Part of kettle in brewer

by **nonefornic** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 10:17 am

Not sure if this should be filed under "humour" or "making beer"... I checked my latest brew the other day to find part of my kettle (a small detachable plastic strainer designed to stop anything in the kettle getting into a cup) floating in the top (hooray for clear plastic, I guess). Normally I remove the strainer, but clearly forgot this time. I'd cleaned the kettle before begining the brew and used it to add the necessary hot water (and part of the cold). Will there be any negative side effects (I'm assuming flavour?) Should I open up the brew (which if fermenting fantastically!) and take it out?

by **bullfrog** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 10:41 am

It was obviously subject to boiling water so would be just about as sanitised as you could get it.

I wouldn't risk infection by fishing it out. It being plastic, it shouldn't impart any negative flavours (after all, your fermenter is plastic, right?) so there really isn't any need for it's urgent removal.

Wait until you rack or bottle then you can reunite it with the kettle it ran away from.

Oh, and don't worry about it; it's fairly sure to say that just about everyone on this forum has lost something on brew day only to find it at the bottom of the bucket when they go to bottle. I myself have fermented my magnetic stir bar so often that I'm sure it must taste of Amarillo by now!

by **nonefornic** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 12:33 pm

Lol; awesome. Thanks. I can't say this has ever happened to me before so it was a bit... unsettling.

by **rotten** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 1:00 pm

I have pitched my stir bar at least 5 times in the short time that I have had it! I stuck my arm in the brew the first time and thought "that was pretty stupid". I just leave it there now.

by **Tipsy** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 1:27 pm

In my kit days I found something multi coloured floating in my fermenter.
I thought it was mould but let it ferment out anyway.
When I bottled the beer it turned out to be some of the label torn of the can of goo.

Beer tasted fine.

by **squirt in the turns** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 3:47 pm

rotten wrote:I have pitched my stir bar at least 5 times in the short time that I have had it! I stuck my arm in the brew the first time and thought "that was pretty stupid". I just leave it there now.

Did the beer turn out ok? Did you wash your arm first?

That's only happened to me once. I cheated and dragged the stir bar up the inside of the fermenter using a magnet.

by **drsmurto** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 4:49 pm

Dropped the stirbar into the fermenter on far too many occasions to count, never bother fishing it out as it was boiled in the starter wort.

Back when I used lids and airlocks I pushed a few grommets into the fermenter, also never bothered to retrieve them as they had been sanitised.

by **rotten** » Wednesday May 16, 2012 10:50 pm

squirt in the turns wrote:
rotten wrote:I have pitched my stir bar at least 5 times in the short time that I have had it! I stuck my arm in the brew the first time and thought "that was pretty stupid". I just leave it there now.

Did the beer turn out ok? Did you wash your arm first?

That's only happened to me once. I cheated and dragged the stir bar up the inside of the fermenter using a magnet.

Beer turned out fine. I pitch my starters straight after the wort has been through the plate chiller and in the fermentor, so I were sort of sterilised at the time. :roll:

I reckon I had a few glasses while boiling etc so weren't exactly thinking straight :lol:

by **emnpaul** » Thursday May 17, 2012 8:23 pm

I pitched a 2 litre starter into a Dortmunder one day, while it was still in the demijohn. :shock:

Managed to fish the demijohn out with a pair of tongs and pitch the yeast properly and it still made a good beer.