I added water and I'm ashamed...

[Toobs360]

First timer to the site here. And this is only my second batch of Homebrew....I'm making a blonde ale, during transfer to secondary carboy I noticed I was a little lower (4 gallons instead of the recommended 5) in my primary then I expected. Without thinking it through , I added about 2 cups of tap water without boiling before I stopped myself and had the ever lovely "WHAT HAVE I DONE!" moment.

Pretty much my question is: Did I just ruin my beer by adding 2 cups of water straight from the tap WITHOUT boiling it? It's been about 14 hours since I did it and I'm seeing little to no fermentation bubbles/processes going on.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[kombat]

It'll be fine.

For one thing, you don't need to transfer to secondary at all unless you're adding something (fruit, wood chips, dry hops, etc.).

Secondly, your water is probably fine, especially if you're on a municipal line. In that case, your water is treated with additives to eliminate microbacterial contaminants.

Thirdly, if fermentation has finished, then the beer is a very inhospitable environment for other microbes. It's quite acidic, contains alcohol, and has been virtually depleted of any sugars on which contaminants could feed and grow.

 

[flars]

You may be okay unless your glass was dirty. You should not see fermentation activity in a secondary vessel. All of the fermentation should be finished in the primary. Secondary fermentor is a misnomer. Secondaries are used for dry hopping, additions like fruit or oak chips, bulk aging, or clearing sediments.

Transferring the beer to a secondary before fermentation is complete will usually stall fermentation.

 

[GrogNerd]

by "during transfer to secondary" do you mean that primary fermentation was finished and you were transferring to another carboy?

if it's fermented then the risk of infection is very low, the alcohol should kill any nasties. plus being already fermented, you wouldn't see any more signs of fermentation because all the sugars have been eaten up. and even if it hasn't fermented, 14 hours is a little too soon to be worried. during that time the yeast are still consuming oxygen and multiplying. it's when they run out of oxygen that they start making alcohol. you still have a little while to go before you have cause for concern

tap water might contain chlorine or chloromine, but 2 cups into 4 gallons isn't very much, so the risk of tasting like pool water is very low, as is the risk of tasting "watered down" (not a factor at all if fermentation hasn't started)

relax, don't worry and even at 9am, have a homebrew. if no homebrew, a commercial beer will have to suffice

 

[Toobs360]

You may be okay unless your glass was dirty. You should not see fermentation activity in a secondary vessel. All of the fermentation should be finished in the primary. Secondary fermentor is a misnomer. Secondaries are used for dry hopping, additions like fruit or oak chips, bulk aging, or clearing sediments.

Transferring the beer to a secondary before fermentation is complete will usually stall fermentation.

I waited seven days as the recipe recommended and transferred to the secondary as I'd like to keep my blonde ale as free of sentiment as possible. How do I know if fermentation is complete? (I was just going on what the recipe said)

I didn't use a glass to pour the tap water in, I had it in a stainless steel sanitized bowl and siphoned it into the secondary. I'll take a picture when I get home from work, I noticed some white-ish spots on the top this morning.

Thank you all for your continued help!!

 

[Toobs360]

by "during transfer to secondary" do you mean that primary fermentation was finished and you were transferring to another carboy?

if it's fermented then the risk of infection is very low, the alcohol should kill any nasties. plus being already fermented, you wouldn't see any more signs of fermentation because all the sugars have been eaten up. and even if it hasn't fermented, 14 hours is a little too soon to be worried. during that time the yeast are still consuming oxygen and multiplying. it's when they run out of oxygen that they start making alcohol. you still have a little while to go before you have cause for concern

tap water might contain chlorine or chloromine, but 2 cups into 4 gallons isn't very much, so the risk of tasting like pool water is very low, as is the risk of tasting "watered down" (not a factor at all if fermentation hasn't started)

relax, don't worry and even at 9am, have a homebrew. if no homebrew, a commercial beer will have to suffice

I'm not sure if fermentation was complete (how can I tell if it is/was) It was white labs california ale yeast if that helps to know. I just went off of what the recipe recommended which was to transfer to secondary after 7 days. The only reason I transferred was to avoid any sediment.

Thanks in advance!

 

[NervousDad]

The only way to know for sure if fermentation is done is to take a hydrometer reading. If it is the same two/three days in a row it's done. You'll be fine with the water, the only issue I can see would be oxidizing of your beer, but that additional oxygen should be eaten up my the remaining fermentation.


Like others have said, no need for seconday, I leave my beer in primary for 3 weeks and rack right into the keg from there.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I waited seven days as the recipe recommended and transferred to the secondary as I'd like to keep my blonde ale as free of sentiment as possible. How do I know if fermentation is complete? (I was just going on what the recipe said)

I didn't use a glass to pour the tap water in, I had it in a stainless steel sanitized bowl and siphoned it into the secondary. I'll take a picture when I get home from work, I noticed some white-ish spots on the top this morning.

Thank you all for your continued help!!

