Blow-off sucked back into final beer - thoughts?

[a_gunslinger]

So this happened. Had my finished beer in a 5 gallon brewtech fermenter. Transferring to keg and it stopped. Lid clasps were unhooked but there must have been enough vacuum and still tight enough to stop flow. Broke the suction seal on lid and she started flowing again. But I didnt notice that I had the blow-off tube still in the blow-off jar! So it sucked all of the blow-off back into fermenter, which went into my keg. So we are talking about 2-3 cups of star sans treated water plus some yummy blow-off material now in my keg getting carbonating. Blow-off was at least contained in a freezer during fermentation; partially protected from the outside air.

Adventures in homebrewing.

What can I expect:

1. Screwed
2. The Beer Gods might be kind and all good
3. Three cups of Star sans solution and fermentation byproduct in beer never hurt anybody

 

[day_trippr]

I'm gonna go with "Somewhere between 2 and 3".
I think you'll be fine and won't notice the extra sanitation

Cheers!

 

[thebigbrewbowski]

4) Bottle it for your B list friends and ask them what they think of your new recipe

 

[a_gunslinger]

I'm gonna go with "Somewhere between 2 and 3".
I think you'll be fine and won't notice the extra sanitation

Cheers!

2.5 is ok!

 

[day_trippr]

In your favor the "Star San Suck Back Scenario" is hella common with usually full quarts involved, yet I can't recall anyone deciding to dump their "semi sanitized" batch after trying it in the end

Cheers!

 

[a_gunslinger]

4) Bottle it for your B list friends and ask them what they think of your new recipe

If it turns out good, Im hoarding it. It looks great and tastes great (pre blowoff last minute addition ;^)

Was a Hops and Gnarly brew, after a few NEIPA experiments he did: Best Hazy IPA to Date

 

[Jim R]

Been there done that. The question is - do you really want to drink 2-3 cups of Star San sanitizer. If so, go for it. When that happened to me, I decided no. To each his own.

 

[tracer bullet]

Been there done that. The question is - do you really want to drink 2-3 cups of Star San sanitizer. If so, go for it. When that happened to me, I decided no. To each his own.

Except you aren't drinking several cups of it. If you mix it properly you're drinking a small amount, and even then it's phosphoric acid. About as harmful as a couple cups of soda pop. Actually, some of us add phosphoric acid on purpose to get proper mash pH.

Yes, to each their own, but make sure to make educated decisions. You may know all of this and have taken it into account and made an educated decision - I'm not knocking you or saying you made a wrong decision. But as an FYI if you didn't know, or for others..

This is where the balloons and other things are really interesting to prevent the cold crash suck-back. Something I keep intending to tinker with adding to my blow-off setup just in case. But as of yet haven't.

 

[day_trippr]

If you mix it properly you're drinking a small amount, and even then it's phosphoric acid. About as harmful as a couple cups of soda pop.

'Zactly! And it removes rust from chromed bumpers, too!

Cheers!

 

[Mark3885]

This is where the balloons and other things are really interesting to prevent the cold crash suck-back. Something I keep intending to tinker with adding to my blow-off setup just in case. But as of yet haven't.

Can anybody elaborate on the balloons and fermentation? I’m assuming that you put the balloon on the fermentor prior to cold crashing , but do you allow fermentation to fill the balloon a little so it has volume to suck back?

 

[Nuke83]

Can anybody elaborate on the balloons and fermentation? I’m assuming that you put the balloon on the fermentor prior to cold crashing , but do you allow fermentation to fill the balloon a little so it has volume to suck back?

