Fail Thread (Mistakes You've Made) 2019

[porschemad911]

3 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Shouldn't prolly say this but when they start digging under yer house the best thing for 'em would be turning 'em into wombat burgers!

Good luck, they're tough! My mate had one that kept getting into his orchard, banging the fruit trees to knock the fruit off. He chased it with a spade one day and it basically ignored him. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

15 minutes ago, porschemad911 said:

Good luck, they're tough! My mate had one that kept getting into his orchard, banging the fruit trees to knock the fruit off. He chased it with a spade one day and it basically ignored him. 

Harder than a cat's head.  Probably bent his spade. 

[Pezzza]

12 hours ago, porschemad911 said:

Good luck, they're tough! My mate had one that kept getting into his orchard, banging the fruit trees to knock the fruit off. He chased it with a spade one day and it basically ignored him. 

Yep your are right John, they are tough as nails...  prolly wombat sausages or burgers would be better... steaks would be way too tough 

[Pezzza]

Epic fail this evening... wanted to put down new brew after bottling two this afternoon while the footy was on the radio...

Cleaned up the Stainless Steel Fermenter, and luckily the Coopers Plazzi as well..... 

So did the stovetop thing with Coopers Euoro Lager + 1.8kg of LDME powder... extra hops.... so poured base amount of cold springwater into the SS FV... all good.

Then added the hot stuff to the FV... which promptly starts leaking out of the temp well (the washer had leaked before but had come good)... 

So in desperation did a quick sterilise of the Coopers Plazzi... so started pouring across - just using the SS FV Tap - thought - hey way tooo slow...

So picked up the SS Vat and poured in... realising that the Coopers Plazzi Tap was not turned off............ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH Epic Fail ?! 

[Zume Brew]

Done three brews since back at it. First two Acetaldehyde off flavours...ugh

 

Last brew "Coopers Real Ale w/ Centennial hops" I BOILED the can ignorantly...screwing the flavour profile. I also stirred the crud out of the yeast...another no no. Its plain as day (watery) with a slight Centennial bitterness, but again with the appley-ness.

 

Brew day yesterday "Coopers Australian Ale w/ Magnum and Cascade hops. Forgot to stir the extract in before pitching...yeah I forgot to stir the whole damn thing, meaning I pitched onto a glorified hop tea atop a heap of thick undissolved extract on the bottom...I have lightly stirred, but now I got a worry on my mind. I cant believe I missed such a simple step !

Just annoyed coz IDK the SG now? IDK how I will ascertain final ABV%?

*sigh* all part of the fun i guess 

[Otto Von Blotto]

You can work out the OG based on the ingredients and batch volume. It'll still eat all the available sugar though, so once fermentation is done it'll have mixed through. 

Following on from the temp controller disaster the other day, woke up this morning to find a bucket of Caraaroma all over the patio. Well, half of it anyway. At least I know which dog was responsible because the usual suspect was in his crate. 

Anyway, the brew fridge has been shifted to the other side of the fence and the grain buckets put in the shed. So it should all be safe now. I can put the temp probe wire through the hinge side of the door which is away from the fence and out of reach. When I move the kitchen fridge out to become the second brew fridge, it will go where the current fridge was, but I'll put it snug against the fence, and duct tape the temp probe wire to the outside in the area where it might be accessed. The controller itself can sit on top, or on the other fridge, either way they can't reach. 

Sucks that these things have to be done but it's better than constantly replacing wires or grains. The big grain bins are still in the same area but they seem to leave them alone for some reason. 

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, Zume Brew said:

Done three brews since back at it. First two Acetaldehyde off flavours...

Hey ZB - yeah sometimes things don't go quite as smoothly as they could mate... but onwards and upwards - it'll all come good.  So have you got Temperature Control?

Not sure why you got the di-Acetyl thing going on?  My learnings from this forum and discussion w HB/Brewer is that it just means you have not fully fermented out the brew?

That is why I ask re Temp Control... mate cos honestly... if you ain't got temp control, it is hard to be in the race.... unless you live somewhere where it is 18 deg 24 hours per day 365 days per year and you just wanna brew Ales!!! 

Quote

I also stirred the crud out of the yeast...another no no. Its plain as day (watery) with a slight Centennial bitterness, but again with the appley-ness.

*sigh* all part of the fun i guess 

Stirring the yeast - not so sure whether that is such a terrible thing - am happy to hear from the Master Brewers of the group on this one... it's something I seem to have a bit of a problem with...  as I am a chronic stirrer of dry yeast.... is that so bad???      I cannot say that I have noticed that it makes a difference... yet anyway ?   Are you using a bubbler?  That will give you some indication of activity... otherwise if your system has no infection then just make sure you leave it for 10 days... I did that for quite a long time without ever bothering with a Hydrometer... as long as you have temp control. 

And if the outcome is watery - mate beef up the ingredients... buy some Coopers Brew Enhancer - or a bag of Light Dry Malt Extract (LDME) and beef it up...  v easy to crank up the body and a bit more alc goes with it...   A kit with addition of 1.7kg of LDME is good...

or buy some Liquid Malt Extract and add that.... that will get you going.

