blood in beer

[buzbey]

When I was taking the lid off my ale pail for a hydrometer sample I must have cut two of my fingers. I don't know if I got any blood inside but what do you think will happen if I did get a couple drops in there?

 

[g-love]

Beer vampires will come. But, they'll leave quickly, especially if they see the gnomes (or the bears).

 

[Shizog4]

a few drops probably nothing ... if you are sharing the beer i wouldnt menton it to others

 

[Golddiggie]

Depends on what you're carrying inside you. If you turn green when you get angry, toss it (or feed it to the local animals ).

Personally, I would wait to see how it turns out. I would also mention that taking too many hydrometer readings can lead to complications (blood being just one of them). If you were just checking to be sure it's at FG (after giving it enough time) then get the bucket lid remover tool. If you're just looking to see what's going on inside there, there are far better/safer ways.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

get some thick skin on your hands, man and/or woman!

 

[buzbey]

Ya I just got bored and wanted to see how it was coming along. What is a better safer way you speak of? Besides leaving it alone like I should

 

[cluckk]

Ya I just got bored and wanted to see how it was coming along. What is a better safer way you speak of? Besides leaving it alone like I should

One idea would be a carboy (glass or Better Bottle) so you can do like the rest of us and stare lovingly at it.

 

[C_F]

If it ends up as a "Super Beer" you may end up cutting yourself like
an Emo kid on depressants when you brew. Fair warning.

 

[Golddiggie]

get some thick skin on your hands, man and/or woman!

Or just stop using buckets all together. No, I'm not promoting using carboys either...

Ya I just got bored and wanted to see how it was coming along. What is a better safer way you speak of? Besides leaving it alone like I should

Well, temperature of the fermenting beer is a really good indicator of what's going on inside the vessel. That's typically how I tell when a batch has finished fermenting. I also use it to tell when a batch has started fermenting, when it peaks, and when it's slowing down. Once it's back to ambient (or ambient average) I know it's done fermenting. I then let it rest for a span before transferring to serving kegs. I use what's left in the transfer tube to get my FG reading (I use a refractometer, so I only need ~1ml).

 

[buzbey]

Well I just use my bucket cause its easier to pore my wort in and my carboys usually got a batch in it. How do you aerate your beer in the carboy? I usually pore mine from pail to kettle a couple times to get lots of oxygen in it

 

[Braufessor]

One idea would be a carboy (glass or Better Bottle) so you can do like the rest of us and stare lovingly at it.

Hmmmm..... I wonder if this is the first time ever on HBT that it was suggested to quit using plastic and move to glass in order to prevent injury resulting in bleeding

 

[Golddiggie]

Well I just use my bucket cause its easier to pore my wort in and my carboys usually got a batch in it. How do you aerate your beer in the carboy? I usually pore mine from pail to kettle a couple times to get lots of oxygen in it

I don't pour the wort into my fermenting vessel. I run the wort through my plate chiller, and then into the fermenting vessel. I then use an O2 infusion system to oxygenate the wort before pitching the yeast. Once you pitch the yeast, you don't oxygenate the beer (it's not beer until you pitch the yeast) unless it's a BIG beer (high OG). Even then, it's only [typically] in the first 12-18 hours from pitching.

You're topping out at 8ppm when using atmospheric oxygen. You'll never get any more without using either pure O2 or another way to concentrate the oxygen that's then pushed into the wort. While 8ppm can be ok for lower OG batches (8 degrees plato), it quickly falls short for others. I've yet to brew anything with THAT low of an OG.

 

[buzbey]

Ya I meant wort in carboy, not beer. How much is a 02 infusion system and what in the f is it? Fish tank pump or are you using pure oxygen? Shacking my carboy full of wort simply won't do the job? I usually brew around 1.070 og

 

[Golddiggie]

Ya I meant wort in carboy, not beer. How much is a 02 infusion system and what in the f is it? Fish tank pump or are you using pure oxygen? Shacking my carboy full of wort simply won't do the job? I usually brew around 1.070 og

Here's a low budget O2 infusion system... I got one of those to start with, but then upgraded a few items. Since I already had an O2 welding tank, I simply picked up a regulator with a flow meter (instead of pressure gauge) and connected that to the wand via some 3/16" ID Bevlex tubing. You can find the regulators on ebay or Amazon for $20-$50 typically. The O2 tank will vary by location and stores in your area. The smallest O2 tank you can get will serve you for MANY batches. With a pure O2 system you can easily hit 20ppm (or higher) for O2 levels (dissolved). With atmospheric oxygen (either by shaking (not shacking) or a pump) you'll never get over 8ppm of dissolved O2. You can run the pump until the cows come home, or shake the carboy until you pull something, it won't make any difference.