I have a small rig I use for all cold crashes. Basically, I use the base of a three piece airlock and fit about a two foot length of tube over the portion of the airlock that vents. I keep a few mylar baloons on hand that I typically buy at the dollar store since they're only.....wait for it.....a dollar. I use mylar since they have no elasticity and will simply fill with CO2 and not exert any backpressure to the fermenter when full. I cut off the bottom of the balloon so that the end of the tube opposite the airlock can fit into the balloon. I keg, so I use my tank to give a quick flush of the tube before inserting into the balloon. ( if you don't keg or have a C02 tank, you could just as easily make the rig and swap out with your airlock during fermentation once you're comfortable that no krausen will blow out. That way you can capture the C02 naturally created from your fermentation). After inserting tube into the balloon, I tape the balloon around the tube and then fill the balloon. replace your airlock with the C02 apparatus and you're good to go. I've never had an issue where the headspace has contracted so much that it's even come close to deflating the balloon and I'm comfortable that any suck back is nothing more than C02 during the cold crash.

I don't have a picture handy, but if I can take one of the tube sometime today, I'll post it up.

 

[superiorsat]

No harm done other than O2 pick up from the starsan. Any yeast that got pulled into the keg due to suck back will settle pretty quick.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I don't use StarSan in the blow-off bucket any longer, I use cheap vodka. If that gets sucked back who cares.

 

[kevin58]

Been there done that drank it.

 

[Rippchen]

Been there done that drank it.

Yeah ... Same here ... if Properly mixed star San is food safe ... I had the same concerns when it happened to me and looked at what star San is. I would not drink a few cups directly, but in your case I would aim for a 2.5. it will be ok. Wouldn't mind to try a pint of your beer if you send it to Germany

 

[Romex2121]

but do you allow fermentation to fill the balloon a little so it has volume to suck back?

Trust me Just make sure not to hook up balloon to early during an active fermentation unless it has some sort of pressure release rigged up to it ,
I did this awhile back thinking there’s no way it would fill the ballon
“Man was I wrong” The ballon filled up and started pushing the fermenter out of my little fridge, thank God i seen it or I would have had one big mess to deal with ……

 

[Nuke83]

Ditto to Romex. I don't capture CO2 from fermentation into the balloon. Since I keg, I have CO2 readily available in my tanks, so I fill balloon and don't even connect it until fermentation is complete and it's going into cold crash. One nice thing about using mylar balloons is that they can only expand so much, unlike a flexible balloon that can "over-inflate" beyond a volume you'd want.

 

[Packie]

So this happened. Had my finished beer in a 5 gallon brewtech fermenter. Transferring to keg and it stopped. Lid clasps were unhooked but there must have been enough vacuum and still tight enough to stop flow. Broke the suction seal on lid and she started flowing again. But I didnt notice that I had the blow-off tube still in the blow-off jar! So it sucked all of the blow-off back into fermenter, which went into my keg. So we are talking about 2-3 cups of star sans treated water plus some yummy blow-off material now in my keg getting carbonating. Blow-off was at least contained in a freezer during fermentation; partially protected from the outside air.

So this just happened to me. First time moving from plastic buckets to a Spike stainless steel stepup. I opened the port to transfer the beer into my corny keg, and I hear a strange gurgling sound. When I finally realized it was the sound of StarSan being sucked back up the blowoff cane, it was too late. Probably 2-3 cups worth.

So Gunslinger, did you drink your beer? If yes, any repercussions from doing so? I'm so bummed, not sure what to do now.

 

[Rish]

OP hasn't been seen here since last May but several posters above said they drank theirs when it happened to them. I would think that if you mixed it properly, the amount in a couple of cups mixed in 5 gallons of beer would be way below any harmful or detectable level. It's phosphoric acid which is used in soft drinks. I haven't had this happen to me but I would drink it if it did.

 

[day_trippr]

OMG, we lost another one??

 

[Packie]

OP hasn't been seen here since last May but several posters above said they drank theirs when it happened to them. I would think that if you mixed it properly, the amount in a couple of cups mixed in 5 gallons of beer would be way below any harmful or detectable level. It's phosphoric acid which is used in soft drinks. I haven't had this happen to me but I would drink it if it did.

Yeah, I may give it a shot. I tried a taste, and it's in my head that I'm tasting something soapy, when maybe I'm not. Ah well, I won't make this mistake again. Still would like to hear from others that have done this and lived to tell the tale.