Help! Had to stop before boil!

[electricd7]

Hello,

I had plans to do a specialty grain / extra brew today and got my specialty grains steeped and ready and then I had something unexpected come up and had to stop. I may not be able to brew until Wednesday! Am I hosed? I emptied my pre-wort into a 7 gallon food grade bucket which is sealed. Will the water stay good until Wednesday when I can boil it and add my extract and hops or am I better to just go get some grain and start over? Is there a way to save what I have already started? Thanks in advance!

ED7

 

[Afrey1143]

Best bet would be to dump it and start over. In my opinion that is. Grains are really cheap. At my lhbs it's like $1-1.50/Lb. But those extract cans are like $15 a piece and $6 for an ounce of hops. I wouldn't risk those costs over the costs of the grains.
On the other hand wort oxidation pre boil isn't a huge concern. Just wouldnt want to take the risk!
Good luck!

 

[electricd7]

Anyone else with advice? I really want someone to tell me it will be ok I am thinking I can do the boil tonight and it has been in a sealed fermenting bucket since it was 160 degrees kept indoors at 70 degree ambient...whats the worse than can happen, right?!

 

[rodwha]

I cannot advise you on the quality of it, but as you'll be boiling it I don't see how it can harm your beer. I'd think that you could use it, but it would be cheap insurance to just redo the steeping and know that it'll be OK.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I would go ahead and brew it assuming you don't smell anything funny or see anything growing when you open the bucket. I've left wort over night without boiling before and had it turn out fine.

 

[Barley_Bob]

The colder you store it the better. You can even freeze it for later use. Alternatively, some people will can wort, particularly for use in starters. So, there are options.

If it were me, I would boil it for 10 minutes, let it cool, and then stick it in the freezer.

I would not want to just leave it sit in the bucket for any extended period of time at room temperature. That's almost certainly going to find a way to sour.

 

[andy6026]

Well, not sure if it's the same thing, but with All-Grain, I've mashed at night, sealed it up and brewed it the next day.

My Lhbs also makes beer from people out of pre-packaged wort that they then dry hop with both hops and grains (which I had never thought of doing).

Technically speaking, I can't see why you can't store it for a few days and then pick up where you left off. Maybe someone else knows why... but the chap above that pays $6 for an ounce of hops hasn't really offered a real reason except that he pays $6 for an ounce of hops?

 

[electricd7]

I'm going to give it a try. I will let you guys know how it turns out in 6 weeks Thanks!