Fail thread (mistakes you’ve made 2021)

[Graculus]

Not sure if this really counts as a mistake but.....

 

I was having a discussion with my son and one of his mates a few weeks ago.
They reckoned my cider wasn't fizzy enough.
I explained to them about over carbonating and bottles breaking.
Of course 18 year olds thought it was hilarious.
We had a discussion about making some cider and seeing how much dextrose we could use
before it became an issue. During the conversation something dawned on me.
I think I know now why the Bundeberg bottles I used exploded.
Here is my theory.
I think it was because I was using the green & clear bottles. NOT the brown ones.
At least I'm 99% sure I was, as I was getting those bottles off a friend.
I'd bet the brown ones are stronger. I read somewhere green bottles only came about because they were cheaper. Cheaper and not as strong? Anyhow that's my theory. I've moved on. I only use brown beer bottles now.

Anyhow fast forward a few weeks.
Four litres of cider has been fermented and bottled.
The bottles are in one of the fridges for secondary fermentation.
My son and his mate are aware they'll be the one's cleaning up any mess.
I generally use glass bottles, but I have put some in some Sprite bottles.
They've been in there ten days, and so far so good.

Here's a few bottles I've had cracked over the last year or so

Edited July 16, 2023 by Graculus

[Back Brewing]

Following on from my post in what's in your fermenter where the fermenting had stalled

I had a shower and was settling down for the night and I had a thought hmm I'm going to shake this mother up and get it going again

So as you do I got hold of it and shook it and shook it back and forth ( I forgot to pull the fermenter forward off the laundry bench ) I heard a a couple of cracks and thought what's that I thought I'll sort that out later and kept shaking and heard another crack

Happy with my vigorous shaking I stood back with satisfaction

Then I seen it bloody stout everywhere all over the bench in the laundry and the floor there was only one thing to do I called out to my wife for help

Well I didn't know what was worse my wife's  furious reaction or me trying to save the brew I prioritised and said quick give me a hand to get it to the sink

We picked it up and stout was going down the sleeve of my dressing gown and on the floor the wife was getting mad so I did what any sensible brewer would do I started sucking on my dressing gown sleeve to minimise the mess

We got it to the sink and my managerial skills kicked in and I delegated my wife to clean up the mess why I tried to work out what was going on

In my shaking back and forth well the tap was still in and it had pushed the tap up at an angle and that was where the stout was leaking but it looked like I had split the fermenter 

Only one thing for it take the tap out and release the liquid gold and sample as much as I could

When it was almost gone I tipped the fermenter back and took the tap out and put it back in straight and bloody hell it stopped leaking 

A very stressful experience but another lesson learnt and today when I aerated the wort I shook side to side and made sure the tap was well forward of the edge of the bench

Edited July 25, 2023 by Back Brewing

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 minutes ago, Back Brewing said:

Following on from my post in what's in your fermenter where the fermenting had stalled

I had a shower and was settling down for the night and I had a thought hmm I'm going to shake this mother up and get it going again

So as you do I got hold of it and shook it and shook it back and forth ( I forgot to pull the fermenter forward off the laundry bench ) I heard a a couple of cracks and thought what's that I thought I'll sort that out later and kept shaking and heard another crack

Happy with my vigorous shaking I stood back with satisfaction

Then I seen it bloody stout everywhere all over the bench in the laundry and the floor there was only one thing to do I called out to my wife for help

Well I didn't know what was worse my wife's  furious reaction or me trying to save the brew I prioritised and said quick give me a hand to get it to the sink

We picked it up and stout was going down the sleeve of my dressing gown and on the floor the wife was getting mad so I did what any sensible brewer would do I started sucking on my dressing gown sleeve to minimise the mess

We got it to the sink and my managerial skills kicked in and I delegated my wife to clean up the mess why I tried to work out what was going on

In my shaking back and forth well the tap was still in and it had pushed the tap up at an angle and that was where the stout was leaking but it looked like I had split the fermenter 

Only one thing for it take the tap out and release the liquid gold and sample as much as I could

When it was almost gone I tipped the fermenter back and took the tap out and put it back in straight and bloody hell it stopped leaking 

A very stressful experience but another lesson learnt and today when I aerated the wort I shook side to side and made sure the tap was well forward of the edge of the bench

Mate what a stressful day, I would never shake the fermenter, but I hope you have saved some beer.

