# Maggot Beer



## MarkBastard (24/3/09)

Just went to check my two fermenters in my chest freezers as both batches have been fermenting for two weeks.

To my utter disappointment there were bloody ants in the chesty. Oh well I figure as long as they didn't get in the fermenter, and they didn't, so all is good.

Pulled one out and noticed there was about 3 very small maggots (probably fruit fly maggots?) in between the two layers of glad wrap, like floating over the opening of the fermenter. So I very carefully pull the glad wrap off but as I'm half way they bloody fall in! ARGH!!!

I put glad wrap back on and put the temp down to 1 degrees for the crash chill. Just at least as an experiment. Dare me to drink this crap? It was a fresh wort kit blonde ale I'd been hanging for. Maybe they will drown and not infect the brew somehow and become part of the yeast cake and the rest will be okay? I know it's dodgy but 20L of beer over a couple of pin heads of insect babies?

What would you do?

BTW this was deleted due to bad language. Sorry about that kiddies


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## deadly (24/3/09)

Thought this was gone...


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## MarkBastard (24/3/09)

deadly said:


> Thought this was gone...



it's back and better than ever :icon_drunk:


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## Adamt (24/3/09)

If you found maggots in some steak in your fridge, would you still eat it? Common sense should hopefully prevail here...


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## jonocarroll (24/3/09)

I _was_ replying to this... then I wasn't. Thought I had a stroke. Anyhoo.... saved it just in case;

1. Ewwww.

2. _EEEWWWW_.

3. All may not be lost. I'm sure I've heard of (or have been drinking too much and imagined) some people re-boiling their fermented beer. Off the top of my head, I can't think why not, except you'll obviously need to pitch more yeast if bottling. Presumably if you crash chill to settle everything, then carefully rack the liquid into the kettle, you would leave any nasties in the fermenter (drunk as they must be, they won't mind).

Just a suggestion. Don't blame me if it ends up even worse for it


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## kook (24/3/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> What would you do?



Use a properly sealing lid with an airlock  The main reason I use one is to prevent flying insects. They seem to love some of the smells that come from fermenting wort.

Just taste the finished beer. If it's fine, RDWHAHB. If you don't like it - ditch it. Shouldn't be too hard


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## deadly (24/3/09)

> it's back and better than ever



Thats a matter of opinion


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## MarkBastard (24/3/09)

QuantumBrewer said:


> I _was_ replying to this... then I wasn't. Thought I had a stroke. Anyhoo.... saved it just in case;
> 
> 1. Ewwww.
> 
> ...



Boiling fermented beer? Wouldn't that boil off the alcohol too though?

I wouldn't eat meat that had maggots on it, but if it was a nice fresh cooked steak and some maggots fell on top of it I'd consider it. There's been plenty of times where I've had a fruit fly commit suicide in my schooner at the pub and I just pick it out with my finger.

I saw a girl at work once drop a piece of vegemite toast FACE DOWN in the carpet and she picked it up and used the 5 second rule. After seeing that this beer may be OK hahaha.


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## MarkBastard (24/3/09)

kook said:


> Use a properly sealing lid with an airlock  The main reason I use one is to prevent flying insects. They seem to love some of the smells that come from fermenting wort.
> 
> Just taste the finished beer. If it's fine, RDWHAHB. If you don't like it - ditch it. Shouldn't be too hard



Yeah I was thinking that actually.


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## jonocarroll (24/3/09)

kook said:


> They seem to love some of the smells that come from fermenting wort.


Insects are attracted to the CO2 - you can make a nifty little insect trap with a coke bottle and a tiny yeast starter.



Mark^Bastard said:


> Boiling fermented beer? Wouldn't that boil off the alcohol too though?


Yes. Options: Boil with the lid on, or put up with a lower alcohol beer. You wouldn't need to boil it for terribly long (10 mins at a guess), and it's surely better than throwing away 20 litres.


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## Rodolphe01 (24/3/09)

I'd still drink it, I doubt they'd infect the beer given it is fermented. You'd have to have a damn good palette to notice 3 fruit fly larvae (that will have settled into the yeast cake) in a whole batch of beer. Worst case is it goes bad and you chuck it, or you chuck it now so same same really. Only thing that makes larvae gross is what they've been living in, so yea a maggot in shit is pretty gross, but a fruit fly maggot in between some cling film (probably just there because of a small amount of moisture) not so bad.

