Waiter There's Fly In My..........

[floppinab]

wort!!!!!

Was debating whether to post this one knowing I'll be offering this beer to a few on this forum. But the exhibitionist has got the better of me.

Was putting together my first crack at a rice brew Sat. night, boil is up, we're about an hour in..... hmmm what is that floating around in there. Of course being the time of year there a few Xmas beetles flying around and sure enough 3 of them have found there way into my boil. I fished them out but have no idea how long they were in there.

Surely someone on here has had this before, likely negative impacts?????

 

[mikem108]

beetlejuice!! :lol:

 

[j1gsaw]

During a boil i couldnt see any ill effects, the old chrissy beetles are fairly harmless id imagine.
I had some weird red bug land in my cooling wort yesterday.. i had him out in under a min, but hmmmm <_<
Better not have left any nasties behind.. time will tell.
A few months ago i was bottling a stout, and i filled the bottle and just as i was capping i thought.. hmmm what was that... looked like a bug... sure enough, i marked the bottle and only discovered it few days ago... had about a 1 inch scummy buildup on the top! So naturally i thought, eeurkk ill empty this *******... and i got to the kitchen sink and cracked the cap off... (long story short i then spent an hr washing / scrubbing the ceiling, floor, and every bloody appliance in the kitchen...
It volcanoed out of the bottle with awesome precision! Most shit off i was...
Im always on bug alert when brewing/capping now. Cheers

 

[MarkBastard]

I had a fruit fly maggot land in finished beer once (fully fermented beer) just before crash chilling.

It didn't seem to affect the beer much.

 

[t2000kw]

I've had grain bugs in my mash. Dead ones, of course. Left 'em in there 'cause I couldn't get them out. They got filtered out (mostly) in the lautering process, and it made a great beer.

In the US, the government allows a certain amount of insect particles in our food. It's the same in most places around the world. This is just being realistic, I think, but it bothers many people when they learn that their food isn't 100% free of bugs and other contaminants. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acceptable levels of things like insect parts that can be in foods before some action must take place.

<http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06/29/how_many_insect_parts_and_rodent_hairs_are_allowed_in_your_food.htm>

The grain beetles are normally in grain. If you buy it fresh and don't store it, you may never see the little creatures. If you keep the grain unmilled for a couple of years or more, expect the eggs to hatch inside the grains and larvae to eat some of the good stuff in the grains. Eventually they pop out the sides of the grain and fly around inside your house if you store it inside, or just get out and fly away. They leave little tiny holes in the sides of the kernels.

I figure that they contribute a little protein but they haven't spoiled any of my beers. The wort gets boiled anyway so any bad stuff in the mash has been sterilized before it hits the fermenter.

I wouldn't worry about it myself as long as your wort boiled a bit after the bugs were removed. You can cover your boiling pot with some screen if it's likely to happen again.

Don

 

[Steve]

Ive had roaches, bees, spiders, even plastic toys and they've all been fine. Dont worry about it.
Cheers
Steve

 

[tommygun]

The guy from a local HBS gave us a stout when poured it had a nice creamy head tasted pretty good. Once the head died down a little and after a few more sips noticed there was a big cricket in there! Wasn't so keen on the rest but decided to call my brewery cricket beer. Decided not to take his tips on cleaning bottles out!

 

[manticle]

I reckon any nastiness would be removed by the heat of the boil anyway.

Beer seems to be pretty forgiving. I had a cockroach fall in my fermenter once when I was bottling. It was in for moments and I drank all of that beer. No ill effects to speak of. I'd rather a christmas beetle than a roach too.

 

[Bribie G]

I always end up with a heap of fungus growing in my fermenters.

 

[Tony]

I made a stout a few years back and after i drained the kettle, i found these funny looking bits of meat in the bottom. I thought it was lumps of break at first and when i broke them up it was like boiled sausage.

A couple nights later i went outside after dark to do something in the garage and found slugs climbing up the side of my kettle!

Mmmmmmmm Slug Stout. Noone complained

I also sent a bottle of Porter to Ash in Perth many years ago. I have never had an insect in a bottle, except for the one i sent him. Had a huntsman spider in it. I was rather embaresed

cheers

 

[simon.sillitoe]

My problem is the flies that try to take a sip of my beer out of the glass! :angry:

 

[Beer&Kebab]

I also sent a bottle of Porter to Ash in Perth many years ago. I have never had an insect in a bottle, except for the one i sent him. Had a huntsman spider in it. I was rather embaresed

It is just the Aussie version of the tequilla worm

 

[Mantis]

I had a cockroach swimming around in my fermenter once just after pouring the wort in. Fished it out and named the brew cockroach ale.
No probs drinking it but I have grown these funny little antenae out of my temples :lol:

 

[Swinging Beef]

Hahah.. shellac from the beetle wing covers.

 

[Infinitee]

Bugs and their poop is great yeast nutrient.

:lol: @ bribieg.

People forget this and how nutritious it, like all fungi, can be.
I might remind em with a shiitake stout to arouse the senses.

A bug in the bottle is dangerous not just for infections, but a boost of nutrient to lively up the yeast cells.

I insist on unfiltered, bee-leg filled honey for mead making.
Plenty of nutrients and wild yeasts all included. B)

 

[Andrew Coleman]

I made a stout a few years back and after i drained the kettle, i found these funny looking bits of meat in the bottom. I thought it was lumps of break at first and when i broke them up it was like boiled sausage.

A couple nights later i went outside after dark to do something in the garage and found slugs climbing up the side of my kettle!

Mmmmmmmm Slug Stout. Noone complained

I also sent a bottle of Porter to Ash in Perth many years ago. I have never had an insect in a bottle, except for the one i sent him. Had a huntsman spider in it. I was rather embaresed

cheers

Oh god! you're lucky i'm not drinking right now, has put me off beer for atleast the next 15 minutes...hehe, sorry but i dnt think i'd ever trust you enough to try one of your beers...could be a nest red back next time! :icon_vomit:

 

[Tony]

Lucky you live in Adelaide... you dont have to worry about it

A little bit :icon_offtopic:

Do you like Nutra grains for breakfast? The cockroaches are attracted to the gluten they put in them like magnets. They grind up super fine though.

Tis the same with most procesed foods we eat!

cheers

 

[manticle]

I insist on unfiltered, bee-leg filled honey for mead making.
Plenty of nutrients and wild yeasts all included. B)

I've not yet been convinced about putting any kind of poo in my beer but I agree 100% with the deliciousness of unfiltered honey. My dad has a couple of bee hives and I've helped him centrifuge the honey out on a number of occasions. Those wings, legs and other debris just add to the tasty natural element of it and are testament to the hard work of the little critters (they really put themselves into their product).

 

[jyo]

A few years ago when I was still bottling, I poured a nice APA. Finished beer -which was lovely btw-, rinsed the long neck, and did the old hold bottle up to the light for pedantic clean bottle inspection, and noticed the exoskeleton of an approx .5 cm cockroach clinging to the side of the bottle. The guts of the liitle bugger had completely rotted away....beer was yum. Don't know if I had missed it when brushing out or if it crawled in just in time for bottling....

 

[Wisey]

I have seen the grub infected tomato's they use for sauce...... mmmmm