Have something to calm your nerves.

[Back Brewing]

2 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Mate what a stressful day, I would never shake the fermenter, but I hope you have saved some beer.

Have something to calm your nerves.

Nope all gone and I had a red to relax

[jennyss]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:15 PM, Back Brewing said:

A very stressful experience

I don't know whether to laugh or cry @Back Brewing!

[Classic Brewing Co]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:56 PM, Back Brewing said:

Nope all gone and I had a red to relax

Mate, don't shake your fermenter, not a good idea.

[Graculus]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:15 PM, Back Brewing said:

We got it to the sink and my managerial skills kicked in and I delegated my wife to clean up the mess why I tried to work out what was going on

At this point I would say. Do you want me to clean it up or do you want to do it properly.

The answer is off course that she will do it properly.

[Aussiekraut]

I'm making the wrong beer.

I had set up the Guten for a Märzen but when I milled the grain, I had the grain bill for a Clayton's Lager in my head. Of course, I didn't notice that until well into the mash, when I wondered why the recirc liquor is lighter than it should be. So it isn't just the wrong beer, it is also the wrong mash setup for the wrong beer 

[ben 10]

31 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

So it isn't just the wrong beer, it is also the wrong mash setup for the wrong beer

Make sure the yeast is completely random too

[Kegory]

46 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

I'm making the wrong beer.

I had set up the Guten for a Märzen but when I milled the grain, I had the grain bill for a Clayton's Lager in my head. Of course, I didn't notice that until well into the mash, when I wondered why the recirc liquor is lighter than it should be. So it isn't just the wrong beer, it is also the wrong mash setup for the wrong beer 

I hope you're taking notes just in case you stumble into something nice.

[Aussiekraut]

4 minutes ago, Kegory said:

I hope you're taking notes just in case you stumble into something nice.

Oh yes I am. The beer even has a name. It’s suitably named C***up Lager I changed the hops too, using Cashmere and Melba instead of trusty Hallertau.

[jennyss]

A seniors moment - Today I put  25g of Cascade hops straight into water in a saucepan to boil, forgetting to wrap it in a Chux baggy.  Went back to the stove after 5 minutes to check, and the hops had completely broken up and the baby-poo green goo was just about boiling over! My solution was to put a clean chux over a jug and drain the mixture through the chux. Tied off the hop residue in the chux and put the bag in the FV with the drained liquid. I took the old bag of Galaxy hops out of the brew.

The brew is a basic Coopers Pale Ale with hops, BE2 and extra LDM.  Yesterday on day 10 the  SG 1006. I'm planning to bottle on Saturday.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, jennyss said:

A seniors moment - Today I put  25g of Cascade hops straight into water in a saucepan to boil, forgetting to wrap it in a Chux baggy.  Went back to the stove after 5 minutes to check, and the hops had completely broken up and the baby-poo green goo was just about boiling over! My solution was to put a clean chux over a jug and drain the mixture through the chux. Tied off the hop residue in the chux and put the bag in the FV with the drained liquid. I took the old bag of Galaxy hops out of the brew.

The brew is a basic Coopers Pale Ale with hops, BE2 and extra LDM.  Yesterday on day 10 the  SG 1006. I'm planning to bottle on Saturday.

Sounds like you have everything under control @jennyss the old saying is true "we learn by our mistakes."

