worst noob screw up ever. my beer IS ruined

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jason81

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made a pale ale thursday for my first brew ever. I feel like a huge idiot right now. after i chilled my wort (under 20 min) and pooring into 5gal glas carboy and adding water to make 5gal of wort. Rather than pooring some out or syphoning a sample to take a gravity reading i held the plastic tube in place in the carboy and dropped the hydrometer in to get a reading well i dropped the tube in the carboy so now the tube and the hydrometer where stuck in the carboy with the wort. now that i think of it i should have poored it all back into my kettle to retrieve the hydrometer. But i didnt think of that at the time. didnt want to risk contamination by using something to try to get it out either, i under estimated the power of the fermentation and decited to just leave it and fugued it was fine. 3 hours later and im getting bubbles in my airlock. next morning(yesterday) primary is in full swing so i switched to a blowoff tube before i got a mess. last night it i was getting steady bubling from the blow off within a half hour i looked again and it had stopped completley and kraeusen had settled, so im thinking its either to cold (it was 67f) or i didnt areate enough before pitching the yeast (as per palmers instructions on rehydrating yeast. so i turned up the heat in the house a few degrees and went to bed.

heres the good/ bad part:
woke up not hearing any bubling (its in my bedroom)
quick look revealed fermentation was back! nice)
then i realized the sopper flew out and im missingabout 1/2 gallon of wort, dried up on the floor so i ran and got a new stopper and airlock alreaady sitting in starsan and i was concerned about how long it was exposed to oxygen for.

foung out the hydrometer broke and there was peices of it on the flook and the paper inside the hydromerter was stuck in the blowoff tube causing the stopper to blow.
what a stupid mistake!! what a waste of beer
 
Look at it this way - your next batch is bound to go better. No teacher like experience. Welcome to the obsession.
 
I'm confused. You put the hydrometer in the beer...and it fell to the bottom and broke? Or did fermentation break it?

Not the worst screw up I've heard.

Your beer doesn't need a krausen to indicate fermentation; for example, look at starters. Of all the starters I've made, 1 has had a krausen and yet all were fermented.

Oxygen exposure isn't as big of a problem as you would expect during active fermentation. CO2 is being pushed out and will displace any O2 pretty quickly.

Sounds like you need to relax, etc.
 
Use a sanitized turkey baster or wine thief next time. Sorry about the pale ale but that just means you have to start another batch! You should maybe consider picking up a bucket to ferment in too.
 
Good news comes in threes:

1) You will most likely still have beer (just avoid the glass, okay?).
2) You have a great story to tell about the "hydroplug".
3) You won't be making that mistake again!

No worries!
 
Your beer is not ruined. I would not dump this beer. Some measure might need to be taken that otherwise shouldnt, but I wouldnt give up on it. My only real concern from your post is the glass that could potentially be in the beer. Why not just strain it when transferring to bottling bucket/keg? I have a strainer that is fine enough that no glass would get through. Yes would would be introducing oxygen to the beer, but at least you would HAVE beer! Not a terrible mistake in my opinion. Drink it fast and I doubt you see any ill effects.
 
Or, if you forget to pull a sample for a reading, shrug your shoulders and just add a week onto your fermentation. Truth be told I very rarely take readings. I just make sure it's done and then give it a week before packaging.
 
Jason81, I'm a little confuzzled here. You filled a tube (I'm guessing the one the hydrometer came in) with wort, then held it and the hydro in the carboy, then accidentally dropped it into the carboy? The hydro is still in one piece? If that's the case and you had a minor exposure incident, I don't think you'll have a problem. Wait 3 weeks (+/-), bottle and taste.
 
devil and petey:
yes i tried totake a reading IN the carboy and theft it in, it broke or shatered during fermentation.

chaydaw- i was tinking that as well but i was also concerned about the paper and ink used on it it would probably disolve some in the beer before settling in the trub
 
That paper and ink will be inconsequential in 5 gallons of beer. Strain it out, let it ferment, give it a good crash cool (or not) and you will be fine in my opinion. Just my opinion, I am not responsible for any potential calls to poison control! But seriously, I would drink it.
 
There are glass shards in that beer. The beads used for weight in the hydrometer may also be made of lead. There's a lot of liability involved if you let anyone else drink that beer. I say dump it, chalk it up to experience, and move on to the next batch.
 
ya i think you are right maby i will do that strain when transfering to another carboy to mix with my priming sugar befor i bottle i think most of the glass would have settled and i can just keep my racking cane high enough and not wory about the last inch or so. have of the hydrometer ended up on my floor anyway. and i was gearing up for another brew day today. maby i still will in addition to this one
 
Glass shards can easily be strained out. And the beads in a hydrometer are packed down and sealed off, they are not loose. And from what I gather from the post the bulk of the hydrometer, and I am assuming the bottom half he was able to recover.
 
That paper and ink will be inconsequential in 5 gallons of beer. Strain it out, let it ferment, give it a good crash cool (or not) and you will be fine in my opinion. Just my opinion, I am not responsible for any potential calls to poison control! But seriously, I would drink it.

