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I forgot about the warmer tap water and found my wort was way too hot and even after adding ice and standing the fermenter in ice water it took nearly two hours before is was the right temperature so I could add the yeast. The lids were off quite a bit as I was stirring it to aid cooling. They are both now fermenting well but should they both be thrown away cause of the chances of infection are too high? I cant afford to wait 12 days to find out they taste sour then another 12 days before I can pour something into a keg

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3 Answers

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It should be OK. Keep the beer at a nice cool fermenting temp and don't worry. Two hours isn't too long; I've heard of people chilling overnight at ambient temp. Never throw away a beer because it might be infected. If your really throwing away send to me!! Cheers!

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Thanx I will keep them now! I drove 100-km to get the best water in the region was very fussy about all sanitation and have a brand new beer fridge that holds three 19 litre kegs but this is my 1st beer brew in 5 years so I am a bit anxious. I remember that it should taste bitter and sweet not sour and acidic and have no bad smells but is there any other way to test for infection before I keg gas chill it,& then run it through my beer lines – Alisdair Dec 4 '12 at 0:01
By the time you're ready to keg, any infection should be obvious to your nose. – Tobias Patton Dec 4 '12 at 15:38
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You should be fine. In an attempt to save water, I started letting my wort cool overnight in the fermenter. I've had wort sitting for 18+ hours that has come out just fine. As long as you're good with your sanitation, you should be fine. I always pitch a starter with slightly more yeast than I know I'll need, just to be on the safe side of things, too.

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I agree. I've left wort overnight many times. I am very cautious with sanitation. – David PGB Dec 5 '12 at 0:48
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One way to know for sure would be to run a wort stability test the next time you're worried about your "chill time". When you're racking your wort from your brew kettle, rack a hundred or so milliliters into a sanitized jar. Cover it with tin foil and let it sit in your fermentation room/ area. If it naturally starts fermenting or shows other signs of undesirable growth... within 3 days, you might have a problem with your batch depending on how long your lag time was. {more info} It's a good way to know how sterile your wort is before you added your yeast.

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great tip thanx I will do that – Alisdair Dec 7 '12 at 23:50

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