[Kegory]

35 minutes ago, jennyss said:

A seniors moment - Today I put  25g of Cascade hops straight into water in a saucepan to boil, forgetting to wrap it in a Chux baggy.  Went back to the stove after 5 minutes to check, and the hops had completely broken up and the baby-poo green goo was just about boiling over! My solution was to put a clean chux over a jug and drain the mixture through the chux. Tied off the hop residue in the chux and put the bag in the FV with the drained liquid. I took the old bag of Galaxy hops out of the brew.

The brew is a basic Coopers Pale Ale with hops, BE2 and extra LDM.  Yesterday on day 10 the  SG 1006. I'm planning to bottle on Saturday.

Nice recovery.

[jennyss]

1 hour ago, Kegory said:

Nice recovery.

Thanks @Kegory and @Classic Brewing Co; but I wonder what difference my boo boo will make to the brew?

[Pale Man]

2 hours ago, jennyss said:

A seniors moment - Today I put  25g of Cascade hops straight into water in a saucepan to boil, forgetting to wrap it in a Chux baggy.  Went back to the stove after 5 minutes to check, and the hops had completely broken up and the baby-poo green goo was just about boiling over! My solution was to put a clean chux over a jug and drain the mixture through the chux. Tied off the hop residue in the chux and put the bag in the FV with the drained liquid. I took the old bag of Galaxy hops out of the brew.

The brew is a basic Coopers Pale Ale with hops, BE2 and extra LDM.  Yesterday on day 10 the  SG 1006. I'm planning to bottle on Saturday.

Thats the smallest of boo boos on a homebrewing scale I've  ever heard of. There will be absolutely no difference Jenny.

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, jennyss said:

Thanks @Kegory and @Classic Brewing Co; but I wonder what difference my boo boo will make to the brew?

Jenny it will be fine, you are sanitising everything, measuring everything, taking notes so I wouldn't worry about anything.

It all makes beer in the end. 

Let's see some photos, we want to see a nice head on your beer. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Thats the smallest of boo boos on a homebrewing scale I've  ever heard of. There will be absolutely no difference Jenny.

Yes, I agree, some of things I did when I first started AG, I always thought I had failed but every brew was fine & get's better.

Speaking of which I am doing an All Grainer on the weekend.

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, jennyss said:

A seniors moment - Today I put  25g of Cascade hops straight into water in a saucepan to boil, forgetting to wrap it in a Chux baggy.  Went back to the stove after 5 minutes to check, and the hops had completely broken up and the baby-poo green goo was just about boiling over! My solution was to put a clean chux over a jug and drain the mixture through the chux. Tied off the hop residue in the chux and put the bag in the FV with the drained liquid. I took the old bag of Galaxy hops out of the brew.

The brew is a basic Coopers Pale Ale with hops, BE2 and extra LDM.  Yesterday on day 10 the  SG 1006. I'm planning to bottle on Saturday.

A very nice recovery, indeed.

But I am interested in why you are boiling hops late in a brew, if that is what you did?

Day 10, just a dry hop wrapped in chux would do.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, DavidM said:

A very nice recovery, indeed.

But I am interested in why you are boiling hops late in a brew, if that is what you did?

Day 10, just a dry hop wrapped in chux would do.

Yes, but if you cool down the boiled mixture to that of the temp inside the FV, you can just pour it in without affecting anything. I have done it many times, but I prefer to steep them instead of boiling.

I have been adding my hops 4 days before kegging lately & it gives me a great hop kick.

It needs to be drank not stored otherwise you will experience hop fade.

[Aussiekraut]

On 7/30/2023 at 11:54 AM, beach_life said:

Make sure the yeast is completely random too

Well, it wasn't random but instead of the intended W34/70, I used M54  So besides the settings for the Guten, nothing was what it was supposed to be.

[jennyss]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

But I am interested in why you are boiling hops late in a brew, if that is what you did?

