Rubber Stopper submerged in Freshly Pitched Wort

Yeah, I actually pushed my rubber stopper in to my carboy full of 5.5 gallons of freshly pitched wort.

Has anyone ever done this and tasted the results of the fermentation?

I think I can save the carboy, after watching this awesome video: http://blog.viddler.com/cdevroe/wine-cork/

My main question is: After I let this ferment out and hope for a drinkable beer, can I expect a "rubbery" off-flavor or any other weirdness? The stopper was brand new and had been soaking in StarSan for about 15 minutes.

For what it's worth, this batch was a "Black IPA" and is the darkest beer I've brewed yet -- since it looks like a tire, maybe it would be fitting to have a little rubber flavor.

Sometimes we "Dry Hop." Today, I "Wet Stopper."

I imagine it all depends on the rubber used in the stop. If it was a decent kitchen-grade rubber and he wort had cooled before it went in, I think you will be fine. On the other hand, you could have some problems if it was cheap smelly rubber and/or a hot wort.

:cross:

joftinac said:

Yeah, I actually pushed my rubber stopper in to my carboy full of 5.5 gallons of freshly pitched wort.

Has anyone ever done this and tasted the results of the fermentation?

I think I can save the carboy, after watching this awesome video: http://blog.viddler.com/cdevroe/wine-cork/

My main question is: After I let this ferment out and hope for a drinkable beer, can I expect a "rubbery" off-flavor or any other weirdness? The stopper was brand new and had been soaking in StarSan for about 15 minutes.

For what it's worth, this batch was a "Black IPA" and is the darkest beer I've brewed yet -- since it looks like a tire, maybe it would be fitting to have a little rubber flavor.

Sometimes we "Dry Hop." Today, I "Wet Stopper."

Click to expand...

You'll be fine. It's a rite of passage. I pushed a grommet into my double IPA on Friday - not sweating it. (I was pissed off, but not worried)

You will be fine. I did it once and just left it in there for the whole fermentation.

Let it sit and anjoy it when it is done.

Should be just fine. Hope you have another stopper! Back when I first started brewing, I did that and didn't have another stopper (or a blow off hose that fitted). My solution was to sanitize some saran wrap, wrap it tightly around the hose and shove it in the carboy opening. I then sealed it with red wax. Looked like a Makers Mark bottle. Despite my worry, it turned out just fine. Just had a little extra carboy cleaning to do.

Update with Bottom Line Up Front: Beer is finally drinkable, but not something I want to share with my friends. If you drop a stopper in to your beer and it is a "cheap rubber" stopper, get it out asap, transfer your beer asap, or be prepared to take a few months to let it mellow out so you can drink it. ... and don't plan on sharing it with anyone.

Processes since first post:

It was a cheap brown rubber stopper, not a clean white plastic one. If it had been the white plastic, I think I would have been just fine.

I let the beer finish initial fermentation then transferred to a secondary to get it off the rubber. It had a very pronounced rubber taste and aroma and wasn't even palatable. I was careful to minimize agitation in hopes that the bulk of the rubber particles would be down in the trub.

The rubber stopper was easily removed with the video in my OP. It was actually kinda fun. There was no visible deterioration of the stopper. I promptly threw it in the trash anyway, just to let it know how I felt about it popping in to my freshly pitched wort. I will never use a "cheap rubber" stopper again.

When I transferred to the 2ndary, I boiled and added a small mix of table sugar and water hoping that a little extra fermentation might help the yeast clean up the crap. I did see some mild signs of fermentation, so I let it sit for three weeks.

By this point, I was 4 weeks past brew day and decided to take a sample. The rubber smell and taste was still very pronounced. Unwilling to give up so easily, I transferred it to a tertiary in hopes of letting it settle some more and get the rubber out. I decided the choice of dumping the batch down the drain was worth the risks of oxygenation and/or contamination. I had the carboy and fermentation space available, so gave it some more time.

I let it sit another month in the tertiary. The sample after that was much more palatable, but still had evident rubbery notes and was not a beer I would enjoy or share. Since I still had the time, I let it sit a couple more weeks.

At this point, my brewery had upgraded and I had a fridge dedicated to cold crashing - so I cold crashed the beer @ 34 degrees for a week. There was still a rubbery smell and taste, but it was getting better. ...

I kegged it, force carbed it (with frequent strong rubbery smelling bleed offs that slowly became less rubbery) then let it sit for a week.

Now, after all that, it's palatable. There's still some rubber in the nose and flavor, but it is minimal, and I need to empty the keg. It is possible that some more time may clean this up properly, but it is plenty good enough for me to drink and I have a pipeline to think about. This experiment has gone on as long as I can let it without dumping it.

I wouldn't share this beer with anyone else, but it's decent. I'll have to brew this Black IPA kit again properly to see what it's supposed to taste like.

If this kit didn't have such a strong flavor or if I didn't have enough time to wait, this probably would have ended up down the drain.

Another update:

After noticing the rubbery smell begin to fade, I decided to let a few friends try this brew. I told them each there was a flaw and their job was to tell me what it was. After assuring them it was okay to drink, they all tasted it and none of them could pick out the rubber flavor. I had 7 tasters, four of which were at least familiar with the process of filling out a BJCP score sheet, and none of them could believe me when I told them the story of the stopper. Three of the seven really liked the brew and asked for larger samples.

So, apparently it did turn out okay. I still smell a hint of rubber in the nose, but the flavor seems okay. Perhaps I'm just overly critical or somehow stuck with the physiological memory of the first time I smelled this beer and almost got knocked over by the smell of rubber.

So, time to RDWHAHB.

Queue Revvy to drop a "do not throw beer away link"

Glad it turned out for the best. It's interesting to see that even something like a rubber taste can age out. Thanks for the update.

My brother in law did the same thing. He tastes the rubber as well even though no one else can. There is a psychological effect it has on you, nothing more.

I've done it before and it came out fine