[jeffy]

Regardless, we all know that it's 99% likely this beer will taste nasty.  N-A-S-T-Y.  It's been sitting, souring, and doing who-knows-what for two weeks.  It certainly will not be what it was intended to be.

We don't know that at all!  We have no idea if it is contaminated or if anything is growing, if it has any off flavors, or if it is just sitting there.

No, it probably won't be exactly as intended.  KGS, you say lesson learned - I say there are MORE lessons to be learned.

Of course, we're here yammering away and arguing over it, and the OP hasn't even responded to anything.

Yeah, I still say pitch some yeast.  Ain't skeered.
I wonder if the OP is still with us and reading all this...

[rightasrain]

Well I know I was fascinated by botulism a few years back. A really small dose is enough to kill. I believe its a really old as far as it's family history goes. I also believe its one of the most deadly substances that man knows about. Including man made substances. I just read that boiling for 10 minutes can help but that doesn't make sense to me because I thought it was the after product of the bacterias food source ... so poo, that was the poison. I don't really have the time to verify any of this though. Here are the symptoms:

The classic symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. Constipation may occur. The doctor's examination may reveal that the gag reflex and the deep tendon reflexes like the knee-jerk reflex are decreased or absent.

In food-borne botulism, symptoms generally begin 18-36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as six hours or as late as 10 days afterward.

There are almost no deaths from botulism from what I have read due to modern medicine. If botulism is a risk it may be good for all home brewers to know these symptoms so treatment can begin as soon as possible.


With that being said I'd probably boil then ferment. But then again I'm willing to die for my beer.

[hooter]

I wonder if the OP is still with us and reading all this...

That's what I was wondering. 

Being that this is a hefe I'm guessing it was relatively cheap to brew, and I like my hefe's fresh, so I'm still in the dump it camp.  I'm having a hard time buying into the idea that this is worth trying to salvage.  As a side note, I encourage anyone flirting with the idea of becoming a homebrewer to familiarize yourself with the basics before brewing your first batch to avoid such issues.

[doc1auto1]

Thanks for all the help.  It tastes bitter & was cheap to brew. So, I'll try again.  .  I only have one fermenter (5gal bucket), that I am putting in a fridge in my garage.  It's completely dark & It's about 65ish degrees.  Is that a good place/temperature to leave the fermenter?  Also, I was reading basic instructions that told me how to use a single fermenter.  They said to leave it in the brew in the fermenter for about 2 weeks, until the SG changed by a certain amount, then bottle, cap & put the bottled beer back in the fridge for another 2 weeks.  . Would a secondary fermenter make a big difference? Are those directions ok? Should I just stick with 1 fermenter until I become a little more experience?  I have plenty of material to read, just haven't made it that far yet.  I've only been reading up on basic brewing instructions.   Again, thanks for all the help everyone!!

[garc_mall]

1 fermenter is fine. I don't think you need a secondary fermenter until you start doing secondary fermentations (fruit/souring). Don't worry about how much the specific gravity changes (unless you are calculating abv), just make sure it is stable for 3-5 days. Once you bottle, you don't necessarily need to put it back in the fridge (in fact, I would recommend against it, so you can put another batch in the fridge) you can leave it out at warmer temperatures, so it can carbonate faster. I have a dark closet that is about 70 which is where I keep all my bottles until they go in the fridge to chill for serving.

Keep asking questions, and we will keep answering!

Welcome to the obsession!

[tomsawyer]

The symptoms of botulism are similar to those of ethanol ingestion.

[Joe Sr.]

In that case, I may have botulism...

[hooter]

65 will do the trick.  I like to ferment in an ambient temp in the low 60's so my actual fermentation temp's stay around 65.  Still, your situation will work fine.  I secondary alot (not all) of my brews but the prevailing wisdom is that it is rarely necessary so I'd go with that.  After you bottle, don't put them in the fridge, but instead keep your bottles around 70 degrees for a few weeks until they carbonate.  Then you can toss them in the refer.  Just make sure your gravity has leveled out for a few days to avoid bottle bombs.  All of this is a moot point though if you don't pitch at the proper temp.  Just sayin'.