If you like dark beers - a Coopers Dark Ale tin plus a Can of Coopers OS Lager in 23 L of water makes a non-watery brew. 

One can plus one kilo of whatever I think will always make a watery brew.... 

Just record what you have done and change it up... and before you know it you will be making a beer you can enjoy!

I am sure others can provide better advice than me but there are a few suggestions mate and good luck with it ; )

Cheers, BB.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bearded Burbler

[Pezzza]

7 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Sucks that these things have to be done but it's better than constantly replacing wires or grains. The big grain bins are still in the same area but they seem to leave them alone for some reason. 

Sounds like you are getting Fort Knox sorted Kelsey!  

I have had to fence my garden to keep the roos out 

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, Zume Brew said:

Just annoyed coz IDK the SG now? IDK how I will ascertain final ABV%?

 

There is such a thing known as Ian's spreadsheet... I will try to attach a file here... is XL... seems to be pretty handy... certainly will give you an indication of SGCopy of Extract Beer Designer Golden Crown_TEST.xls

[Hairy]

9 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey ZB - yeah sometimes things don't go quite as smoothly as they could mate... but onwards and upwards - it'll all come good.  So have you got Temperature Control?

Not sure why you got the di-Acetyl thing going on?  My learnings from this forum and discussion w HB/Brewer is that it just means you have not fully fermented out the brew?

Diacetyl and Acetaldehyde are different things.

Diacetyl produces the butterscotch flavour and Acetaldehyde the green apple flavour.

To avoid Acetaldehyde you need a healthy fermentation (i.e. pitching sufficient healthy yeast) and don’t remove the beer too early from the yeast cake. Give it a few extra days after fermentation has finished to clean up.

[Otto Von Blotto]

9 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Sounds like you are getting Fort Knox sorted Kelsey!  

I have had to fence my garden to keep the roos out 

Yeah, it's getting there. It should have been that way from the beginning but the older dog knows to leave certain things alone, so it was fine out there. Moving stuff around like it is now has opened things up out there though, there is more space and it's all neatly in its place. 

[BlackSands]

2 hours ago, Hairy said:

Diacetyl and Acetaldehyde are different things.

Diacetyl produces the butterscotch flavour and Acetaldehyde the green apple flavour.

To avoid Acetaldehyde you need a healthy fermentation (i.e. pitching sufficient healthy yeast) and don’t remove the beer too early from the yeast cake. Give it a few extra days after fermentation has finished to clean up.

Both of these clean up pretty quick I've found.  I recall one brew a few years ago had a very strong apple vibe going on at the time FG was reached. A day later... completely gone.  

Similarly, out of curiosity I also performed a simple diacetyl test and confirmed it's presence on a brew at FG a few years back. A day later... no detectable diacetyl.    

[BlackSands]

Out of curiosity... has anyone ever dropped an FV full of wort or beer?    

When I first ventured into homebrewing in my youth, waaaaaay back in the early 80's, lugging around FV's seemed pretty much a non-issue, I even brewed with a 60litre FV which I somehow managed to move around.   But now decades later 23 litres feels quite heavy and cumbersome and I wonder sometimes how easy it would be... wet hands, wet floor or whatever - to slip and fall while lugging one out to the garage.  

And, what about when I'm really old....   

[worry wort]

Today. First time using grains, got everything ready, got the bag, the roller, the pot, the cloth. Mrs wort comes in ask what Im doing, so i explain it all to her as Im doing it. Go back to the brewpoint an hour later only to notice the bag and roller still out....unused.... forgot to crack the grains.  removed grains from fridge and just mashed the sodden sods then replaced them in the pot....maybe salvage something out of it. Lesson: wives and home brewing don't work well together.....

[Pezzza]

6 hours ago, BlackSands said:

And, what about when I'm really old....   

these are good... but yer gotta still lift on and off... mmm... but there are ways... I was inspired by Kelsey's trolley and pulley system for removing AG BIAB bags...  and the trolley which his Urn sat on... so I reckon there are ways to take the big loads outta the system which we all scoffed at earlier on... 

[BlackSands]

1 minute ago, Bearded Burbler said:

these are good... but yer gotta still lift on and off... mmm... but there are ways... I was inspired by Kelsey's trolley and pulley system for removing AG BIAB bags...  and the trolley which his Urn sat on... so I reckon there are ways to take the big loads outta the system which we all scoffed at earlier on... 

It'll be fun getting that up and down the stairs!  

[Pezzza]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh............ what a great excuse TO PUT IN A LIFT!

[Pezzza]

11 hours ago, Hairy said:

Diacetyl produces the butterscotch flavour and Acetaldehyde the green apple flavour.

Cheers Hairy....  have not encountered Butterscotch nor Green Apples so far... mebbe I been lucky... 

