melted fermonster - ruined batch?

[dendron8]

so i made the mistake of trying the no chill method with the fermonster... it didnt end well (see attached image)

after about a gallon i noticed this and transferred the rest into my white bucket and then poured what was in the fermonster into the bucket as well.

it didnt melt any holes, but im worried it may have picked up some chemicals from the melting.

thoughts?

 

[thehaze]

How long was the fermenter exposed to the hot wort?

Seeing those fermenters are food grade, I do not think your beer has been tainted in some way.

But also judging from how the fermenter looks in the picture, I'll say you are safe.

 

[dendron8]

How long was the fermenter exposed to the hot wort?

Seeing those fermenters are food grade, I do not think your beer has been tainted in some way.

But also judging from how the fermenter looks in the picture, I'll say you are safe.

I would say probably 3-4 minutes. not long. when i started pouring the neck started sagging and i was like ummm....

thanks for the feedback. wont be the last dumb thing i do, but its all part of learning right?

 

[Sjorge3442]

I think you are good here. To save that fermenter, I'd put a little bit of hot water in it, cap it off so its air tight, and then shake it up. The expansion from the hot water/steam should push it out again. If that doesnt work, try the same thing, but instead of shaking, hit it with a small amount of compressed air. Start slow and turn your regulator up to increase its pressure till it pops back out. Of course, wear some sort of air protection to be safe.

 

[egotistic]

How did it turn out Dendron? I just did the same thing.... Doing a 10 gallon split batch. Started boiling the full volume before remembering I'm splitting it, drained about 5 gallons @ about 180F into Fermonster before I noticed it melting. Quickly dumped into my 7 gal bucket before any leakage. Should I be expecting any plastic flavors.... cancer possibly?

 

[dendron8]

Nope, beer turned out great. No plastic flavors. I'll let you know in 20 years on the cancer

 

[augiedoggy]

How long was the fermenter exposed to the hot wort?

Seeing those fermenters are food grade, I do not think your beer has been tainted in some way.

But also judging from how the fermenter looks in the picture, I'll say you are safe.

a cooler is foodgrade too...but only up to 170 degrees... Just saying that doesnt mean anything because many plastics become unstable and leech at higher temps.. I would not have kept this beer myself but hey such little exposure probably wont matter.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Alcohol is a risk factor for cancer ... sooo.......
Cheers!

 

[bucketnative]

I think you are good here. To save that fermenter, I'd put a little bit of hot water in it, cap it off so its air tight, and then shake it up. The expansion from the hot water/steam should push it out again. .

That will do the exact opposite. There will be no expansion from steam as everything will immediately begin cooling and the air in the sealed fermonster will decrease in volume which will create a negative pressure in the fermonster. This isn't a simple case of plastic or elastic deformation of the fermonster. The polyester (PETE) has been heated above it's glass transition temperature, which allows for release of residual stresses from the blow molding process used to produce the bottle. It has essentially be re-molded into the new, low-stress shape. In order to return it to its original shape, you would need to reheat the entire bottle to a sufficient temperature and then apply compressed air against a mold to get it back to it's original shape.