Can I re-boil my almost cooled off wort?

[Firefly_Aviator]

I was boiling my wort in a turkey fryer on my carport. After it had almost cooled (used an immersion chiller) to around 100 F, I accidentally stepped in a small puddle of water from the chiller. I watched in slow motion as a big water droplet splashed into the wort. This is my second batch (first batch was horrendous) and I was trying sooooo hard to keep everything sanitary. All I knew to do was to just re-boil to kill any bacteria I had just splashed in there. Will this affect the brew?

 

[DRoyLenz]

It will affect it in the sense that you will lose a bit of hop aroma and flavor. If you added some of the hops late in the boil (within the last 15 minutes) then some of that flavor/aroma will boil off. If you have more of the hops, I would consider putting A LITTLE in there when you reboil it for 10 minutes or so (depending on your recipe and your tastes).

Your beer will become more bitter this way (a potential plus in my eyes, maybe not in yours).

If you don't have any more hops available, then I still would boil it for 5-10 minutes. If for no other reason, then ease of mind while it's fermenting.

 

[mightynintendo]

Personally I would just go with it and not even bother re-boiling.

 

[Kirbster]

During my first batch I watched as a brush that I use to clean my cast iron skillets dropped from the hook in the ceiling into my cooling wort. That beer turned out ok, no infection whatsoever. If I did not pick up an infection from that brush on my first batch, I doubt you will pick up an infection from a drop in your second. You could reboil your batch but why destroy your hop schedule. I say continue on as planned.

 

[Firefly_Aviator]

Hmmm.. Good input from you guys. I was just scared of ruining another batch. This is from a kit (Homebrewers Outpost) and it was 48 bucks so I was hell bent on making it work. The drops of water came from the water sitting on the carport so I was fairly certain this would have just devastated it. My last batch I THOUGHT I was being careful with stuff.. have no idea what happened but it tastes some kind of nasty!!!

 

[manticle]

Personally I wouldn't worry but yes you can re-boil. A lot of commercial breweries pasteurise which is pretty similar.

I had a visible infection which left no nasty flavour in a brew recently - brought it to the boil, added some aroma hops and no-chilled.

Bottled and drank - tasted lovely.

You will need to take notice of what it will do to your hop additions as mentioned above.

 

[milwaukee]

You're probably okay.

Your hop flavors will be affected by additional boil time because during the boil alpha acids are isomerized... which makes the hop compounds contribute more bitterness than flavor/aroma.

Something you might do is pitch extra yeast. That'll speed up the fermentation... meaning the starches (potential bacteria food) get consumed faster... and the alcohol level will go up faster making it harder for any contaminant organisms to get growing.

 

[bmckee56]

I have read in several reference books that you can siphon your cooled wort (cold break) to a boil kettle and re-boil it for a short period 10 - 15 minutes without serious effect. I like the idea of adding back some of the aroma hop as I am sure a part would be lost in the re-boil. By doing this, you ensure clearer beer and lessen the possibility of infection. This of course depends upon how sanitary you are to begin with.

Based upon a drop or two of puddle water, I do not think you would have much problem with any infection.

Good Luck.

Salute!

 

[IceFisherChris]

You might be fine but, I would just heat it up to about 170 and hold there for 5-10 minutes or so. Boiling is NOT required for sanitizing, but it works the fastest. By the time you get your wort to boiling, it's probably sanitized already. But the hotter you go, the more aroma/flavor you are going to lose.

 

[pkeeler]

It is amazing how scared people are around here of infection. Yes, you should clean and sanitize, but in the end, what could a drop of water do? Even if it had motor oil in it, it wouldn't ruin your beer or infect it. You are making something with a high alcohol content, low pH, full of anti-bacterial hop oils. I guess if you let things cool down and sit around for hours, then just drop in some old dry yeast, something might multiply. But if you pitch a good amount of yeast in a timely manner, things will work out.