Had a less than ideal brew day, not terrible so I'm not too worried about it, but would like some input.
Here's the story: brew day was going well until I chilled my wort to 175-180F for a 30 minute hopstand, and (like a fool) accidentally dropped a solo cup, along with the hops, into the wort. I almost panicked and stuck my hand in, but grabbed my stainless steel spoon used for stirring the boil and fished the cup out. It was in there for about 10-15 seconds, but didn't melt, thankfully. I'm assuming there was a good amount bacteria on the cup and spoon, but I'm hoping the temperature was high enough to kill them. I then continued with the hopstand for about 30 minutes before chilling. Does anyone have references or anecdotal evidence about the temperature at which bacteria is able to infect hot wort? I thought I read somewhere that the danger zone is below 140 or 160f, but I'm not sure. I'm doing pretty good at relaxing, not worrying, and having a commercial brew, but any input would be appreciated. The last time I dropped something in the wort post-boil was my first batch, which turned out pretty awful, so it's hard to say if the contact contaminated anything or if the brew just sucked. Thanks as always!
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Here's the story: brew day was going well until I chilled my wort to 175-180F for a 30 minute hopstand, and (like a fool) accidentally dropped a solo cup, along with the hops, into the wort. I almost panicked and stuck my hand in, but grabbed my stainless steel spoon used for stirring the boil and fished the cup out. It was in there for about 10-15 seconds, but didn't melt, thankfully. I'm assuming there was a good amount bacteria on the cup and spoon, but I'm hoping the temperature was high enough to kill them. I then continued with the hopstand for about 30 minutes before chilling. Does anyone have references or anecdotal evidence about the temperature at which bacteria is able to infect hot wort? I thought I read somewhere that the danger zone is below 140 or 160f, but I'm not sure. I'm doing pretty good at relaxing, not worrying, and having a commercial brew, but any input would be appreciated. The last time I dropped something in the wort post-boil was my first batch, which turned out pretty awful, so it's hard to say if the contact contaminated anything or if the brew just sucked. Thanks as always!
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew