Did I infect this beer? Do I need to dump it?!

[eon]

Hi all,

Recently, I brewed a sweet stout (Original thread found below)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/low-og-for-sweet-stout.639143/

I took a pre-boil OG reading and it was 1.038, which seemed pretty low to me. Nothing I could do about it so I went ahead and brewed the beer.

I cooled the wort down enough to pitch and I used 1 packet of S-05 dry yeast. I let it sit overnight and do it's thing. I then noticed a bunch of condensation in there and got worried. I googled condensation in fermenter and then my fears went away!

Then I noticed what looked like a bunch of mold. I took a look at the top on the fermenter (screw top) and noticed that the rubber gasket was not inserted properly into the top and it was just sitting on the bottom of the neck of the fermenter. I'm using the 7 gallon Fermonster if you're wondering.

So, I brewed the day before Thanksgiving and today I got curious to see if any fermentation took place because I didn't see any airlock activity. I know that AL activity is not important, but figured I was just going to dump this batch so I decided to take a gravity reading.

I opened the top and to my surprise it wasn't mold, just round patches of bubbles! There might be one pin sized patch of white stuff, but I doubt it and it's hard to tell honestly. So, I'm guessing it's either yeast or a pin sized bubble.

Anyway, The beer moved around a little when I pulled the fermenter out of the closet but didn't make any big splashes. Still, I was afraid that this would introduce oxygen.

To take my gravity reading, I did something stupid. I didn't have any Starsan on hand so I took the ladle that I was going to draw a sample with and sprayed it with Lysol disinfectant cleaner. I let it sit for 2 minutes per the directions. Then I rinsed it with water and wiped down with a clean paper towel.

I lowered the ladle into the fermenter and scooped up some beer, but the head of the ladle was too big to fit back through the fermenter unless it was tilted and so I spilled a small amount of beer back into the fermenter, which caused me to panic thinking I again may have introduced oxygen to the beer.

Lastly, I after 2-3 pulls, I took a gravity reading and it came back 1.021-1.022. So, I indeed achieved fermentation and I'm in the range for Sweet Stout. I took a swig and it didn't taste funny at all. It was pretty dang sweet though.

My plan was to let it sit for 3 weeks (starting from the day I pitched) and then on bottling day add cold brewed coffee to the bottling bucket.

My questions are:

1.) Do you think I introduced oxygen and ruined the beer?

2.) Do you think Lysol did nothing to the ladle and I just ruined the beer?

3.) Given my pre-boil OG 1.038 and my FG of 1.022 will this beer be worth it at like 2.1% I was really shooting for something more like 4%

4.) I have some WL007 in my fridge. Should I dump it into the fermenter and see if I can boost the alcohol? Should I pitch more S-05?

5.) Should I dump the beer?

Thanks for reading that long mess!

 

[ancientmariner52]

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams, "Don't Panic".

1. Belgians brew wonderful beer in open shallow pans called cool ships. Never a worry about oxygen. I know, I know. It makes a difference. But you didn't ruin your beer.

2. You rinsed the ladle? Should be ok.

3. 1.022 seems a little high. I suggest you let it ride for a few days and check again. Did you give it a gentle (the o2 thing again) stir to be sure you had a representative sample?

4. US05 is my favorite rescue yeast. If you are certain fermentation has stopped, you can give it a try.

5. Oh, hell no. You just missed your numbers a bit. I keep a few pounds of light dry malt extract in the freezer for rescue purposes. If you want to bump up the ABV, add some table sugar didsolved in boiling water then cooled to match the beer temp. There are all sorts of online calculators to help you out.

Don't Panic. It'll drink.

 

[xpops]

1) probably not enough oxygen introduced to ruin anything.

2) hopefully your rinsing removed any residual lysol - hopefully you've rectified this, and got yourself some proper starsan. not sure i'd be using lysol on anything that touches the beer you want to drink.

3) depending on your actual mash temp, 1.021 might not be too high. i've had lots of oatmeal stouts finish in this range. More importantly, what was your POST boil gravity? that's more important than the Preboil gravity. That will help you properly calculate your ABV. my guess is it might have been closer to 1.048-1.050, which would put the beer closer to 3.8'ish (future reference, you can up your gravity with dextrose in the boil, but it might dry it out a bit too much for this style of beer)

4) us05 won't quit until it's done eating any fermentables. highly doubt it's stalled out. i doubt new yeast will help (unless you want a Brett Sweet Stout?)