I totally agree. I would get one of those super fine mesh hop bags and tie that on to the end of my siphon hose and rack it to a bucket to filter out the foriegn material.

If you dont drink it I will.
 
This is one occasion where I would suggest a secondary.

Here's why:

Strain the beer in a few weeks when you rack to secondary...and again a few weeks later when you rack it to your bottle bucket.

You can get yourself some paint strainer bags from Home Depot or Lowe's. OR use a muslin hopsock/grain bag at the end of your autosiphon.


I did this 2 batches ago with a broken thermometer and the beer is ok now. Although I did see all manner of glass, etc in the trub.

I'd just suggest you leave about 1-2" of beer above the trub (both times) to be sure you don't risk sucking up any shards small enough to pass through the mesh bag.

You'll waste a few pints, but not the batch.
 
Glass shards can easily be strained out. And the beads in a hydrometer are packed down and sealed off, they are not loose. And from what I gather from the post the bulk of the hydrometer, and I am assuming the bottom half he was able to recover.

WHAT?@? Strain out glass shards? That's silly in my opinion.

I'm not one for dumping out beer, but risking a friend getting a tiny glass shard in their throat is crazy! Even if you used a fine mesh strainer and strained the beer (oxidizing it like heck and hence ruining it), do you really think it's a good idea to take the chance?

I'd consider it a lesson well learned, and toss the batch. It'd be worth the $30 for the ingredients just to not have to worry about glass shards in every bottle!
 
WHAT?@? Strain out glass shards? That's silly in my opinion.

I'm not one for dumping out beer, but risking a friend getting a tiny glass shard in their throat is crazy! Even if you used a fine mesh strainer and strained the beer (oxidizing it like heck and hence ruining it), do you really think it's a good idea to take the chance?

I'd consider it a lesson well learned, and toss the batch. It'd be worth the $30 for the ingredients just to not have to worry about glass shards in every bottle!

Folks have an irrational fear over broken glass. If strained through fine mesh, there is no risk from drinking it.
 
Folks have an irrational fear over broken glass. If strained through fine mesh, there is no risk from drinking it.

I'll have to trust you on that! But straining a beer through fine mesh would cause oxidation and ruin the beer anyway in my opinion.

Obviously we can disagree, no worries!
 
Don't dump it.....its beer....ya don't just dump beer... well for this reason any way. rack it and strain it a couple times and you'll be fine.
 
Actually, you don't really even need the mesh since you have gravity on your side. Glass doesn't float. As long as you don't go after the last little bit at the bottom you should be fine.

I'm used to dealing with 0-G stuff at work where I would be very concerned about glass. However, we haven't tried home-brew on ISS yet.:D

BTW: From what I hear, carbonation is really hard on the stomach on-orbit.
 
haha glass ale, well its still fermenting i think i will rack to secondary and strain it and leave a few inches at the bottom that way il still get some beer and get to see how it turns out, im not scared, i think il be drinking this by myself though. picked up some ingredients today and a new hydrometer and will be brewing an oatmeal stout tomorrow, and maby do a cider this week too, im thinking somthin similar to the graff recipe maby
 
But straining a beer through fine mesh would cause oxidation and ruin the beer anyway in my opinion.

Not saying the mesh strainer is a great idea for getting out the glass, but, wouldn't putting the mesh over the end of the cane that goes into the wort avoid oxidation?!?!? If not, it's possible, I have completely misunderstood oxidation to this point! :confused:
 
The piece of paper that came with my hydrometer specifically states the ballast weight is made from stainless steel and should pose no risk if it were to come in contact with my serving liquids.
 
Your beer is not ruined. I would not dump this beer. Some measure might need to be taken that otherwise shouldnt, but I wouldnt give up on it. My only real concern from your post is the glass that could potentially be in the beer. Why not just strain it when transferring to bottling bucket/keg? I have a strainer that is fine enough that no glass would get through. Yes would would be introducing oxygen to the beer, but at least you would HAVE beer! Not a terrible mistake in my opinion. Drink it fast and I doubt you see any ill effects.

Dude, there are shards of glass in that beer. There is no way in hell I would risk drinking glass shards for anything.

Small/very sharp shards can go through strainers and even get stirred up and float around with just a little agitation.

Not worth it IMO.
 
Just put a label on each bottle that says, "Drink at your own risk". Maybe call it Red Flag and put pictures of red flags with glass shards diagrammed on the flags. Sounds like an instant hit with the lifeguards.
 
There is no way any shard of glass that could do any harm would get through a fine mesh strainer. That is simply a fact. Yes, a SHARD of glass would do harm but anything getting through a fine, wire strainer would not do a thing. The OP said that most of the hydrometer was recovered, including the bulk which is the bottom half. Personally I would have no problem drinking this as long as it was strained through a fine filter.
 
There is no way any shard of glass that could do any harm would get through a fine mesh strainer. That is simply a fact. Yes, a SHARD of glass would do harm but anything getting through a fine, wire strainer would not do a thing. The OP said that most of the hydrometer was recovered, including the bulk which is the bottom half. Personally I would have no problem drinking this as long as it was strained through a fine filter.

You are correct. This thread and all the others where someone mentions broken glass in beer proves my point about the irrational fear of swallowing broken glass.

Basically for a piece of glass to do any significant damage to gastrointestinal tract it would have to be very large, to the point where it would have to have been swallowed intentionally. In fact go to Google and do a search for medical case reports of injury from swallowing glass. You won't find anything other than a child who aspirated a glass ball and had it stuck in his throat for 1 1/2 years before he had it removed. Pins, razor blades and needles can do some damage but these are only swallowed intentionally. Remarkably, even razor blades can often pass without incident.

Here's a nice discussion of why swallowing glass is unlikely to cause harm, and certainly any pieces that passed through fine strainer are no risk to you at all. If not irrational then the fear of broken glass is at the very least unfounded.


The gastro-intestinal tract, or gut, is a long, flexible but tough, muscular tube with a delicate lining surface which is being constantly replaced. The muscle layers squeeze gently to propel food through and to mix it as it is digested. Indigestible materials like sweet corn husks and tomato seeds, as well as man-made things, pass through unchanged.

The human digestive tract has the capacity to cope with a very wide variety of food and drink as part of the normal diet. Man has evolved as an omnivore and has adapted to a mixed diet from a variety of sources. Bones in meat and fish are usually removed but may be swallowed, usually without hazard. Foods from plants may include tough, fibrous and spiky parts which are not eaten deliberately but can pass through the intestine without problem. Most of these non-nutrient components of the diet can be digested to some extent making them less hazardous.

Materials like glass, plastic and metal are not changed in their passage through the bowel and might, in theory at least, be more hazardous than natural substances. Occasionally children or people in disturbed mental states swallow these sorts of things deliberately and it is remarkable how rarely they develop problems.

The risks of swallowing these materials depends on their size, shape and sharpness. Small pieces can travel right through the bowel and be passed normally without problems. The bigger the person, the larger the piece that can go through. In general, narrow objects pass through the bowel more easily and smooth ones are less likely to get caught.

Sharp objects such as glass fragments might be expected to cause damage but rarely do so because of the gentle way in which the bowel handles them. Small splinters or spikes could cause perforation but this is very unusual. A small perforation rarely leads to peritonitis and usually heals quickly with any leakage contained. Small fragments may also cause a little bleeding into the bowel which can be detected on tests in the stools but serious blood loss is very rare. Ground glass, despite its reputation in thrillers, has no serious effect on the bowel.

The mouth, particularly the tongue, is very adept at detecting anything of different texture in food or drink. Children and adults will spit out something that does not feel right. Babies and the elderly may not be so discriminating which could put them at greater risk. Once food has been swallowed it passes quickly down the oesophagus (gullet) into the stomach. The narrowest point of the gastrointestinal tract is the exit from the stomach, called the pylorus. Objects which are too large to pass through will therefore stay in the stomach. They can often be retrieved using a flexible instrument called an endoscope which is passed down through the mouth. Anything which passes through the pylorus is unlikely to cause further problems.
 
If you're making a five gallon batch of beer, it may be wise to use a 6.5 gallon fermentation container.
 
Although it sounds like it wasn't a problem, most hydrometers and floating thermometers have steel shot, not lead. You can check it with a magnet.

I recently had this problem in a batch of skeeter pee (with a thermometer). I'm more worried about the metallic taste than any glass. (I still may dump if that doesn't go away). I no longer use glass directly in the brew. Transfer the wort to a sanitized cylinder for readings then return the wort back to the fermenter.

This beer I would just rack and filter, risking the possibility of oxidization. Filtration probably isn't necessary, but I wouldn't share the beer with others unless I did.
 
If it was my first batch of beer, I would at least let it settle and bottle a few if not all. Hey you only brew your first batch one time.
 
I'll have to trust you on that! But straining a beer through fine mesh would cause oxidation and ruin the beer anyway in my opinion.

Obviously we can disagree, no worries!

I might try to tie the bag around the input end of an auto-siphon. It may stall the siphon if the bag gets plugged up, but there's no air to mix it with in there.

I agree with the secondary in this case (although I secondary anyway) and leaving 2-3 inches behind (to lower the chance of jamming up the mesh with trub, etc.)
 
I sometimes seem to be the poster child for "schist happens", hence my reluctance to trust fate. Logically, the strainer should do the trick. Maybe you can call it Pain (or pane) in the Glass. Let us know how it turns out. pete
 
Don't drink it!

Send it to me and I'll drink it! 

But seriously, drink it. Beer is beer and dumping out beer should be a crime!
 
I'd drink it if it was strained. I've been known to drink beer straight out of broken bottle tops :p
 
some people eat glass for the hell of it. I don't think there is anything special about their digestive system that allows them to do so. If I were you, I'd strain the hell out of, maybe even through a filter, and secondary. You have to keep your first batch, even if you are the only one who drinks it.
To ease your mind, maybe pour your first bottle or two through a filter as well to make sure nothing is in there.
 
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