Dropped WL vial in starter

I was doing my normal process of making a starter last night. I got my dme boiled and cooled. Let it sit till room temp. Sprayed my work area and yeast vial down with a diluted alcohol solution. Took the foil off and proceeded to pour the White Labs Belgian Wit yeast in. I dropped the whole vial in the starter. It is a 2L erlenmeyer and I had no way to get it out, so i left it in. The starter is fermenting this morning, but should i be worried about infection. I did sanitize the outside of the vial. I should have not had that second hop stoopid 22 before I finished my work.

Anyone else do this before? I hope the starter will be fine.

I would think you'd be fine, since you sanitized the vial. Just check your starter before pitching.

StaggerBrew said:

Just check your starter before pitching.

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How do I check it?

Give it a taste to see if it soured. Don't swallow it though, unless you want the runs for a week

It is fermenting rapidly now and I see the label floating. I am sad...

fidjit said:

It is fermenting rapidly now and I see the label floating. I am sad...

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Since you sanitized the vial, chances are it is going to be OK. I have a feeling infections are not as common as we may think. I have never had one, except possibly one bottle with some strange coating on the inside, but the beer tasted fine.

I have stopped drinking while brewing because of mishaps like this. RDWHAHB has not worked well for me, at least not while brewing. I once dropped a not-very-clean shop rag into the brew pot, had to fish it out with pliers. Beer came out good in spite of, or perhaps because of, some 10W-30 and metal filings. Did I just contradict myself? Well, after brewing I am all for copious amount of beer though.

I would sleep easier by making a new starter. Just my .02

bgough said:

I would sleep easier by making a new starter. Just my .02

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What dat guy said. Just how well did you sanitize the vial? Is really worth ruining a 5 gallon batch of beer for a $6.00 vial of yeast?

If it was me, I'd toss the starter and take out a dry pack of yeast I have on reserve or pick up a couple packs. Just rehydrate properly and pitch according to the directions on the pack.

Too often the chance of infection is understated, so I think instead of downplaying it we should start listing things that will cause an infection:

-pooping in your beer
-putting rotten fruit into your beer
-spitting in your beer when you have pneumonia
-putting raw chicken into your beer

As long as you steer clear of that list you're in good shape

RLinNH said:

What dat guy said. Just how well did you sanitize the vial? Is really worth ruining a 5 gallon batch of beer for a $6.00 vial of yeast?

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Couldn't have said it better myself.