Did I Ruin My Beer?

[bruhaha]

I made an ale and used roasted butternut squash in the secondary. I figured the squash chunks would settle on the bottom and I could rack off the beer like a yeast cake.

I was racking into a keg and kept seeing lots of pulp going thru the tube. I finished racking having to pump the siphon to make the pulp go thru the tube. I figured my keg dip tube would be stopped up immediately, so I poured the beer from the keg into a bucket lined with a paint strainer bag. This got the pulp out, then I racked back into keg, applied gas and purged several times. It is now at 32F at 13psi for carbing and conditioning.

Did I ruin my beer by this extra O2 exposure? I can feel quite certain I didn't improve the quality, but is this beer gonna be awful now from my mistake?

 

[billl]

Well, if you poured your beer through a paint strainer, you definitely added O2. The upside is that oxidation is a process. If you drink it fast, you might not even notice it. The longer it sits, the more apparent the oxidation will be.

And really, I've never had an oxidized beer that tasted "awful". It just starts to taste kinda dulled down and bland.

 

[Kent88]

well it definitely isn't what you wanted to do.

I'm a worrier when it comes to this kind of thing, but I've found that usually everything ends up being ok. You purged with CO2, so you've done all you can. I guess I'm with bill, drink it fast.

Reminds me of a time I brewed a Mr. Beer kit that called for pumpkin in the primary. I found out when it came time to bottle, use a fine mesh bag. It turned out ok, but there was pumpkin floating around in everything.

Best experience I had brewing with pumpkin (not in the taste of the final product, that was just ok) was a mini-mash BIAB with a baked, mashed up small pie pumpkin and about a pound of 6-row. One day maybe I'll try brewing another pumpkin beer...

Although it was one of those experiences where it seemed neat and everything, but there was no difference brewing the same kit and using canned pumpkin. I think homebrewing is one of those instances where the difference between canned and fresh pumpkin is negligible.

 

[bruhaha]

I'm inclined to believe I did lots of work for minimal reward. And I agree that it sounds very cool, but the labor vs the rewards are not as expected. Reminded me of "high pulp" orange juice. I did get the pulp out but at the cost of adding one more racking process (actually pouring) which I am sure is a big no-no based on my thoughts and readings. Nothing I can do now except carb it up and down the hatch.