Mmmm maybe need to be careful though... got a 9.5degC Lager (first one that coooooool) in at the moment... so maybe I need to watch out....   And I used Saflager S23 that all you lot were recently bagging big time ?!             ; )          And I think W34/70 was preferred?

I am using Kelsey's temp control regime though so we will be going up to 18 soon (after day 6) and hopefully the Butterscotch and Granny Smiths will be dealt with then?  

[Hairy]

You’ll be fine mate.

[Pezzza]

What I am interested in though... is the question raised by Zoomer above...  I also stirred the crud out of the yeast...another no no. 

Is this such a bad thing with dried yeast?

Shall one only sprinkle and never stir?

007 style... shaken not stirred ?  

[RDT2]

6 hours ago, worry wort said:

Today. First time using grains, got everything ready, got the bag, the roller, the pot, the cloth. Mrs wort comes in ask what Im doing, so i explain it all to her as Im doing it. Go back to the brewpoint an hour later only to notice the bag and roller still out....unused.... forgot to crack the grains.  removed grains from fridge and just mashed the sodden sods then replaced them in the pot....maybe salvage something out of it. Lesson: wives and home brewing don't work well together.....

That is gold love how you deflected the blame without any hesitation 🤣

[Zume Brew]

22 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Hey ZB - yeah sometimes things don't go quite as smoothly as they could mate... but onwards and upwards - it'll all come good.  So have you got Temperature Control?

Not sure why you got the di-Acetyl thing going on?  My learnings from this forum and discussion w HB/Brewer is that it just means you have not fully fermented out the brew?

That is why I ask re Temp Control... mate cos honestly... if you ain't got temp control, it is hard to be in the race.... unless you live somewhere where it is 18 deg 24 hours per day 365 days per year and you just wanna brew Ales!!! 

Stirring the yeast - not so sure whether that is such a terrible thing - am happy to hear from the Master Brewers of the group on this one... it's something I seem to have a bit of a problem with...  as I am a chronic stirrer of dry yeast.... is that so bad???      I cannot say that I have noticed that it makes a difference... yet anyway ?   Are you using a bubbler?  That will give you some indication of activity... otherwise if your system has no infection then just make sure you leave it for 10 days... I did that for quite a long time without ever bothering with a Hydrometer... as long as you have temp control. 

And if the outcome is watery - mate beef up the ingredients... buy some Coopers Brew Enhancer - or a bag of Light Dry Malt Extract (LDME) and beef it up...  v easy to crank up the body and a bit more alc goes with it...   A kit with addition of 1.7kg of LDME is good...

or buy some Liquid Malt Extract and add that.... that will get you going.

If you like dark beers - a Coopers Dark Ale tin plus a Can of Coopers OS Lager in 23 L of water makes a non-watery brew. 

One can plus one kilo of whatever I think will always make a watery brew.... 

Just record what you have done and change it up... and before you know it you will be making a beer you can enjoy!

I am sure others can provide better advice than me but there are a few suggestions mate and good luck with it ; )

Cheers, BB.

The first I pitched at 27° and didnt really change. It just got cold so im at the technological advancement of wrapping a jumper around my stainless steel fv. 

Ive done a 1kg brew booster with each brew as well, prpbs need to crank it to 1.5kg or 2kg. Im wary of alcohol content tho (I like to session a lot), but I heard a kilo of LDME would enhance mouthfeel etc without sending the ABV through the roof.

 

Taking meticulous notes too haha

 

Thanks BB

[RDT2]

3 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

What I am interested in though... is the question raised by Zoomer above...  I also stirred the crud out of the yeast...another no no. 

Is this such a bad thing with dried yeast?

Shall one only sprinkle and never stir?

007 style... shaken not stirred ?  

I don’t think it matters mate it’s up to you I have done both without any dramas I think there are arguements for both techniques

[Otto Von Blotto]

Better still, rehydrate the yeast in water first instead of throwing it straight into the wort. 

I don't think it makes any difference when it's dry pitched if you stir it or not. 

[BlackSands]

4 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Better still, rehydrate the yeast in water first instead of throwing it straight into the wort. 

I don't think it makes any difference when it's dry pitched if you stir it or not. 

Up until recently I've religiously rehydrated dry yeast believing this to the best way of ensuring max viability, and of course it is a process commonly recommended by some brewers and manufacturers alike, though many do dry pitch without issue.   I recall you mentioning a while back that there was some new evidence emerging somewhere that suggested that rehydration may in fact not be unnecessary.  Was it something from Fermentis perhaps? 

 After reading that comment at the time, I actually went back to dry-pitching - just to see if there was any observable difference.  There didn't appear to be.  Lag times seemed the same, and the vigour of the fermentation seemed to be on a par with what I'm used to seeing etc etc.  So, since then, whenever I pitch dry yeast now it goes in dry.      

 

Edit:  Just read this over at Brulosophy:  "...participants in this xBmt were not able to reliably distinguish a beer made with dry yeast that was directly pitched on the wort from one where the yeast was rehydrated prior to pitching."

Edited May 8, 2019 by BlackSands
Update