My last brew was a ROTM, Old Town Lager. This brew was a partial mash, which included boiling some hops with the crushed grain. I thought why not include that hop boil step in a simple extract brew instead of a boiling water steep added before bottling. Chasing more hop flavour!

[DavidM]

13 hours ago, jennyss said:

My last brew was a ROTM, Old Town Lager. This brew was a partial mash, which included boiling some hops with the crushed grain. I thought why not include that hop boil step in a simple extract brew instead of a boiling water steep added before bottling. Chasing more hop flavour!

All good, I do a short boil after the grain steep, to add a small amount of bittering, dry hop days later for the flavour.

You must be close to trying one of the Old Towns, soon.

[Kegory]

So, just to set the scene before we get to the fail, I have a ridiculous amount of Light Dry Malt in the brewery. I received a 20% discount voucher with the kit from my first order and when planning my second order I wanted to make the most of the discount. With the 6 can per order limit LDM seemed to be the ingredient common to most recipes so I went big on it. I have two plastic tubs on the top shelf, one just full of boxes of LDM, one with a few different things in it, and two more cardboard boxes with four boxes of LDM in each.

So, I'm chugging along on brew day, yesterday, one eye on the clock but I've got plenty of time before the Matildas' game. Cruising. I've prepped my water, half chilling in the fridge and half sitting on the kitchen bench at ambient. Got my can out, my yeasts are warming up to ambient, my hops, all the bits of equipment I'll need. My FV is sanitized. I've written my recipe into my brew notes book. Cruising. I've got my speakers set up, got the footy on the radio, and my phone is charging. All good.

I grab the tub with the various things in it and check the boxes. Three the same, that'll be LDM, for sure, get them out and put them on the table. I crack my grains and start my steep. Check the temperature every now and then. Ok, heat it up a bit, turn the heat off again. Cruising. I'll start filling the fermenter and give Phil's patented cold water LDM addition a go. I tear the boxes open and take the packets out, ready to go.

Going well. I reckon I'll be finished an hour and a half before the game, comfortably. Even if I've miscalculated or forgotten something I'll still have a good hour up my sleeve.

I add all my ambient temperature treated water to the FV and half the chilled treated water. I grab my sanitized paddle, stick it in the fermenter, and grab the first packet of powder. I gently pour the powder in while stirring. This is going well. I'm not getting any clumps at all. Mental note: compliment Phil on this cold water powder technique, it works beautifully. Hmm, it's a bit clear, I thought there'd be a bit more colour.

Check the steep temperature, heat it up, there you go. Next packet. Pouring, stirring, dissolving beautifully. Funny, I'm not even getting a cloud of LDM in the air like usual. Must be the slow pour.

And it's very clear, still. And there's no cloud. Uh, oh. Is this actually LDM?

Where are the boxes? Check the boxes. It's dextrose. I've just stirred a kilo of dextrose into my water. That's a lot of dextrose.

What to do? Make an Imperial Schwarzbeir? Dump the contents of the FV? I've already taped the heatbelts and the probes to the FV. I'm already halfway through the steep and the game is now looming a lot closer on the horizon.

I channel my inner Masterchef contestant. I dump the contents of the FV bucket by bucket. I guess when to heat up the steep and when to stop heating it. The timer starts chiming. Drain the grain steeping bag, put the pot back on to boil. Add the hops.

Oh, that was a bit early to add the hops. Ce la vie. Start the boil timer. Get the scales back out, get the tub down and get the PMS out. Treat more water while boiling the hops. I know this is dangerous. I've read about the risk of boil overs on this forum. Cross my fingers and keep going. Fortunately I'd already decided to transfer the steeped liquid into a bigger pot for the boil (half pot volume seemed to big, quarter pot volume probably saved my day). Kick off is getting closer.

I get the pot off the boil not too long (I hope) after the timer started beeping. Into the ice bath. Back to adding water to the fermenter. Grab down the tub that only has LDM and get three packets out. Stir LDM into the water. There's my cloud, there's my colour, and there's my clumps (the clumps are actually a lot smaller than when adding LDM  to warm water, cheers @Classic Brewing Co).

