenting like that you have a really good fermentation going on. That's a good sign. You need a blowoff tube. Basically you want to sanitize your siphoning tube and figure out how to put it in the hole where the airlock was. Then you want to put the loose end of the hose (the end that's not in the fermenter) in a glass or jug of sanitizer so that if for some crazy reason the sanitizer starts siphoning into your beer (most likely won't happen) it will be free of germs.

...by sanitizer I mean water and starsan or whatever sanitizer you're using.

The vigorous fermentation out the airlock is common, freaked me out the first time too. You probably want to get it off the walls sooner rather than later. Your beer is probably not contaminated since the CO2 is blowing stuff out too fast for anything to get in. You'll want to get a blow-off tube.

I dip my hands in starsan on purpose all the time during sanitization. The diluted starsan is harmless to us, but it does sting a tiny bit if you get it in a small scratch or cut. I dip a dishrag in it and use that to wipe down various things that I want sanitized (also with my bare hands). Be careful with the concentrated starsan, you probably don't want to get that on your hands or clothes.

joe1988 said:

i went to dump water up

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Also, if you were successful in dumping water up you may want to notify NASA as there was a drastic atmospheric change in your area. Expect feelings of weightlessness and possible implosion. I know but I had to take it there. Really though, you're probably good.

joe1988 said:

its fermenting so hard right nwo it blew the airlock out what do i do! omg it must be contamonated

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its not a big deal, the co2 is going so hard no bacteria can get in.

well i went over 6 gallons a little bit what about that

your original specific gravity will be a bit lower, so you'll get a lower alcohol % but at the end of the day you'll still have beer

Joe... Chill man! It's your first beer! Take it all in don't worry about simple mistakes! You have beer soon enough

joe1988 said:

its fermenting so hard right nwo it blew the airlock out what do i do! omg it must be contamonated

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If there is no krausen coming out of the top of the fermenter you might be able to try to put the air-lock back in place. I have done that before and it was fine. However, if you're getting krausen out of the top of the fermenter you will need to use a blow off tube.

if i just leave it with the crap filled airlock in and let it do its thing is there any risk of contamination?

joe1988 said:

if i just leave it with the crap filled airlock in and let it do its thing is there any risk of contamination?

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Low risk of contamination, but big risk of a mess.

If the airlock clogs, your fermenter will build pressure until something gives.
It may blow out the airlock again or it may blow the stopper out or the top off it you are using a bucket. If you have a piece of tubing that will fit tightly into the hole where the airlock is do that. Put the other end in a jar half filled with sanitizer solution. I put the jar in a bucket in case the overflow fills the jar.

ok what about star san i think i added a little bit to much and i put beer on foam any idea here am i just being overly paranoid

Let me tell you a story.

About two months ago, I brewed an imperial IPA. It was my first time using whole leaf hops as opposed to pellets. I tossed them in loose and realized too late that it would probably lead to some problems when it came time to transfer to the fermenter.

Sure enough, when I started siphoning, it clogged almost immediately. So, I figured that I'd use the funnel instead. It clogged as well. So, what's a homebrewer in a slightly inebriated state to do? Why, you stick your arm in the sanitizing bucket for 30 seconds and then reach into the clogged funnel, through about a half gallon of wort, and start poking the hops loose. It didn't work too well, so I had to get really aggressive with it. Eventually, I found that if I poured a bit into the funnel and then cleared it manually, eventually I'd get all the wort transferred. I figured that there was no way that I hadn't ruined my beer.

Two weeks in primary, another week dry-hopped in secondary, and then three weeks in bottles.... Results? Far and away the best beer I've ever made. On par with commercial brews like Pliny the Elder. I was so stoked that I gave away almost 1/4 of the batch, which was probably a mistake on my part.

Bottom-line. It is really hard to screw up a beer. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use good practices and learn to be sanitary, but when things go a little wrong during the brew session, you'll almost always be fine. Take tonight for instance. Great brew session up until the last hop addition, then the handle on the spray bottle broke off. Is life over? Is my batch going to wind up trashed? Should I switch to drinking Keystone Lite? Nope. Beer will be fine. Which reminds me...chill down is almost over, so it's time to go get ready to transfer to the fermenter.

It'll be fine.

I think the point everyone is trying to make is: Relax. Don't Worry. Have a Home Brew.

One of the favorite things that I've seen so far on this board is: The worst thing that will happen is you end up with beer.