Glass and I don't know what in fermenter

[OCDB]

While cooling my wort I was taking temp readings with a floating thermometer. During this, the tip of the outer glass housing of the thermometer broke (not the actual thermometer). After transferring to the fermenter I found a good a decent sized piece of what had broken off left in the bottom of the pot but I'm assuming some went into the bucket.

Along with the glass I also found quite a few of these beads that were part of the thermometer and used to weight down the one end. I'm not certain what material they use for these beads. If anyone has any idea what they are and if I've contaminated the beer beyond repair I'd appreciate the heads up.

For now my plan is to let it ferment for two weeks, then rack to a secondary to get it off the glass and beads that should have settled out to the bottom.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[OMJ]

Not sure what those beads are made of but I wouldnt want to risk me or any of my friends drinking glass. I would dump it

 

[Revvy]

There was a thread about this on Friday. The beads and the goop inside the thermometer are not toxic....

But I am in agreement about being worried about glass shards in my beer.....

 

[OCDB]

I'm not too keen on the glass either. Perhaps I'm being too hopeful, but the piece I did fish out of the brew pot accounted for a lot of what was missing from the thermometer. I also figured if I siphoned off just the top four gallons or so I'd leave any glass in the primary. I'd really hate to dump all of it.

 

[Revvy]

I'm not too keen on the glass either. Perhaps I'm being too hopeful, but the piece I did fish out of the brew pot accounted for a lot of what was missing from the thermometer. I also figured if I siphoned off just the top four gallons or so I'd leave any glass in the primary. I'd really hate to dump all of it.

I wish I had an answer, I really do....I THINK that if you drew off the top four you SHOULD be safe (notice how I'm covering my ass?) I would think that ALL the glass pieces would fall to the bottom...but I'm not sure...If there are micro particles of glass, would they float?" and if so would they be sharp or rounded edged and therefore not too dangerous (lord knows what we swallow on a daily basis.)

But I don't really know...nor do I know if there was a way to pass it through a filter on the way through...or a tight enough mesh...

I wish I could help....

 

[OCDB]

I wish I could help....

Appreciate the feed back either way. I've got a couple weeks to think it over so who knows.

Thanks again.

 

[samc]

Dump and learn from it that you should draw off samples and test outside of fermentation container, then drink sample (most important step IMO for learning).

 

[Edcculus]

I wouldn't dump. Think about it.

If hop particles and yeast drop to the bottom, even tiny peices of glass will too. I doubt you ended up with glass shards the size of a yeast cell. If you did, it wouldn't hurt anyways.

Back on track. Your beer sits for a few weeks. I HIGHLY doubt any glass would remain floating. Lets say you are really paranoid, so you put a bit of mesh bag over the tip of your racking cane when racking to the bottling bucket. You are also a little more careful and leave a little more in the carboy than usual. Lets say you are even more paranoid and decide to let your beer sit in the bottling bucket for ~20 min to allow any other shards that may have been sucked up to settle. The spigot on the bottling bucket is elevated from the bottom. Lets say you are very paranoid and decide not to tilt the bottling bucket. Therefore, anything that settled out will not get bottled.

 

[Revvy]

I wouldn't dump. Think about it.

If hop particles and yeast drop to the bottom, even tiny peices of glass will too. I doubt you ended up with glass shards the size of a yeast cell. If you did, it wouldn't hurt anyways.

Back on track. Your beer sits for a few weeks. I HIGHLY doubt any glass would remain floating. Lets say you are really paranoid, so you put a bit of mesh bag over the tip of your racking cane when racking to the bottling bucket. You are also a little more careful and leave a little more in the carboy than usual. Lets say you are even more paranoid and decide to let your beer sit in the bottling bucket for ~20 min to allow any other shards that may have been sucked up to settle. The spigot on the bottling bucket is elevated from the bottom. Lets say you are very paranoid and decide not to tilt the bottling bucket. Therefore, anything that settled out will not get bottled.

I was also wondering if, toward the end of the settling time he crashed cooled it as well...my thinking is if the crash cooling will pull down any precipitates, would they in turn pull down any glass particles small enough to actually float?

 

[ajwillys]

You could always filter it.

 

[conpewter]

If it was me I'd just rack carefully, but what you do is your own decision. If you were super worried about some sort of floating glass then filter it.

 

[Edcculus]

I was going to write that in too, but forgot. I think a secondary might not be a bad idea either.

I'm definately not a glass expert. Will it float? I know sand sinks. If the particles are any smaller than a grain of sand, I doubt they would be a problem. Its kind of apples to oranges since sand is rounded. Growing up near the beach, I've eaten my fair share of sand from it getting on food, blowing into drinks etc. While unpleasant, it doesn't hurt you.

 

[Arkador]

You could always filter it.

filter it before kegging it! Would enough yeast get through the filter to naturally carb?

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I've never heard of glass floating, even small particles. The reason the thermometer floats is because of the air trapped inside, not because of floating glass. The beads are another story, I have no idea what they are made of. If they are lead, I'd dump it, but I doubt that they would put lead into a food grade product, even a sealed one like a floating thermometer.

 

[conpewter]

filter it before kegging it! Would enough yeast get through the filter to naturally carb?

The beads are steel, not something I'd want to leave in beer for long, but you got it off of them quickly. The fluid is just colored alcohol no issues even if you had gotten that in the wort.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/awe-sh-t-118900/

If you do filter you probably should throw some dry yeast in to help with carbonation if bottle conditioning.

 

[Sean]

I think we need a sticky about floating thermometers.

 

[ibbones]

I'm also in the boat that I would rack it after a few weeks and never look back. Glass does not float, it's the trapped air.

 

[OCDB]

Thanks for the help and the links, made me feel like a retard to be the umpteenth poster of this issue, so I've now found out how to use the search for the forums.

I'll take my chances with the glass, was more worried about the pellets and what they were made out of but from what everyone has out there looks like I can relax.

Upside is now I'm convinced that one of those bulkhead temp gauges is a must for my upcoming keggle conversion project.

 

[kevmoron]

.If there are micro particles of glass, would they float?" and if so would they be sharp or rounded edged and therefore not too dangerous (lord knows what we swallow on a daily basis.)

....Very small rocks...

http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail027.jpg