Brew Problems

[ronniedeb]

Last night's brew encountered a few problems. It was a New Glarus Spotted Cow Clone, my 8th AG brew. Recipe here:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/672/spotted-clown-new-glarus-spotted-cow-clone-

It was my second time using a yeast starter. This time however it seemed there was a lot of yeast still suspended in the starter (1.5l) despite several hours in the fridge. I preferred to decant the starter wort off, but did so into another container which is sat in the fridge overnight. My question is, should I now decant this and add any extra yeast to my fermenter this morning (6-7 hours later), or is the risk of infection not worth it in this case? The amount of yeast now flocculated is pretty small, and the starter wort looks pretty clear. The yeast in the fermentor is doing it's job, it seems, as the airlock is bubbling away this morning, and the krausen is beginning to form.

My second, and more serious problem, I reckon, was that when I had moved almost all my cooled wort from the boiler to the fermentor I noticed a small leak around the fermentor tap, which must have been loosened in the cleaning/sanitising stage. This just got worse as it filled more. I had no choice but to stick my arm into the cooled wort to tighten the tap. Is my beer likely to be screwed?   

Thanks.

[DEMPSEY]

I would say your yeast pitch is fine and so leave it alone if it is showing activity . The arm in the wort,well I would say your not the first to have done this. Some people would have first wash their arm in starsan and others just plunge in. Only way to know is time. I presume you don't have any skin ailments or yeast growth issue's on your skin .

[ronniedeb]

I would say your yeast pitch is fine and so leave it alone if it is showing activity . The arm in the wort,well I would say your not the first to have done this. Some people would have first wash their arm in starsan and others just plunge in. Only way to know is time. I presume you don't have any skin ailments or yeast growth issue's on your skin .

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, it was a panic moment. Beer spilling on the floor, so no time to dip my arm in Starsan then.  But I'm thinking (though not sure) that I probably dipped my arm into the bucket of Starsan to retrieve something sometime during the brewing process lastnight anyway, so maybe a bit of sterilisation happened!

[molc]

Hehe that makes me think of teens saying they might only be a bit pregnant for some reason

[ronniedeb]

Hehe that makes me think of teens saying they might only be a bit pregnant for some reason

[Bubbles]

My second, and more serious problem, I reckon, was that when I had moved almost all my cooled wort from the boiler to the fermentor I noticed a small leak around the fermentor tap, which must have been loosened in the cleaning/sanitising stage. This just got worse as it filled more. I had no choice but to stick my arm into the cooled wort to tighten the tap. Is my beer likely to be screwed?   

Thanks.

It's likely to be fine. The yeast are already producing alcohol, and there's hops in there to keep bugs at bay. If your santitisation is okay otherwise, you'll probably be grand. I seem to remember having to do something similar years ago (to retrieve a spoon or trial jar or something) and I don't remember it affecting the beer.

I've never owned a fermenter with a tap, to me they seem completely pointless. The taps are difficult to clean (compared to an ordinary fermenter) and a potential source of infection. I can't see any reasons to own one.

[Qs]

My second, and more serious problem, I reckon, was that when I had moved almost all my cooled wort from the boiler to the fermentor I noticed a small leak around the fermentor tap, which must have been loosened in the cleaning/sanitising stage. This just got worse as it filled more. I had no choice but to stick my arm into the cooled wort to tighten the tap. Is my beer likely to be screwed?   

Thanks.

Even if it is ruined be thankful you got it in time. I had this issue recently with a tiny leak at the tap and didn't notice it. Went off on my holidays then, arrived back to find the beer had completely leaked out, around 15L of sticky, half fermented beer soaked into the floor of my understairs area. Place was moldy and sticky and horrible. Still have a dehumidifier in there now.

[ronniedeb]

It's likely to be fine. The yeast are already producing alcohol, and there's hops in there to keep bugs at bay. If your santitisation is okay otherwise, you'll probably be grand. I seem to remember having to do something similar years ago (to retrieve a spoon or trial jar or something) and I don't remember it affecting the beer.

I've never owned a fermenter with a tap, to me they seem completely pointless. The taps are difficult to clean (compared to an ordinary fermenter) and a potential source of infection. I can't see any reasons to own one.

Thanks Bubbles. With regards to tapped fermenters. I just rinse them out with hot soapy water when finished. Run some through the tap as well. Then when cleaning (Chemipro Oxi) and sterilising (Starsan) I also run these through the tap. Do you think I would still have a problem?