Potential areas of contamination...should I scrap this batch?

Hey all,

I was brewing a new recipe of mead yesterday and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I was wondering if this batch is salvageable or if I should just scrap it and do it again. Mind you, it's only 1 gallon.

Here are the issues:

1) the top of the honey jar fell into the mix right after i boiled it. I doubt the water was still at 100 degrees C, and i figure this is a potential source of contamination. So I was wondering if this compromises the entire batch?

2) The yeast starter showed very little signs of activity. I used Lavlin E-1118 yeast.

3) After I put it all into the primary and sealed it, I filled the airlock up a little to much by mistake. I tried to take out some of the water and ended up having at least a tbsp or two of bottled water with quite a bit of StarSan leak right into the fermenter.

I've never had that last problem before.

Should I scrap it and try again or wait? Seeing as the aging for this will be about 6 months I would rather get it right than have a ruined batch after it's all said and done.


Thank you for any opinions! When it's all said and done, I'll share the recipe

Don't scrap it. Unless you need this container really badly for something, let it roll man. If it's in a nice carboy transfer it into a 1 gal Poland Spring bottle and do it there, and use your carboy for a second, more confident batch.

Dropping the lid in isn't good. The StarSan isn't the end of the world, though I use crappy bottom-shelf vodka to fill my airlocks since this sort of thing happens to me a lot more than I would like. Especially since I've started using a plastic Better Bottle - when you move it, the bottle deforms and can create suction in the airlock. I've dropped a bit of vodka into my blueberry batch already, but I'm not concerned.

As for the yeast, take gravity measurements and wait. If there is no visual or measurable evidence of fermentation, just re-pitch.

I'll probably use vodka in the future.

Thanks for your input as well!!

Besides, if you use vodka, you can have a shot after a day like that!!!!!! I don't know that I'd worry too much. You can add a Campden tablet when you rack to secondary if you're still worried.

Sounds to me like you're being WAY too paranoid!
Sanitation minimizes your chances of getting infection but it doesn't mean a few little mistakes have automatically infected the batch! I've heard horror stories of people sticking their arms into a batch a beer in an emergency and it surviving, and of course mead is a lot hardier than beer.

If it gets infected, then it gets infected. But I've never heard of someone scrapping an entire batch before it's even begun fermenting just because they dropped a lid in it!