I too try not to attach too much emotion to my batches of beer. Alas, sometimes I fail. God, how I miss you, Milk Chocolate Stout. There will never be another quite like you.

Oh. You meant SEDIMENT. Ah. Yes.

Transferring to secondary really doesn't help to clear up the beer. Lord knows how I tried. Never really worked that well.

If you want super clear blonde beer, then do this:
Use one tablet of whirlfloc per five gallons. Drop it in five minutes before end of boil.
Ferment in primary for three weeks.
Cold crash it (put it in a fridge at about 33° F) for 24-48 hours.
Transfer to keg or bottling bucket and keg/bottle it up.

Just using a whirlfloc tablet and waiting three weeks will do great, though.

Other things:
1) Kit instructions typically are awful, and no one knows why. We think it's because they want you to make beer as fast as possible so you'll buy more kits, but if you follow their instructions then you'll probably give up on the hobby because your beers won't taste very good.
2) Most beginners really don't understand how crucial controlling fermentation temperature is. Next to sanitation, it's the biggest thing. Your beers will benefit tremendously if you work on controlling the beer temp as it ferments. Using my old fridge in my basement as my fermentation chamber and buying a single-stage temp controller was absolutely the best move I ever made in beer brewing.
3) Tap water typically is bacteria free, so no need to worry about infecting your beer. If your tap water has nasty bacteria in it, then you've got bigger problems to worry about than a bad batch of beer. Oxidizing your beer is more of a concern than infecting it.

Good luck!

 

[BrewKnurd]

Transferring to secondary really doesn't help to clear up the beer. Lord knows how I tried. Never really worked that well.

Basic brewing radio actually covered an experiment on this, and transferring, at least in their experiment, did indeed help the beer clear more quickly. They speculated it might be due to transferring knocking some CO2 off of the yeast, causing them to settle more quickly. Who knows.

I don't transfer to secondary, and certainly a beer will clear either way. But there apparently *IS* something behind the idea that transferring to secondary helps beer clear, as it does appear to speed up the process.

 

[Ster]

I am on batch #10. I always top off with tap water after a partial boil. I do not boil or treat the tap water in any way. I have yet to have an infection, knock on wood.

 

[Dr. Francois]

You are probably just fine.

Contamination isn't the issue I'd worry about, it's oxidation.

The oxygen suspended in the water and the splashing while adding it to the carboy could cause some oxidation (wet cardboard or sherry flavor/aroma). It won't likely be an issue for you.

Note to other repliers: OP isn't talking about top-off water after the boil. This is top-off water after primary fermentation.

 

[Toobs360]

You are probably just fine.

Contamination isn't the issue I'd worry about, it's oxidation.

The oxygen suspended in the water and the splashing while adding it to the carboy could cause some oxidation (wet cardboard or sherry flavor/aroma). It won't likely be an issue for you.

Note to other repliers: OP isn't talking about top-off water after the boil. This is top-off water after primary fermentation.

There was a slight momentary splash when I added the water. Several bubbles appeared on the surface in a cluster but quickly dissipated. Should I expect oxidation from that and would that have been enough to stall the fermenting process?

 

[Dr. Francois]

If anything, extra oxygen would have a beneficial impact on yeast viability and a detrimental impact of flavor and aroma.

So no, adding water didn't harm your fermentation.

 

[Toobs360]

If anything, extra oxygen would have a beneficial impact on yeast viability and a detrimental impact of flavor and aroma.

So no, adding water didn't harm your fermentation.

Should I expect oxidation? Side note: epic avatar.

 

[GrogNerd]

no oxidation, you're fine

you've picked a very forgiving hobby, you really have to TRY to ruin your beer to actually ruin it.

we're doing what people have been doing for 1000 years but we have the benefit of better equipment, ingredients, techniques and an almost unlimited pool of resources on the internet

"relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" isn't just a slogan for us, it's a guiding principle

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I am on batch #10. I always top off with tap water after a partial boil. I do not boil or treat the tap water in any way. I have yet to have an infection, knock on wood.

True, but your adding it post-boil presumably to help you chill your wort, definately before fermentation.

He added it to his secondary after he had already finished fermenting(presumably).

In reality it wont make much difference though OP, if its infected you will know fairly quickly but i would be very surprised if you screwed up your beer.

 

[Queequeg]

3) Tap water typically is bacteria free

Sorry to break the news but it commonly has millions, you just have to FDA specs for mains water TAMC to see that.

 

[Toobs360]

no oxidation, you're fine

you've picked a very forgiving hobby, you really have to TRY to ruin your beer to actually ruin it.

we're doing what people have been doing for 1000 years but we have the benefit of better equipment, ingredients, techniques and an almost unlimited pool of resources on the internet

"relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" isn't just a slogan for us, it's a guiding principle

Appreciate that GrogNerd! I'll let ya'll know how it turns out!

 

[Toobs360]

Thank you everyone for the quick helpful responses