What else can go wrong..... Fear Factor Ale

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Date: 26 Aug 2007 20:17:52
From: Duke
Subject: What else can go wrong..... Fear Factor Ale

OK, so first my ETC appears to be shot....
Now I find bugs in my brew....

So I go to brew today and upon peering down into my mash tun (wort boil
already underway) I notice what appears to be cracked black peppercorns all
over the top of the spent grains. Upon further inspection, to my horror,
they appear to be some type of critter that, to my naked eye, look like
giant fleas.

A cross section of the grains seems to indicate that they have all floated
to the top of the bed as I see none further down. My best guess would give
a number around 300 - 500 of these dead little bugs. I keep my grains in a
sealed 5 gallon bucket so I am guessing these came home with me from my
LHBS. Who knows though...

Any idea what these may be ?

I presume that since most would have been filtered out via the grain bed and
the fact that the wort boiled for an hour + that I should be OK from a
safety/health standpoint.

Yes or no ? Would you toss it or drink it ?

It is currently fermenting with some Safale US-56.

Duke

Date: 27 Aug 2007 01:10:21
From: Andy Davison
Subject: Re: What else can go wrong..... Fear Factor Ale

Duke wrote:

> Any idea what these may be ?

Extra protein. A protein rest may be advisable in future :)

TBH you may find this is one of the best beers you have brewed. Boiling will
have killed off anything brought in by the critters. Even if it's gone
totally tits-up you will be able to look back on this in years to come and
have a good laugh about it. Check your grain. If it looks like there are
weevils or other insects in it give it a blast of CO2 to kill them off and
look at better storage in future. Whatever, DWRHAHB.
--
Andy Davison
andy [at] oiyou [dot] ukfsn [dot] org

Date: 26 Aug 2007 18:05:57
From: Wayne
Subject: Re: What else can go wrong..... Fear Factor Ale

Duke wrote:
> OK, so first my ETC appears to be shot....
> Now I find bugs in my brew....
>
> So I go to brew today and upon peering down into my mash tun (wort boil
> already underway) I notice what appears to be cracked black peppercorns all
> over the top of the spent grains. Upon further inspection, to my horror,
> they appear to be some type of critter that, to my naked eye, look like
> giant fleas.
>
> A cross section of the grains seems to indicate that they have all floated
> to the top of the bed as I see none further down. My best guess would give
> a number around 300 - 500 of these dead little bugs. I keep my grains in a
> sealed 5 gallon bucket so I am guessing these came home with me from my
> LHBS. Who knows though...
>
> Any idea what these may be ?
>
> I presume that since most would have been filtered out via the grain bed and
> the fact that the wort boiled for an hour + that I should be OK from a
> safety/health standpoint.
>
> Yes or no ? Would you toss it or drink it ?
>
> It is currently fermenting with some Safale US-56.
>
> Duke
>
>
Most grains will arrive with some insect larvae in there. The longer
you store it, the more likely they are to mature. Cool dry storage will
delay development. I recently had to toss about half a bag of two row
with this problem. This was the only bag that hadn't been stored in an
air tight container to keep the humidity out.

You beer should be fine as stated above. If you have any of this grain
left, take it outside and pour it back and forth between a couple
containers a couple of times in the wind to let the bugs blow out of
there. When you bring it back in, store it in a tight fitting container
so the bugs don't get into the rest of your grain, breakfast cereal,
hair, etc. and use it up as soon as possible. When you dough in, be
sure to skim the bugs off the top.

If this grain was fairly fresh, be sure to tell your supplier about this
so they can check the rest of their grain. This won't help you, but it
will help your fellow brewers. If your supplier is a really good one,
they may offer a refund or replacement.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Date: 26 Aug 2007 16:22:59
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: What else can go wrong..... Fear Factor Ale