I'm afraid I ruined my first batch.

[KorbinWaters94]

I mixed up my first batch last night. As soon as I got done, I noticed thin white strands. Originally I thought my dog had magically gotten her hair in my must, but upon further inspection, I realized it was plastic. I used a metal spoon in my mixing bucket, and it shaved peices of plastic into my must. I tried sucking the floating peices out with a wine thief, but I couldn't get them all. The must is fermenting nicely at this point, but I'm wondering if I should rack it into a bucket and back into the carboy. I don't want an infection, and I don't want plastic mead. Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[Maylar]

You'll be OK. If it bothers you, wrap some cheesecloth around a strainer spoon and scoop them out.

 

[KorbinWaters94]

I'll give that a try. Thank you!

 

[bernardsmith]

Maylar - I would go in the opposite direction - Don't try to scoop out the plastic threads. Simply rack the must off and remove the must from the problem fermenter..

 

[KorbinWaters94]

I ended up just racking it. Still had some plastic in it, but I fished it out. I just pray that it doesn't get infected.

 

[Maylar]

Inspect the pail carefully for scratches. If you actually peeled off plastic shards from it there will be deep scratches - places for bacteria to hide. The bucket might not be usable in the future if you can't adequately clean and sanitize that.

 

[KorbinWaters94]

There are scratches. Thanks for the heads up. I'll thow it out and get a plastic spoon.

 

[Drewed]

Ok, just how sharp was that spoon? or how weak was that bucket? Unless you scraped at the sides like you were trying to shave ice you shouldn't have been able to pull up shards. Hulk make meed!
I agree with Maylar, I'd pitch the bucket too, a new bucket is under $20, which is less than the cost of just the honey. Cheap insurance against a bad batch from some bacteria.

 

[KorbinWaters94]

Got the spoon at a local brewing store, but I was on a budget, so I bought my bucket at Walmart for $3. I guess now I know. In the future I'm going to use a higher quality bucket and a plastic spoon. On the bright side, I racked it off the plastic, and everything looks good. Fermenting well, and no signs of infection yet.

 

[brewprint]

Got the spoon at a local brewing store, but I was on a budget, so I bought my bucket at Walmart for $3. I guess now I know. In the future I'm going to use a higher quality bucket and a plastic spoon. On the bright side, I racked it off the plastic, and everything looks good. Fermenting well, and no signs of infection yet.

Best practice is to use food grade plastic. Lesson learned about scratching a bucket.

You could always rack with a cheesecloth or voile bag so the plastic doesn't get into your vessel.

I don't think that you'll get an infection because of this. Just plastic chemicals in your product.

 

[V-Fib]

Menards has food safe 5 gal buckets for around $4. I'm not sure how much stronger they will be but it might be worth looking at next time you're in a store.

 

[IslandLizard]

Those metal stirring spoons you see at the brew store are the pits! They're stamped. I wouldn't even want to hold the handle, afraid of cutting my hands. I guess you could smooth the edges... or buy a good one if they (still) make them.

Last year I broke my old venerable long plastic stirring spoon, and can't find a decent replacement of similar quality anymore. The new ones are a dull, light beige plastic and flimsy. They flex too much. The "old" one (ca. 2009) was made from a much harder plastic, still somewhat flexible, white and glossy.

 

[Drewed]

Menards has food safe 5 gal buckets for around $4. I'm not sure how much stronger they will be but it might be worth looking at next time you're in a store.

But make sure you get the food safe buckets. The ones imprinted with the menaces logo that are all over the store are NOT food safe.

None of the lids my menards had were food safe.

 

[KorbinWaters94]

Thanks all for the replies, I ended up racking out the plastic and all is well. I'll definately be buying some new equipment.

However, I do have a followup question. I think I pitched the wrong yeast. My goal was to ferment nearly all of the residual sugar out and get below 1 brix. Not knowing much about yeast I went with what the brewing store cashier suggested. It was SafAle S-04 English Ale Yeast. I think it's reached its alcohol tolerance and the brix have significantly slowed their descent at around 10.5 (starting at 20). My question is, can I pitch SafAle S-05 to continue the fermentation process? And if so, do I need to do the nutrient additions and degas?

 

[brewprint]

Thanks all for the replies, I ended up racking out the plastic and all is well. I'll definately be buying some new equipment.

However, I do have a followup question. I think I pitched the wrong yeast. My goal was to ferment nearly all of the residual sugar out and get below 1 brix. Not knowing much about yeast I went with what the brewing store cashier suggested. It was SafAle S-04 English Ale Yeast. I think it's reached its alcohol tolerance and the brix have significantly slowed their descent at around 10.5 (starting at 20). My question is, can I pitch SafAle S-05 to continue the fermentation process? And if so, do I need to do the nutrient additions and degas?

I'm not a mead guy but I can tell you that there isn't much of a difference between 04 and 05. In fact, when I use 04 it usually can tolerate more than the 05.

You probably want to look at a champagne yeast or something like that. I however am not the expert on mead.

 

[KorbinWaters94]

I'm not a mead guy but I can tell you that there isn't much of a difference between 04 and 05. In fact, when I use 04 it usually can tolerate more than the 05.

You probably want to look at a champagne yeast or something like that. I however am not the expert on mead.

Great thanks. I'll let it ride out and see how it goes. I'm seeing activity, it's just not as vigorous as I was expecting.