Busy brew day, needed to clear out a 6gal for primary so I racked it to a 5gal glass secondary. But forgot to sanitize it. It was washed last week, and held strike water for today’s brew. So it was once washed, then “rinsed” by pouring out the contents into a pot and stored upside down in carboy drier before being filled with beer.
I thought about sanitizing another 5gal and re-racking but I figured the damage was done. What would you do?
You are probably okay since you did clean it first. Leave it alone and have a home brew.
Yup, any damage has been done, and you’re probably okay. If the glass was clean it likely wasn’t harboring any bacteria, and the alcohol, hops, and ph of fermented beer all serve to stave off infection. There’s a reason why man has used beer as a safe substitute for drinking water for centuries, its actually pretty hard to screw up.
The only thing I would do different from usual, is if you’re planning on aging it for an extended period, be sure to taste it regularly to make sure nothing seems “off”. And if something does seem “off”, probably the best thing you can do is drink it before it gets any worse.
We finished the last of this batch the past weekend. Not a single bottle was infected. Yay!
Thanks for the follow up. It’s good the hear it worked out alright.
