(UPDATE) Murphy came to visit today

[cpd520]

Thanks all - beer turned out fine. Enjoying a glass now.

First attempt ever today with an American Ale extract kit from MoreBeer today. I was a little intimidated starting out.

It went much smoother than I expected. Things were going great until I hooked up the wort chiller. I'm feeling pretty good about myself for a couple minutes, until I realized there was a small leak spraying back along the copper tubing and into my wort from a loose hose clamp. UGH!

The wort was still very hot. What are the chances it will ruin the batch?

I went ahead and finished it up and got it put away.

Lesson 1 - Check for leaks on all equipment that can leak!

I still had fun.

 

[palmtrees]

You'll probably be just fine! Worth avoiding in the future, but it shouldn't be a big deal. The biggest concern with tap water would be potential contamination and then the presence of chlorine/chloramine, which can create off flavors. The risk of contamination is pretty low, especially if your worth chiller and tubing was new. And it doesn't sound like too much water got in your batch, so the levels of chlorine there shouldn't be enough to cause issues. It's more a problem when you use gallons of tap water to brew with.

Making sure to check for leaks before using equipment should serve you well going forward! But I wouldn't worry about this batch and ferment as usual.

 

[wallyLOZ]

Don't feel like you're the only brewer with a leaking chiller! I agree with @palmtrees , let it ride! It will still be beer, although somewhat weaker. Cheers!

 

[Kickass]

Likely fine. Mine begins leaking again every 5-10 batches. Sometimes I catch it sooner than others.

 

[cpd520]

we will know in a couple weeks if it messed up the brew.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

Relax. The beer will be fine. Work on your fittings and hoses a bit.

Cheers!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

We have all had mishappens while brewing, it's part of the learning curve. As long as you see where your issues are and learn from them the next batch will be better. Not saying the next batch will be problem free but at least you can eliminate one potential issue. I learn something with every batch I do and I've brewed many batches. Brewing can be forgiving as long as you follow some simple practices and it sounds like you are or at least getting there. It's all part of the fun!

 

[RM-MN]

The wort was still very hot. What are the chances it will ruin the batch?

1. If the wort was hotter than ~150F, any bacteria in the water would be killed (pasteurization temperature).
2. Unless your tap water was unfit to drink because of a bacterial infection, the temperature wouldn't matter.
3. If your tap water was chlorinated, it still probably wouldn't matter unless you let it leak in a substantial amount. There is a flavor threshold for most anything and it isn't likely that you could taste and "bandaid" flavor.