First brew. Possible mistake?

[Will Whittle]

Hi,
I recently got one of those starter equipment kits (23L plastic fermenting bucket, airlock, hydrometer etc etc).
Just in case anyone's interested, I got the Mango Jacks pink grapefruit IPA. It's my first brew, so Im a little excited...

Anyway, I followed the instructions, filled the bucket and put the lid on, with the airlock filled with sterilised water. I used VWP Steriliser (It came with the equipment kit).
BUT, when I lifted the bucket off the table (to take to my cupboard), the weight of the liquid pushed the bottom of the bucket down. As the liquid level went down, it sucked air in through the airlock. This meant some of the sterilised water went into the liquid.

My first question is, would this affect the taste of the beer in any way? It was about a tablespoon of sterilised water into 23L of unfermented beer.

Obviously, as I put the bucket into my cupboard, the floor then pushed up the bottom of the bucket. The sterilised water spat out the top a bit, but there is still enough water for the airlock to work properly.

I pitched the yeast on Sat.
It started making noises after around 24 hours (so exciting!)
My cupboard smelled of the steriliser for a few days. I'm not sure if that's normal, or if it's the smell that's coming out of the bucket. It's Wednesday now, the smell has gone down a bit, but still obvious. Maybe it will keep going down?

The instructions say I need to add the hops after 7 days, which will be this Saturday coming. But I'm worried about lifting up the bucket again.
So my second question is, has anyone had this problem with the plastic buckets, and how did you combat it?
Any hacks? Or did you just upgrade to a decent fermenting bucket?

It's my first brew, so I wasn't expecting it to go perfectly. But I didn't think the bucket would suck sterilised water into the mix. Seems a bit of an oversight.
Hopefully, it will taste ok!?

 

[NoviceBrewer420]

It happens to us all just wait to fill your airlock until after you move it. Your beer will be fine.

 

[VikeMan]

Anyway, I followed the instructions, filled the bucket and put the lid on, with the airlock filled with sterilised water. I used VWP Steriliser (It came with the equipment kit).
BUT, when I lifted the bucket off the table (to take to my cupboard), the weight of the liquid pushed the bottom of the bucket down. As the liquid level went down, it sucked air in through the airlock. This meant some of the sterilised water went into the liquid.

My first question is, would this affect the taste of the beer in any way? It was about a tablespoon of sterilised water into 23L of unfermented beer.

I can't really say if it will affect anything...I'm not familiar with VWP Steriliser. A lot of people use cheap vodka in their airlock, so that if any gets sucked in, it will be basically flavor neutral.

 

[Transamguy77]

Relax it’ll be fine, those first couple of brews can have you a bit panicked over the smallest things. It’s just some sanitizer which you already had a bit of in your bucket anyway. What you can do is after placing the bucket where you want then install the air lock.

 

[VikeMan]

Relax it’ll be fine, those first couple of brews can have you a bit panicked over the smallest things. It’s just some sanitizer which you already had a bit of in your bucket anyway. What you can do is after placing the bucket where you want then install the air lock.

Just googled VWP Steriliser. It's actually a cleaner/sanitizer that requires rinsing. From their FAQ:
"I forgot to rinse out the equipment. Will my beer/wine be OK?
All equipment should be rinsed before use. Anything left in a fermenting vessel will affect the taste."

Again, I don't know if a tablespoon will be noticeable, but it does sound like this isn't really anything like Star San or other no rinse type sanitizers.

 

[Transamguy77]

Somehow I missed that in his post, good call.

 

[Jim R]

I wouldn't worry about a tablespoon of sanitizer in 5 gal of beer. I would probably get some Star San to use from now on for sanitizing.

On day 7, can't you just pull the airlock out before you add hops or maybe even just tease the hops through the airlock hole. I would be more concerned about minimizing the addition of oxygen into the fermenter and oxidation of the beer in an IPA than the sanitizer issue.

 

[RM-MN]

First off, worrying doesn't help the beer. Secondly, I'd wait until day 10 to add the dry hops. A tiny amount of water added to 5 gallons of beer is nearly undetectable in a good lab. Your tongue is not a good lab.

 

[The M]

Like others said you'll be fine. Couple of weeks ago I somehow forgot my blowoff tube in a jar full of Star San and got about 1 cup of Star San sucked into my FV while transferring the beer to keg I guess there's first time for everything. However I haven't notice any off flavors or other odd aromas while I've been enjoying my West Coast IPA spiced with some Star San

 

[myndflyte]

A few weeks ago I was cleaning out a keg to fill. Got distracted and forgot to dump out probably a 1/4 - 1/3 gallon of starsan and racked my beer right on top of it. Still tastes great. So I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Toon]

well beer makes itself if you give it the right conditions. We just improve the odds of tasty brews with sanitiser and stuff. don't worry about it. my old bucket (15 years) was so cracked on the lid I covered it with a wet teatowel, and it came out fine...

 

[NewFranconiaBrewing]

I've had similar issues (liquid in airlock getting sucked into the wort) when I tried out a plastic fermenter, but it was due to temperature changes. When I cold crashed my brews, some of the air in the carboy would get sucked back in to the beer.

Rigid carboys (I use glass now) don't have that issue. Of course, glass carboys have their own trade offs (weight, narrow necks make cleaning difficult, possibility of shattering if they drop, etc.). You'll have to find a solution that works for you.

As others have said, most likely your beer is fine.

 

[RM-MN]

When I cold crashed my brews, some of the air in the carboy would get sucked back in to the beer.

Rigid carboys (I use glass now) don't have that issue.

The kind of vessel doesn't matter. If you have a large air space above the beer and the temperature changes air will be expelled or the liquid in the airlock will be sucked in depending on the way the temperature changes. If you have a small air space above the beer the krausen will leak out.

 

[Will Whittle]

Thanks for all the responses! Wasn't expecting this many...

I'm glad to hear the leak won't be a problem, and I managed to add the hops fairly easily: I took out the airlock carefully and lifted the lid (just for a few seconds).

I also lifted the bucket onto a table while the airlock was out, so I could take an sg reading: exactly 1.010 at time of dry hopping (as kit instructions said).

So far, so good. It's starting to smell good too, can't wait to taste it.