Certainly Not The "key" To A Good Brew....

[SpaceMonkey]

So the other night I'm having my first bash at a partial kit alcoholic ginger beer recipe (with a nod to Doc and GMK's recipes which I ripped off in equal measure!) I'd cooked up all the ingredients, dropped them into the fermenter with the kit and smelt (and tasted) fantastic already...
Then I realise I've left my hydrometer down in the shed so I go to grap my keys to run downstairs and grab it, but in the process I miss and drop my keys right into my fermenter, AAARRGH!!! I almost shed a tear as I tipped the whole bloody thing out it smelt that good but given the amount of bacteria on a set of keys (not to mention my forearm as I fished them out) I figured it was almost certainly rooted. Redid the whole thing again last night but didn't quite have all the same ingredients around so it didn't taste so promising, should still be pretty nice though I left the keys out this time!

 

[Kramer]

I did something similar once I dropped my stirring spoon into the fermenter, but I had 60L in there and I wasn't going to tip it out so I just plunged in & grabbed it out (up to my shoulder in wort), put the lid on & airlocked! It turned out one of my best brews!

In hindsight I could have left it in there!

 

[colinw]

About 3 years ago I found a teaspoon sitting in the yeast cake when I bottled a brew.

I hadn't missed it, so I figure I must have knocked it off the table when syphoning the chilled brew into the fermenter. This was before I had a kettle with a tap, so I was partial volume boiling & syphoning after chilling.

The beer - a kit & specialty grains dark ale- turned out fine.

The only other wierd thing I've ever found in a beer, also a dark ale, was a big fat insect (hornet I think) in the yeast after racking. Again, no problems with the beer.

 

[archimedes24]

Reminds me of the sidebar in John Palmer's chapter on fermenting when a friend of his discovered his 3 year old had been helpfully dropping pencils and crayons into his fermenter....

Don't think there's any saving "Crayola Brew"

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Had it just been a spoon or some other bit of brewing apparatus I'd just left it in there and crossed my fingers that things would've been alright as it would've been relatively clean, however said set of keys have been sitting in my hip pocket for the last few years and as far as I can remember haven't ever been washed, let alone steralized so there would've been all sorts of bugs living on them!

About 3 years ago I found a teaspoon sitting in the yeast cake when I bottled a brew.

I hadn't missed it, so I figure I must have knocked it off the table when syphoning the chilled brew into the fermenter. This was before I had a kettle with a tap, so I was partial volume boiling & syphoning after chilling.

The beer - a kit & specialty grains dark ale- turned out fine.

The only other wierd thing I've ever found in a beer, also a dark ale, was a big fat insect (hornet I think) in the yeast after racking. Again, no problems with the beer.

[post="74441"][/post]​

 

[shmick]

I was just about to start the boil for an IPA and ducked inside to get the bbq lighter.
Came out to find the dog with his head in the kettle desperately trying to get a few slurps in before scalding himself (or I got back).
I'd have kicked him if I could have caught him. :angry:
Figured any hair or fleas would be sterilised in the boil. :chug:

 

[warrenlw63]

Like a dollar for every airlock bung or grommet I've pushed into the brew. Good thing these things are sanitized first.

Sort of like adding synthetic autolysis. :lol:

Warren -

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I was just about to start the boil for an IPA and ducked inside to get the bbq lighter.
Came out to find the dog with his head in the kettle desperately trying to get a few slurps in before scalding himself (or I got back).
I'd have kicked him if I could have caught him. :angry:
Figured any hair or fleas would be sterilised in the boil. :chug:

[post="74451"][/post]​

Wish I'd dropped the key in pre-boil

 

[colinw]

I was just about to start the boil for an IPA and ducked inside to get the bbq lighter.
Came out to find the dog with his head in the kettle desperately trying to get a few slurps in before scalding himself (or I got back).
I'd have kicked him if I could have caught him. :angry:
Figured any hair or fleas would be sterilised in the boil. :chug:

[post="74451"][/post]​

DogHead IPA?

My dog has been known to hang around and eat any grains dropped during milling, as well as rolling in the spent grains on the compost heap, but (so far) has refrained from drinking wort or dropping tennis balls into the boiler.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Personally I wouldnt have chucked it after being exposed to keys and an arm. But I guess I am pretty laid back about letting stuff get into the brew.

 

[Kai]

I would have fished the keys out with my brewing spoon and fermented it anyway. That wouldn't have been much extra effort, but I would have made certain to doubly and triply test it before bottling.

 

[NRB]

I would've just boiled it up again and fermented.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I would've just boiled it up again and fermented.

[post="74502"][/post]​

I'd already topped it up to 21l by that point so wasn't an option, I don;t have much boiling capacity

Maybe I should've chanced my arm (no pun intended) and just kept going with it but I couldn't be bothered waiting the best part of 2 weeks to see if it had spoilt or not so I just decided to cut my losses.

 

[Kai]

Gonna brew it again soon, then?

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I couldn't be bothered waiting the best part of 2 weeks to see if it had spoilt or not so I just decided to cut my losses.

[post="74522"][/post]​

Fair call man, if the brew ended up being ruined then that'd be a serious waste of fermenter and bottle time...not to mention effort...

I'd have done the same :chug:

PZ.

 

[Kai]

You just buy more fermenters while you wait.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

You just buy more fermenters while you wait.

[post="74531"][/post]​

I'm thinking about buying some more anyway...can't have too many I suppose

PZ.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Gonna brew it again soon, then?

[post="74529"][/post]​

Had another go the very next night

It came down to that fact that I'd rather spend another $20 and an evenings work than risk losing 2-3 weeks of brewing time. Changed the ingredients a little round the second time round as I didn't have all of the same stuff I put in the first one but it shoudn't be too much different and it smells pretty good right now, it's bubbling awy pretty hard in my laundry as I type.