Will it be safe to drink?

[Newsman]

I was looking for something to tie the grain bag shut with and found a piece of leather. I boiled the bag of grains for like 30 to 45 minutes. The piece of leather was in the water most of that time.

I just got to thinking about this about a week after I started fermenting. Is this going to be safe to drink or should I pour it down the drain and start over?

 

[henrybeggs]

Oh god please don't pour it down the drain! If you're concerned with germs, the boil took care of that, if you're concerned with chemicals in the leather they were also probably boiled off and would be in such a minute quantity that it doesn't matter. Before you toss it, give it a taste.

 

[Newsman]

Good to know. Thanks! I was mainly concerned with the possibility of chemicals leaching out of the leather into the beer.

 

[KISS Brew]

Definitely safe to drink. There's a chance the leather contributed a flavor, but I doubt it.

 

[cmybeer]

Well, first of all you shouldn't boil your grains so I'm not sure this beer will be very good either way. Wouldn't that just extract a bunch of tannis?
At the very least you should try it first though. Never dump anything without tasting.

 

[KISS Brew]

Well, first of all you shouldn't boil your grains so I'm not sure this beer will be very good either way. Wouldn't that just extract a bunch of tannis?
At the very least you should try it first though. Never dump anything without tasting.

I totally missed that he boiled the grains. Yeah, this beer might not be very good.

Definitely taste it first.

 

[cullen]

What, you never saw the scene in Northern Lights where Charlie Chaplin boils and eats his shoe?

 

[Newsman]

Well, boiled was the wrong word. Steeped in 160+ degree water. But thanks for making me feel better!

 

[cmybeer]

Well, boiled was the wrong word. Steeped in 160+ degree water. But thanks for making me feel better!

Good to hear! You never know on here sometimes....
You need to come up with some cleaver name now with leather in the title. And let us know if you actually get any leather taste from the finished product.

 

[grem135]

Let us know how your Leather Strap Ale turns out

 

[Newsman]

Hehe... Well, we'll see. The real reason I was concerned is that I am planning on submitting it to the local homebrew club for Southern Brewer's Fest in late August. It should be finished right about that time and I didn't want to risk making anyone sick. We'll see about a name if there's any difference in taste.