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Wort sat is cold fridge for a week???

brewer78

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Question... So I brewed my first batch of beer at my friends house . I left and haven't been back for a week... I go over there today and he had put it in the refrigerator all week!!?? WTF I could have choked him. So my question is self explanatory, my beer has been in the cold refrigerator for a week. Yeast went in at about 70 degrees, but it's been in the regular refrigerator for a week. Should I just pour it out and start again?? Is it making crazy amounts of diacetyl?
 
Let it warm up to about 65F and see what happens.  The danger zone for bacteria is from 40F to 140F approximately.  When fermenting at ale temperatures (mid 60s F), the yeast out competes any bacteria that may get into the wort during the time it has dropped below 140F after the boil and fermentation begins.

All that being said, the wort was below the 40F during that week, so you probably don't have too much to worry about from a contamination standpoint.  At that low of a temperature, the yeast probably were way too sluggish to produce much diacetyl.

If when it warms up, it's starts growing mold, then you'll have to dump it.  I suspect that it might do just fine though and ferment out nicely.
 
Thanks so much. I hope it turns out good. I'll take it out and watch it for a week or two
 
I also think you'll be ok. Just to add... it might be worth, when you do open the top to check, to use a sanitized spoon and give the yeast a stir. I've done this for sluggish or quick finish fermentation when gravity is still high... it works to get the yeast back in suspension.
 
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