Soot in beer

[Lavender_Pepper]

My brew-paddle is a MASSIVE grill spatula that had never been used. It worked great!

This weekend, I brewed a heffeweizen, ( https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/big-bold-rhubarb-wheat-281705/ ) and when I finished it, the beer was DARK. I wasn't sure what happened, but when I went to wash my paddle-cum-spatula I noticed that it looked scorched.

My boyfriend took it camping, cooked with it over an open fire, burned off everything "so it's clean!!!", and put it back in my brew closet.

What sort of damage am I looking at? He only used wood, so will I get a smoky taste? Is it worth seeing MY CHRISTMAS BEER through to the end or should I dump it and spend more $$ on another batch.

Or are heffe's supposed to be dark when they're in primary? :: pleaseohpleaseohplease::

 

[BigBlueDog]

What was your recipe? Extract, partial boil? The paddle may have simply scorched during the boil, particularly if you didn't notice anything unusual about it at the start of your brew session.

Also, lighter beers will look darker in the fermenter than they actually are, so you may have less off-color than it appears in bulk.

 

[AMonkey]

HAHAHA. This made me laugh. I will have to make sure to tell the wife my brewing stuff is off limits. I would ride it out, no point dumping it. Did you taste the wort? Might have invented a new beer!

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

i would leave it and see what happens. never a good idea to dump a beer for something so insignificant. if there is any soot, it will settle out with the yeast. and since it is a heffe, it will be too cloudy to notice. i don't think it is a big deal

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

@BigBlueDog - I used the recipe I linked in the OP. I steeped bc I don't have *awesome* gear yet, so it would fall under extract w specialty. I'm sure hoping you're right about the color, because it looks like a danged porter at the moment!!

@AMonkey - I did taste the wort and didn't notice any off flavors.

@Hockeyhunter - Cool, thanks. Hopefully it does settle.

(I brewed it 2 days ago) Also, it's fermenting just fine. I guess I'll see this one through, thanks for reassuring me. I think I'm gonna get a new brew-spoon out of this!

 

[freisste]

Assuming he didn't have chunks of steak on the spatula that ended up in the beer, I'd say no worries. Keep in mind, charcoal is covered in soot and it is used extensively in the alcohol industry.

Soot is just carbon which is entirely harmless and used in lots of different filters as well. Worst case is the soot actually absorbed some stuff from your beer.

All assuming it was JUST carbon on the spatula, which it likely was if he burned off other stuff.

I wouldn't worry and NEVER DUMP!

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

@Freisste - Yeah, it seems like I'm just paranoid. Now I'm hoping that this does something new and fun to the beer! Hah!

 

[BigBlueDog]

Sounds like a good recipe. Sorry I didn't look at it earlier - I was on my phone (screen is too tiny!). Some say partial vs. full extract boils can lead to darker wort, but YMMV. I do find that DME can scorch on me when I use it and am not particularly vigilant when stirring it in. Also, the amber DME will add to the color some.

All in all, I think you will end up with a fine beer. Yeah!

 

[yancydc]

Just called it a cascade dark hefeweizen and drink away! Last year I brewed a kolsch that came out waaay too dark, called it a golden kolsch, and went on with my day. As long as it takes good, no big deal.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

The soot may even just drop out to the trub after fermentation.

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

Ok, after just this week in primary (and still going at about a bubble a second), the beer has lightened significantly. Thanks for reassuring me that I hadn't royally destroyed this batch! I *really* should know better than to threaten to dump it!

Everything'll be ok.