Will it kill me?

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WhiskeyScroggins

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Back in June I brewed a nice stout. I had gotten it racked and put the airlock in (3 piece type), life interrupted the process and somehow I forgot to put any liquid in it. I didn't notice it until later that week when I went to check on how fermentation was going. At that point I just figured it is what it is and ignored it. It's still sitting there. Is it worth kegging, or just throw it out?
 
it won't kill you, taste it before you throw it out you might be ok and you might not
 
I'd like to modify what kiwibrew said, if it's going to kill you, it's better one of your friends taste it (that you don't care about so much), than yourself. Actually, according to most studies, nothing that can "kill" you can live in beer. Think about it, hundreds of years ago, people were brewing beer and surviving longer than those who drank the local water... Keg it and try it out. One sip will let you know if it's a keeper or not... Best of luck, Pete
 
As they have said, nothing in there will kill you even if it caught some nasty bug. It may taste like Satan's anus and trigger a gag reflex, but that will be the only real harm done.

But in all seriousness, there's probably a 99.5% chance the beer is just fine even with the airlock mishap if everything else was sanitized properly. That's because fermentation creates CO2 and due to the pressure created in the fermenter it pushes gas out of the airlock making it nearly impossible for anything to somehow get in.
 
I could be way off here but here is my thinking. If you installed an airlock even without any liquid, you are still getting the CO2 inside and coming out of the airlock. While not the ideal set up, the pieces of the airlock would hopefully keep out most of anything nasty. Again i could be way off, but seems logical to me.
 
marubozo said:
As they have said, nothing in there will kill you even if it caught some nasty bug. It may taste like Satan's anus and trigger a gag reflex, but that will be the only real harm done.

But in all seriousness, there's probably a 99.5% chance the beer is just fine even with the airlock mishap if everything else was sanitized properly. That's because fermentation creates CO2 and due to the pressure created in the fermenter it pushes gas out of the airlock making it nearly impossible for anything to somehow get in.
Click to expand...

raptorkeeper89 said:
I could be way off here but here is my thinking. If you installed an airlock even without any liquid, you are still getting the CO2 inside and coming out of the airlock. While not the ideal set up, the pieces of the airlock would hopefully keep out most of anything nasty. Again i could be way off, but seems logical to me.
Click to expand...



Thanks, I was def going to try it b4 pitching it, just wanted to make sure I wouldn't die or get terribly sick!
 
You have had a fermentor going since last June? So that's nearly 7 months in the fermentor open to the atmosphere? I would dump it personally.
 
badbrew said:
You have had a fermentor going since last June? So that's nearly 7 months in the fermentor open to the atmosphere? I would dump it personally.
Click to expand...

without even sampling? I would have to try it before even considering dumping.
 
badbrew said:
You have had a fermentor going since last June? So that's nearly 7 months in the fermentor open to the atmosphere? I would dump it personally.
Click to expand...

So you'd dump a beer without even tasting it first even though there's a better chance of it being perfectly fine than having something wrong with it? It's a 3-piece airlock with practically pinholes exposed to the outside air. It's not like it was hanging out in a bucket with the lid off for six months.
 
marubozo said:
So you'd dump a beer without even tasting it first even though there's a better chance of it being perfectly fine than having something wrong with it? It's a 3-piece airlock with practically pinholes exposed to the outside air. It's not like it was hanging out in a bucket with the lid off for six months.
Click to expand...

Probably right. I still don't know if I'd drink it though. Doesn't some of the alcohol evaporate after that long?
 

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