Everyone here would of eaten fruit fly larvae before in fruit etc, just ignore the fact that you *know* they were there 

Also, calling them larvae makes it sound way less gross than MAGGOTS!!


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## Screwtop (24/3/09)

Gent's, sorry just fishing :lol: Wouldn't like to eat a maggot that had been eating"meat". But one that had been feasting on Beer, well that's different.

Screwy


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## dr K (24/3/09)

Apart from a small risk of protein haze they won't hurt your beer.
I got maggots in a beer once, tasted great but left a queezy feeling, bottled some for comps only and ditched the rest.
Pity, it went very well..of course it goes without saying you don't judge your own beer.

K


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## chappo1970 (24/3/09)

Just get into it you sook! :icon_drunk: 
You would eat more cockroaches in your weetbix if your that squeemish. Besides what you don't drink give to your tight ass neighbour.


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## manticle (24/3/09)

It depends very much on whether you left them in there. Maggots don't take very long to turn into flies and flies in my beer is a little beyond the pail.

If you got them out quick smart then give it a go. I would bulk prime and bottle a small sampler though just to get an idea if anything is up with the final product. Drink 100 mL and see how you feel after a few hours.

If you develop sleeping tetse gout ringworm immuno-defiency bird ebola though - please don't blame me.


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## achy02 (24/3/09)

manticle said:


> It depends very much on whether you left them in there. Maggots don't take very long to turn into flies and flies in my beer is a little beyond the pail.
> 
> If you got them out quick smart then - give it a go. I would bulk prime and bottle a small sampler though just to get an idea if anything is up with the final product. Drink 100 mL and see how you feel after a few hours.
> 
> If you develop sleeping tetse gout ringworm immuno-defiency bird ebola though - please don't blame me.



I cant believe that no one has mentioned tequilla yet? Im sure that grub is just a maggot on steroids.


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## MarkBastard (24/3/09)

manticle, I keg. I wouldn't bottle this because of the effort if it went wrong, but I've basically got an empty keg anyway so there's no real harm at least kegging it and seeing how it comes out.

Some of the replies above are giving me confidence.

I didn't get them out, they were so small it's not funny and they dropped into the beer and sank straight away. I've probably had beard hairs thicker than these things and they were about 1-2mm long. About 3 of them.

Sitting in the middle of two layers of glad wrap, so you're right it's not like they were sitting in dung or anything.

The beer is probably already 1 degrees, I'd doubt they'd survive that and turn into flys, I reckon they're already dead (drunk) maggots floating around and once the yeast settles out they'll be firmly burried in the yeast cake.

So yeah I'll just cold condition until the yeast cake is nice and compact. Possibly even rack after that just to be sure. Possibly consider getting a filter because I've been thinking about doing that anyway, and then keg it.

Anyone ever made a DIY filter? I remember I used to use some inline hose filter that you'd use on a garden hose when I was distilling. It's just a black cylinder about as long as my hand and about as thick as my... tennis racket handle. Anyway I remember putting coffee paper in there and some carbon. I know that's probably no good for beer but is there some kind of cheap DIY filter that can be made? May give the forum a search.


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## manticle (24/3/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> manticle, I keg. I wouldn't bottle this because of the effort if it went wrong, but I've basically got an empty keg anyway so there's no real harm at least kegging it and seeing how it comes out.
> 
> Some of the replies above are giving me confidence.
> 
> ...



Mate if you reckon they drowned and dropped then I'd give it a go. Fresh protein dropping out with the yeast shouldn't do too much.

Nothing wrong with making a sample bottle though, regardless of kegging habits.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to offer it to others though. This is a brew for you. If I cook for me and drop something on the floor I may consider no harm done. If I cook for someone else, floor spillage goes in the bin, no second thoughts.


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## chappo1970 (24/3/09)

MB
Bring it to the BABBS meeting mate I have a drink of it with ya :icon_drunk: . 
How about drop a hop sock down the throat of the keg when racking if your that worried (ya sook h34r: ), you only want to strain the buggers out of the beer, yeah? If ya don't have one PM me and you can borrow one of mine.


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## Whistlingjack (25/3/09)

Ferment it out, and taste it. If you like it, bottle it.

If you get any off flavours, boil it then use it as a cleaning agent.

