Fairly odd sanitation question....

[Lukeduke02]

So.... kind of an odd/awkward question, but I didn't know the answer, so I figured one of you all more knowledgeable brewers may know....

My brother in law called me today, he did his first beer today, few kinks, few minor missteps, well I talked him off the ledge from all of those, but one thing I did not know about was the significance of the following;

While opening a 2gal container of distilled water, he cut the end of his finger on the plastic, much like a paper cut, about 1/3 of an inch long, superficial. There was some very mild bleeding (ie just like a paper cut) that the water ran across the cut and his skin (obviously) into the mixing bucket (during the addition of the cool water to bring to yeast pitching temp). He said that the water ran across his finger for about 5 sec before he realized what had happened. He wanted to know if this has contaminated his first brew or not... I frankly have no idea, never heard of such a thing... I don't know if anything contagious/infectious could be transferred this way and survive the the beer or not... So looking for your input on whether he should keep the beer or trash his first ever run and be scarred for life! haha. BTW, he doesn't have any of those scary diseases like hepatitis etc....

Thanks and good luck answering!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

The beer will be fine. No known human pathogens grow in beer.

However, that isn't to say they can't survive in beer.

In the greater scheme of things, chefs cut themselves with knives from time to time and while that is kinda gross, the food turns out fine for simple home use. I would treat the scenario similarly.

I would eat the food or drink the beer that had this minor contact with my own blood. But I probably wouldn't give it away to strangers... Not because it might be dangerous, but because that'd be a weird thing to do.

Even though I am sure it is safe, it certainly is no longer kosher. ;-)

 

[Lukeduke02]

So basically, it would be OK medically for his friends and family to try, putting aside the creepy factor?
I mean, honestly, it logically couldn't be more than a total of a drop ( mild cut with water running over it over <5 seconds) that came into contact with 5 gallons of beer..... I definitely would drink it myself too b/c we've all tasted our own blood at some point, just don't know if other people should drink it, from a medical standpoint....

 

[amandabab]

Unless his blood is zombie blood the beer is fine.

 

[Qhrumphf]

In terms of being safe to drink, it's fine- whatever harmful pathogens could have possibly been in there would likely not survive fermentation and definitely wouldn't survive the alcohol after fermentation. Could it potentially infect the beer, and create some weird off-flavors, that one I don't know the answer to. I'd say it's probably going to be fine, but that's guessing on my end from the fact that stranger things have happened without causing problems.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

The questions are: 1) Does his blood introduce any pathogens into the brew that could be transmitted to those who drink his beer?, and 2) Does water contact with his skin introduce contaminants?

For question one, if he does not have hepatitis or HIV, the odds are really low that his blood in the beer poses any threat, beyond the "gross" factor.

For question two, he needs to think about where his hands have been. When were they last washed, or sanitized? Was did he touch after that? How clean were those thing? If he recently defecated and didn't wash his hands afterwards (like, say, about 1/3 of guys!) then he may end up with some pretty unpleasant brew. If his hands were pretty well washed and sanitized, then a very few bacteria or mold won't pose much threat, as they face many billions of yeast with the yeast pitch, and rising alcohol levels as well. There is probably at least as much risk from airborne yeast spore contamination. If he made a low alcohol brew, plans to cellar this one for a long time, or plans to keep this yeast for many other brews, he may be in trouble. If he drinks it fairly quickly, it's likely not a problem.

 

[Lukeduke02]

Thanks everyone,
So I'll definitely just advise him to be watching for any "off" flavors, otherwise it sounds like it should be alright. Sure give me the impression that it was a fairly traumatic first brew experience.... glad I didn't experience anything like that!

Again, thanks for the insight,

 

[BrewerBear]

I once fell and busted my head open while taking bucket up stairs, bled into my wort.It came out fine.