 

[BetterSense]

I've brewed plenty of good beers that gravity and i don't have any fancy aeration system. I pour my wort into the bucket from about 5 feet up, 1 time. Yeast takes off fine and finishes fine.

 

[Zamial]

What is a better safer way you speak of?

a 12" glass pipette. They look like a long eyedropper with a small bulb on the end. If you get one that does not have a bulge in it, it can remove as much as you like, through the bung/grommet hole.

 

[Golddiggie]

a 12" glass pipette. They look like a long eyedropper with a small bulb on the end. If you get one that does not a bulge in it, it can remove as much as you like, through the bung/grommet hole.

Sliding a glass 'pipette' down the bunghole just sounds so wrong...

 

[Golddiggie]

I've brewed plenty of good beers that gravity and i don't have any fancy aeration system. I pour my wort into the bucket from about 5 feet up, 1 time. Yeast takes off fine and finishes fine.

Sorry, but for me 'good' isn't good enough. I want GREAT beers. Providing the yeast with enough O2 vial the pure O2 infusion is easier on me (no lifting of ~7 gallons of wort to let it go 5 feet into vessel) and gets me the O2 needed for the batch easily. I typically have 6.75-7.25 gallons going into primary. I simply run it from my plate chiller into vessel, hit it with the pure O2 at the LpM rating, and for time needed, and then pitch the yeast in and let it go. I typically have very active fermentation in under 12 hours (very often under 8 hour) and it finishes much cleaner than before I used pure O2.

There was a thread created a little while back comparing using a pure O2 system and the other methods. Believe the final analysis was you got better beer at the end with pure O2. Add the benefit of it being less work for the brewer and you have a solid win.

Do what you like, but when you're ready to step up your game, you know what to do.

 

[buzbey]

I have now learned. Thank you

 

[BrewerBear]

I busted my head open while taking a bucket upstairs,bled into it and it came out fine.

 

[buzbey]

I've brewed plenty of good beers that gravity and i don't have any fancy aeration system. I pour my wort into the bucket from about 5 feet up, 1 time. Yeast takes off fine and finishes fine.

I haven't had a problem doing this either. What's the highest og you've used this technique on?

 

[BetterSense]

I just finished one at 1.070--drinking it now; pitched 2 packets of S-05 and it was rolling the next morning. I don't usually go higher than that on my IPAs.

Pouring beer is easy to me, and the less equipment the better.

 

[whitehause]

Back to the original question.........

If the wort had fermented for a few days and had some alcohol content, you're probably fine. If it was just starting, I'd wait and see if it looks like it picks up anything funky.

 

[buzbey]

Back to the original question.........

If the wort had fermented for a few days and had some alcohol content, you're probably fine. If it was just starting, I'd wait and see if it looks like it picks up anything funky.

Ya its at 4.7 abv now. Do you know what it could possibly pick up from blood?

 

[dannylerch]

Cut towards your buddy, not your body!

 

[CityOChampBrew]

Def don't share that beer.. All of your friends will say that your beer got them sick

 

[cluckk]

Well I just use my bucket cause its easier to pore my wort in and my carboys usually got a batch in it. How do you aerate your beer in the carboy? I usually pore mine from pail to kettle a couple times to get lots of oxygen in it

I've done the pouring and the shaking. I recently went to a pump and air-stone. I really prefer it, but am thinking of getting an oxygen tank.

 

[Bamsdealer]

I wouldn't worry. Not sure what you could pick up from blood anyway. As long as the cut wasnt infected, you probably just assed a little protien and minerals to heelp the yeast out. To hell with yeast nutrient!

 

[cluckk]

Hmmmm..... I wonder if this is the first time ever on HBT that it was suggested to quit using plastic and move to glass in order to prevent injury resulting in bleeding

And I wonder if this was the first post ever on HBT in which someone asked what their options were to using pails. BTW, I didn't say switch to glass. I said switch to carboys and include the choice of glass or Better Bottle--which last I checked are plastic.

And my reasoning was not to prevent injury (that was another poster) but to end the temptation to open the pail to see what is going on.

 

[buzbey]

Def don't share that beer.. All of your friends will say that your beer got them sick

What makes you think this? Everyone else is saying the opposite.