Worm Leaked

[fishhead202]

Did my first all grain brew today, and all seemed to be going well. Was cooling it off in the fermenter with a copper coil chiller hooked to the garden hose. Come out to check on it and my wort had gone from 5gals to 6gals.

Obviously need to address the leak, which is where the copper meets the plastic tubing, but what about the wort?

For now, it's in a sealed bucket. No yeast yet. Do I:

1) Toss in the yeast as is and see how it turns out?
2) Try and boil off a gallon?
3) Toss it?
4) Something I haven't thought of?

Any thoughts is appreciated.

I also just realized, it's a Wyyeast pack, that's been activated. Might need to get new yeast too.

 

[kh54s10]

I would go for #1 unless it started as a very low gravity beer to start with.

I don't understand your reference to the Wyeast pack. You should have made a starter but your chilling problems would only make it easier on the yeast. You should not need new yeast unless I am missing something.

 

[Jaybird]

I personally would bring it to a boil for 10 min or so then chill and pitch. unless it never got below 180ish then just, repair leak chill and pitch..

Cheers
Jay

 

[fishhead202]

The recipe is for about 7.5%

I'm less worried about the alcohol, and more about the taste. Will it just taste watered down?


As for the yeast, I didn't make a starter. I've always just popped the bag and poured it in. Wasn't sure if it would survive the night after being 'smacked'.

 

[microbusbrewery]

It'll be more diluted than you intended. I'd go with Jaybird's suggestion. The biggest issue right now is the potential that some unwanted bacteria got in there. Since you didn't pitch your yeast right away, you may have given them a foothold.

 

[seph]

Also, was the chiller itself sanitized? Most of us put the chiller in the boil kettle for the last fifteen minutes to sanitize it. I leave it in the kettle to chill the wort, then transfer to the fermenters.

 

[POAS]

I'm convinced that that is how my last infected batch got that way. I had a small leak in the same spot that you mentioned and water from the hose got in the wort. I did not realize that until later and what I should have done was bring it to a boil again for at least 10 min to sanitize. After I fixed the problem I have not had any issues with infections.

 

[fishhead202]

I did boil the coil prior to using it, but of course, not the interior :/

I ended up pitching the yeast last night. Based on this advice, and figuring 'what the hell'. Although, after checking this morning, I hadn't seen any activity.

It's octoberfest, one of my favorites, so I might just do another batch to make sure I have plenty for the fall

Fingers crossed that it isn't TOO watered down that it's undrinkable.

Appreciate all the advice!

 

[Jaybird]

The recipe is for about 7.5%

That is 1 big ol' Marzen there brotha'

So did you end up boiling it a little to kill off any water born bugs?

Cheers
Jay

 

[ong]

You could also boil up some extract in a bit of water to make up the difference in gravity -- adding a quart or so of very strong wort to make up for the dilution. Even add some hops to the boil to make up for the loss of bitterness.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[ChileBrewer]

I did the same thing last weekend except not with potable water. I use creek water to cool, its colder and free. Came back after it was cooling and was at least a gallon fuller. Dumped mine, but maybe you can save it. I would go with a 10-15 min boil, cool again and pitch.

 

[Gameface]

OP, just an fyi, activating a wyeast smack pack doesn't mean that it has to be used right away. You could activate it a week before using it, or you could never activate it and still use it.

Of course, for a beer that is going to be 7.5%abv a starter would be highly, highly recommended.

My solution would have been to bring it back up to a boil.

And I've had a leaky connection to my chiller before. What I did was first bend the tube so that the water would run away from the kettle and to also wrap a small scrap of aluminum foil around the tube just after the leak and make a little stalactite-like cone coming off the bottom of it to give the water a preferred path that allows it to drip harmlessly onto the ground.

 

[Paps]

I have my copper chiller bent on both the in and out, in a downward fashion and also extending about 6+ inches from the edge of the brew kettle. Perhaps you too should try doing this. Hope the brew turns out OK

 

[fishhead202]

I didn't reboil. The yeast is going crazy now, and as I'm sitting at work, I realize that 6gallons in a bucket with 7.5% is probably going to end up making a giant mess. Something to look forward to

I'll see how it ends up. I'm thinking of doing another batch of this brew, and having Ocktoberfest and Ocktoberfest light.

I also realized that since the water was leaking in from the top, my gravity reading was all messed up, so I won't even know what this actually ends up at. The yeast is eating something, so there's booze in there somewhere!

Appreciate all the advice. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.

Thinking of extending the copper tubing up over the sides. That's a great idea. I'm terrible at soldering, but I've got a buddy who I'm sure wouldn't mind helping.

 

[Conan]

I'll further suggest that all vinyl connections be outside the kettle. The heat loosens the tubing and it can fly off very easily. Mine has in the past, but it was the outflow. Luckily the copper was aimed away from the kettle or there'd have been a mess. Kyle

 

[ong]

Thinking of extending the copper tubing up over the sides. That's a great idea. I'm terrible at soldering, but I've got a buddy who I'm sure wouldn't mind helping.

I just use a couple hose clamps on the vinyl tubing, where it fits over the copper -- I had the same issue until I added those.

 

[Toga]

I just use a couple hose clamps on the vinyl tubing, where it fits over the copper -- I had the same issue until I added those.

I second the use of hose clamps. Stainless steel hose clamps. Do not use the cheap clamps. I use two for both the inlet and outlet. I only had one of the outlet to start with and it eventually started to leak. Also check the clamps for tightness from time to time.

 

[Paps]

I forget the name of the fittings i got from home depot but they slid right onto the copper and do not need clamps (you need a special tool to remove them) they were i think 7 bux each but thats far cheaper than a ruined batch of brew.

 

[Gameface]

I forget the name of the fittings i got from home depot but they slid right onto the copper and do not need clamps (you need a special tool to remove them) they were i think 7 bux each but thats far cheaper than a ruined batch of brew.

I think those are called compression fittings.

 

[ong]

Oetiker clamps! (Those are the alternative to screw-threaded hose clamps, not the barb fittings.)

 

[fishhead202]

Just wanted to provide a quick update.

On the beer that was weakened: I did not re-boil, but the yeast seems to be fine. I think I'm going to mix up a pound of extract powder in as little water as possible and try and dissolve that in it to help make up the flavor.

On the leaking worm: I grabbed another pair of the SS clamps, and tightened the two that were already on there. Did a batch yesterday, and no leaking. I was thinking about switching it out to a pair of sharkbites though. I'm also moving a faster chiller up on my wish list. Waiting for the wort to cool is taking forever now that I'm doing the full 5gal batches.

Thanks again for all the advice. I'll try and remember to post up how it tastes when it gets kegged!

 

[mdh384]

home depot sells a 3/8" compression x 3/4 hose adapter, that is what I used. It allows me to simply use garden hose for my chilling lines to and from the wort chiller. For the source side I found a sink faucet x 3/4" garden hose adapter for my kitchen sink. I also made it so the fittings on my chiller are outside of the kettle, and bent down slightly to make sure any leaks drip away from the kettle.