WJ


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## clean brewer (25/3/09)

Use one of these, few $ at Bunnings, the filter(at top) is quite fine and goes inside bottom canister, good to keep maggots/hops :unsure: and other items out of the keg...


> Insects are attracted to the CO2


Ive noticed the odd cockroach sniffing around my fermenting fridge.. Should I worry?? :blink:


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## Whistlingjack (25/3/09)

Trap the buggers and ferment them...

WJ


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## MarkBastard (25/3/09)

Cheers clean brewer, that's actually what I used to use for distilling. Gunna definitely get one. Awesome.


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## newguy (25/3/09)

Someone mentioned tequila already - the fruit fly maggots could be your "certificate of authenticity" similar to the tequila worm/grub. 

Seriously, if you knew of the critters on & in your fresh fruit & vegetables you wouldn't be worrying about 3 tiny maggots (which will likely dissolve anyway) in your beer. Not to mention what falls into an industrial sausage press - rodent hot dog anyone?

Reminds me of my cousin. He worked in a food plant that made ketchup for a summer. He hasn't touched ketchup since (20+ years now).


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## MarkBastard (25/3/09)

Yeah I imagine even commercial breweries must have insect problems from time to time.

And then there's all the rumours surrounding the Guinness brewery!


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## Bizier (25/3/09)

let alone rumours regarding English cider...


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## pdilley (25/3/09)

In some countries people would pay good money to eat those maggots!

Last I heard more people on the planet eat insects than do not. Low fat, high protein... not that I would care to, I'd fish em out at the end instead of drinking directly. No tequila worm for me either. I belong to the white people, the p****** who are shit scared to eat bugs 

PS If you like lobster, thats like a sea insect .... That group of people who are daring gormets that eat strange stuff to get a rush. They had deep fried tarantula on a stick and said it tasted just like lobster!


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## Katherine (25/3/09)

mmmm I wonder how many crawly things would be in our grain...


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## MarkBastard (25/3/09)

the more i think about this the more im going to definitely drink it, hell even look forward to it hahaha

Maggot Blonde Ale will be its name. I should make up a logo and everything.


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## shawnheiderich (25/3/09)

I am sure maggots are clean. Used in the past to clean up septic wounds after battle (maybe still?) Drink it you will be fine. Ever eaten a wichaty (spellin) grub?

Go for it  


Shawn


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## jonocarroll (26/3/09)

shawn_H said:


> I am sure maggots are clean. Used in the past to clean up septic wounds after battle (maybe still?) Drink it you will be fine.


So, would you go eat snails from your garden too? But people eat escargot...

Both surgical maggots and food snails are raised hygenically (medically sterile in the case of the maggots, or at least adequately disinfected). During war times, when maggots entered a neglected wound voluntarily, the wound was already pretty bad, and probably full of crap anyway. While I'm sure that the maggots on the fermenter wouldn't be terribly dirty, they won't be sterile. Nonetheless, it will probably be fine, and you do probably get more maggot per litre in apple juice anyway.


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## Stinky Nightgown (26/3/09)

Remember......
Manky beer can always be "reprocessed"......... h34r:


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## samhighley (26/3/09)

And if it makes you drunk, you'll have been maggoted by the maggots.


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## Darren (26/3/09)

Ive drunk maggot barleywine before

couldn't taste them

cheers

Darren


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## Jase71 (26/3/09)

I would drink the beer. Theyre in a sanitised environment so they havent been eating shit that's going to spoil the brew. 

But then again I would drink metho.


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## Josh (26/3/09)

I'd drnik it.

Been thinking about something else regarding insects, to be discussed in another thread later tonight.


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## Bizier (26/3/09)

Mark^Bastard said:


> Maggot Blonde



I have met these on occasion at parties.
I am unsure what you are going to put on the label, but please show us all.


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## Josh (26/3/09)

newguy said:


> Reminds me of my cousin. He worked in a food plant that made ketchup for a summer. He hasn't touched ketchup since (20+ years now).


I've heard this too. Always thought it was an old wives tale.

But the New York Times makes me think otherwise.


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## gibbocore (26/3/09)

i thougt fruit flies = aceobacter (sp?)/vinegar


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## Darren (26/3/09)

gibbocore said:


> i thougt fruit flies = aceobacter (sp?)/vinegar



Gibbo,

More of a problem in lighter styles with less alcohol I would suspect.

cheers

Darren


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