Noo! I messed up

[jimmypop13]

Well I just brewed my first all-grain 5 gallon batch two weeks ago. Everything went great, even managed to nail my starting gravity. Yesterday I began to cold crash the beer down from 68*. Right now it's around 60*. I came out and opened my freezer to take a look and found the jar full of vodka that I had my blow-off tube in was empty! The vodka that was left looked like it had mold swirling around in it. Gross. So I'm guessing it all got sucked up in the beer. Dang it! I really didn't think anything would grow in vodka like that. Lesson learned! So I just ordered this kreusen catcher from NorCal:
http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Krausen-Catcher-2-Nipples-Grommet.html
I'm hoping it will fix this for next time. I'll leave the mason jar empty and just fill the airlock on it. That way if I get suck-back, the liquid just goes in the jar and not in the beer.
As for my beer, I'll give it a few days to cold crash and then taste it but I'm imagining if mold went in there, the outlook isn't good

 

[max384]

First of all, I would be very surprised to hear that mold was growing in vodka... Unless enough krausen went into the blowoff jar to significantly lower the ABV in the jar. My guess is that the krausen in the blowoff jar looked like mold to you.

How much vodka was in the jar? If it was a lot, I imagine it will affect the taste of the beer quite a bit. Depending upon the style, it may be okay tasting... Maybe.

For your next batch, use a blowoff tube for the first few days, then switch to an airlock.

 

[jimmypop13]

First of all, I would be very surprised to hear that mold was growing in vodka... Unless enough krausen went into the blowoff jar to significantly lower the ABV in the jar. My guess is that the krausen in the blowoff jar looked like mold to you.

How much vodka was in the jar? If it was a lot, I imagine it will affect the taste of the beer quite a bit. Depending upon the style, it may be okay tasting... Maybe.

For your next batch, use a blowoff tube for the first few days, then switch to an airlock.

Yeah that's a good idea too to swap to an airlock. I had about 1/3 of a mason jar full. The stuff swirling around in it was milky white. Not exactly sure if it was mold though

 

[seabrew8]

I never got the whole vodka thing in the airlock. I've brewed hundreds of batches and never have used vodka, just water.

 

[bigdaddybrew]

This will prevent sucking in the liquud as is cools...
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/air...DE5ACBD918FC&gclid=CJGZoMCRmNMCFVG5wAod-voNSA

 

[bajaedition]

I use a sanitary filter when cold crashing

https://www.morebeer.com/products/sanitary-filter.html

 

[jimmypop13]

I never got the whole vodka thing in the airlock. I've brewed hundreds of batches and never have used vodka, just water.

Someone told me once that eventually star-san and iodine solutions will go bad in an airlock but vodka won't, plus if you get a little suck back, it wouldn't hurt the beer. I've been using it ever since but never used a blow off tube while cold crashing before. I wonder is an air lock even needed while I get the beer down to temperature? Fermentation should be done. I can just seal it off until it hits 33*.

I will try the s-lock next time. Thanks for the tips

 

[eulipion2]

I like to use Better Bottle DryTap airlocks. No liquid, no suck-back. I can't find them on any of my usual online shops at the moment, but HERE'S A LINK to the BB website. I only attach a hose into sanitizer solution when there's bugs around (probably overly cautious), but most of the year, especially in the winter, I let 'em go naked.

 

[jimmypop13]

Thanks. I'll check it out. Man I just took a sample of the beer to see if I could notice anything​and wow it tastes amazing! Hopefully it stays that way

 

[mongoose33]

I just use an S-shaped airlock and use Star-San in it. Never had suckback using that. In fact, though I've used a blowoff tube a couple times, I've never had a blowoff--been close, but never into the airlock or blowoff tube.

Makes me wonder if people are putting too much wort in their fermenter and leaving too little headspace...anyway.....

An S-shaped airlock, Star-San, and good to go.

EDITED TO ADD: I wonder if I just jinxed myself.