Advice on Potentially Ruined First Batch (Wrong Bleach Used)

[chefelf]

Hi, All!

I'm brewing a beer from a kit (my first attempt). I followed all the instructions to the letter, sanitized everything, and I even kept a running pot of boiling water with my utensils so I wasn't handling the airlock, stopper, etc. with my bare hands.


Carboy on Brew Day 1 by chefelf, on Flickr

After a few hours it was going along nicely.


Carboy on Brew Day 2 by chefelf, on Flickr

The next day I had some concern because the wort had gone up into the airlock. Some said I needed a blow off valve. Others said it may have been an overly active fermentation process. Others said maybe it was a bacterial infection.

Someone said (after 72 hours) to take the airlock and stopper out, clean and sanitize them, and replace them. So I did that.


Clorox (Examples) by chefelf, on Flickr

When I did this I discovered there were two types of Clorox under my counter. The one I used had (in small print): "Not for sanitation or disinfection. To sanitize and disinfect, use Clorox Regular-Bleach." They look almost identical so I had no idea I'd used that one.

My question is this: Do you think there's any chance this is salvageable? Should I just bottle it up and see? Or is it not worth it and should I dump the whole batch and try again?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give me. I'm still very new to this.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Based on your pictures it looks good. Some time brews need a blow off due to the active yeast munching on those sweet sugars. I would say if you taste bleach then DO NOT DRINK IT. If I was you I would go to your LHBS and pick up a Food Grade Sanitizer. Pictures look normal for an aggressive fermentation. No worries.

 

[birvine]

I can't make out the bottles but I would think the one you used might be a perfumed bleach. I would think that as long as you rinsed things well after sanitation you have nothing to worry about. The active fermentation is very common and not something to be worried abo9ut in most cases.

Relax, let it ferment a few weeks then bottle and enjoy after a few more weeks.

B

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I stopped using bleach,or bleach like powdered preparations. Too much hot water rinsing for me. Star-san is a no rinse,wet contact sanitizer that's food grade when properly diluted. It also breaks down into yeast nutrient. Quick,easy,& no worries.
But as long as you rinsed it off,& didn't use it in the airlock,all is well.

 

[chefelf]

Thanks, Everyone!

I did rinse it very thoroughly so I'm hoping all is well. The bleach I used (the one that says "splash-less" on the right) didn't have a scent to it but it appears that it is just at a lower concentration than regular bleach. I really wish the labels looked a bit different.

Thanks for the sanitizer recommendations -- I'll give that a shot next time. I guess I'm going to go ahead and bottle tomorrow and see how it turns out.

Also, I sanitized the airlock with it but didn't use it IN the airlock. I simply added regular water to the airlock.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[unionrdr]

You're welcome. We all are here to learn & help out when we can. Sounds like you'll be fine. No worries,m8.

 

[Double_D]

Does star san really break down into yeast nutrient? How does that work? I found this on the clorox website:http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-splashless-bleach/ingredients-and-safety/

 

[Dogphish]

i used the "splashless" bleach to clean all my bottles for my first few batches. i rinsed thoroughly and had zero problems.

i guess that they say "not for sanitizing" because that stuff is like a thin gel, designed not to splash or rinse off easily.

...and the fact that you only used it on your stopper and airlock means that you should have VERY LITTLE chance of resulting problem.

 

[CoalCreekBeer]

Thanks, Everyone!

I did rinse it very thoroughly so I'm hoping all is well. The bleach I used (the one that says "splash-less" on the right) didn't have a scent to it but it appears that it is just at a lower concentration than regular bleach. I really wish the labels looked a bit different.

Thanks for the sanitizer recommendations -- I'll give that a shot next time. I guess I'm going to go ahead and bottle tomorrow and see how it turns out.

Also, I sanitized the airlock with it but didn't use it IN the airlock. I simply added regular water to the airlock.

Thanks again for all the advice!

I personally use vodka in my airlock, just that extra step to help insure no infection.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,me too. Got that one from a video Gary Martin did early on. The Home Brewer TV guy. It made sense to me,since any nasties that do get in would die of alcohol poisoning.
I saw that on the Five Star chemical site for their star-san someone posted some time ago. I don't have the link,but you could look it up. They can explain it better. But that's the gist of it.

 

[chefelf]

Wow, thanks, Everybody! I've gotta say, I've been on a lot of support forums in my day but this is by far the friendliest group I've encountered.

Just to clarify: I did use the "splash-less" bleach on everything for the first batch. I did sanitize thoroughly though so I hope you are all correct and I'll be fine.

Preparing to bottle tomorrow morning. I picked up some Star San at the local brew shop and I'm going to use that for my bottling bucket and bottles.

Thanks again! In 3-4 weeks I'll let everyone know the results.