5) never dump! always drink...it will ensure you learn from your mistakes!

cheers,

 

[eon]

Depending on your actual mash temp

I mashed at 154F for an hour. Checked the temp after 10-15 minutes and it was still sitting at 154F. After an hour though, When I opened the lid, it was sitting at like 142F! I should have brought up the temp again and let it sit for maybe 15-20 minutes more. My mistake.

What was your POST boil gravity?

I didn't take one. My mistake again. I probably should have taken one right before I pitched.

My guess is it might have been closer to 1.048-1.050, which would put the beer closer to 3.8'ish

That would be wonderful. I can live with that!

us05 won't quit until it's done eating any fermentables. highly doubt it's stalled out.

Awesome. Well, it's back in the closet. Should I just wait it out for the next 3 weeks or risk infecting it again to take another sample in a few days?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[xpops]

Just make sure you have some proper sanitizer on hand before the next sample!

I believe the majority of the conversion happens in the beginning of your mash anyways...totally feasible to finish with a 1.020 with a 154 mash. You could leave it for another week and test FG again - but US05 finishes typically within 2 weeks, so i'd bet it's done.

I dont think i saw it in the OP, but what temp were you fermenting at?

 

[ancientmariner52]

I have no data to support this, but I believe the greatest source of fermenter infections is the human body. All the sanitation in the world won't help if you lean over the fermenter and drop a hair or a dead skin cell into the beer.

Wash your hands, and don't pass anything over the open fermenter that doesn't have to be there, and you'll be fine.

 

[eon]

I'm honestly not sure what temp I was fermenting at. I am keeping the fermenter in a closet that seems reasonable cool. I have the fermenter sitting on a blanket because I thought the floor might be too cold. Other than that I have the house thermostat kept in 69F or so. I live in an apartment without central heating so it's hard to tell what the actual temp is in that closet seeing as the "main" thermostat is in the living room.

If US05 finished in 2 weeks, that would be around Dec. 2nd (10days from brew day).

To be honest, I'd rather let it sit then risk infection and going through the trouble of messing with the beer.

I know you have know way of truly knowing given the information that I've given you, but if you think the beer is gonna finish around 3.8% abv, I'll leave it be and walk away happy!

So, I'll ask again right here: Do you see any reason why I should take another sample or add more yeast? Or should I let nature do what it wants?

Thanks again. Cheers!

Just make sure you have some proper sanitizer on hand before the next sample!

I believe the majority of the conversion happens in the beginning of your mash anyways...totally feasible to finish with a 1.020 with a 154 mash. You could leave it for another week and test FG again - but US05 finishes typically within 2 weeks, so i'd bet it's done.

I dont think i saw it in the OP, but what temp were you fermenting at?

 

[ancientmariner52]

You already know waay more than the guy that invented beer! You can let it ride, sample it, wash your hair with it, whatever you like. It's your beer.

The only worry is, if you bottle before the yeast is finished, you risk overpressurizing the bottles, with real risk or injury.

If you just wait and bottle around Dec 2, you're very likely to be ok. But a pack of wild razorback hogs couldn't make me say for sure, without a test. This probably doesn't help, but it is what it is.

 

[ESBrewer]

3) Pre-boil gravity won't tell you much about the attenuation or ABV. Did you measure OG at the start of the fermentation (or the post-boil volume). During the boil some volume is lost, but not much sugar -> gravity will increase during the boil. Maybe 10%, maybe more...need to measure it.

About the low efficiency, remember to cool down the wort when measuring with hydrometer (or compensate for temperature), otherwise the recorded values will be too low.

 

[xpops]

sorry! i thought i read somewhere it had been 3 weeks since you brewed. as ancientmariner mentioned, there's really no for sure way to tell, without taking consecutive steady readings. if you're hesitant, then wait it out. If you figure your ambient temp was in the high 60s, that means your fermentation was easily in the mid 70s (might have been better to let it sit on the cold floor). if mid 70's is the case, theres no way it's not done fermenting after 3 weeks ( you can still bottle it on the 9th, and be drinking it for xmas morning ).

cheers,

 

[ancientmariner52]

Hey, Eon. You may already know this. Yeast produces heat while it is going about it's busy day. Your fermenting beer will usually be a few degrees warmer than room temp. Ideally you would have some sort of temp probe in the beer, but a lot of us use a stick-on liquid crystal thermometer on the outside of the fermenter. Good enough for now, they are really inexpensive.