Infection

[simcoe26]

I know time will tell but i was brewing today and unfortunately a towel i used to cover the boil pot while cooling partially fell into the wort. What are the chances of infection from that? I used the towel cuz i had to be outside and it was windy and i didnt want leaves and things to blow in.

 

[1977Brewer]

Was the towel used to absorb bodily fluids?

 

[Frilock]

Did the towel come from a germ warfare lab?

 

[heckler73]

was the wort boiling when you killed anything on the towel?

 

[olotti]

There's always a chance even when not covering the pot but I've learned in my first year of hb is that it's pretty hard to get an infection in your beer unless there were oils, bodily fluids, or other nasty stuff on the towel. Beers pretty resilient stuff.

 

[simcoe26]

I have been brewing for about 2 years and have never had an infection but i have also never had anything fall into my wort of this caliber. Thank you all for making me feel better

 

[RM-MN]

There are two things to consider when worrying about infection in the primary when something is dropped into the wort. First is the temperature of the wort when the object is removed. If the wort was still above 140 degrees for just a few minutes it was pasteurized and you don't need to worry. Higher temperatures pasteurize faster.

The second thing to consider is how much bacteria you got into the wort. It takes time for bacteria to grow so unless you got a lot of bacteria in there from the towel, the massive number of yeast cells you will introduce will out-compete the bacteria. Then since the beer (when you pitch yeast it isn't wort anymore) is acidic it ******* the growth of the bacteria (most cannot survive the acidity) until the yeast start producing enough CO2 to smother the rest.

It really is difficult to get a good (bad?) infection in the primary fermenter.

 

[simcoe26]

Well thank you for reassuring me that i didnt just waist 50 bucks.

 

[simcoe26]

Im assuming since the airlock is bubbling away less than 12 hrs later. Everything is going to be ok

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Im assuming since the airlock is bubbling away less than 12 hrs later. Everything is going to be ok

The airlock bubbling will probably not tell you anything about an infection. You will have to taste the beer after fermentation. However, I think there is a good chance your beer will be fine if all other sanitization steps were completed

 

[shaneshepherd]

I've had leaves and pine needles in my boil before (blew in on a breezy day)...and my beer turned out great!