In the end I made it in the nick of time. I sprinkled the yeast, closed the lid, and had just enough time to get myself ready for kick off.

 

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 minutes ago, Kegory said:

So, just to set the scene before we get to the fail, I have a ridiculous amount of Light Dry Malt in the brewery. I received a 20% discount voucher with the kit from my first order and when planning my second order I wanted to make the most of the discount. With the 6 can per order limit LDM seemed to be the ingredient common to most recipes so I went big on it. I have two plastic tubs on the top shelf, one just full of boxes of LDM, one with a few different things in it, and two more cardboard boxes with four boxes of LDM in each.

So, I'm chugging along on brew day, yesterday, one eye on the clock but I've got plenty of time before the Matildas' game. Cruising. I've prepped my water, half chilling in the fridge and half sitting on the kitchen bench at ambient. Got my can out, my yeasts are warming up to ambient, my hops, all the bits of equipment I'll need. My FV is sanitized. I've written my recipe into my brew notes book. Cruising. I've got my speakers set up, got the footy on the radio, and my phone is charging. All good.

I grab the tub with the various things in it and check the boxes. Three the same, that'll be LDM, for sure, get them out and put them on the table. I crack my grains and start my steep. Check the temperature every now and then. Ok, heat it up a bit, turn the heat off again. Cruising. I'll start filling the fermenter and give Phil's patented cold water LDM addition a go. I tear the boxes open and take the packets out, ready to go.

Going well. I reckon I'll be finished an hour and a half before the game, comfortably. Even if I've miscalculated or forgotten something I'll still have a good hour up my sleeve.

I add all my ambient temperature treated water to the FV and half the chilled treated water. I grab my sanitized paddle, stick it in the fermenter, and grab the first packet of powder. I gently pour the powder in while stirring. This is going well. I'm not getting any clumps at all. Mental note: compliment Phil on this cold water powder technique, it works beautifully. Hmm, it's a bit clear, I thought there'd be a bit more colour.

Check the steep temperature, heat it up, there you go. Next packet. Pouring, stirring, dissolving beautifully. Funny, I'm not even getting a cloud of LDM in the air like usual. Must be the slow pour.

And it's very clear, still. And there's no cloud. Uh, oh. Is this actually LDM?

Where are the boxes? Check the boxes. It's dextrose. I've just stirred a kilo of dextrose into my water. That's a lot of dextrose.

What to do? Make an Imperial Schwarzbeir? Dump the contents of the FV? I've already taped the heatbelts and the probes to the FV. I'm already halfway through the steep and the game is now looming a lot closer on the horizon.

I channel my inner Masterchef contestant. I dump the contents of the FV bucket by bucket. I guess when to heat up the steep and when to stop heating it. The timer starts chiming. Drain the grain steeping bag, put the pot back on to boil. Add the hops.

Oh, that was a bit early to add the hops. Ce la vie. Start the boil timer. Get the scales back out, get the tub down and get the PMS out. Treat more water while boiling the hops. I know this is dangerous. I've read about the risk of boil overs on this forum. Cross my fingers and keep going. Fortunately I'd already decided to transfer the steeped liquid into a bigger pot for the boil (half pot volume seemed to big, quarter pot volume probably saved my day). Kick off is getting closer.

I get the pot off the boil not too long (I hope) after the timer started beeping. Into the ice bath. Back to adding water to the fermenter. Grab down the tub that only has LDM and get three packets out. Stir LDM into the water. There's my cloud, there's my colour, and there's my clumps (the clumps are actually a lot smaller than when adding LDM  to warm water, cheers @Classic Brewing Co).

In the end I made it in the nick of time. I sprinkled the yeast, closed the lid, and had just enough time to get myself ready for kick off.

 

 

Seems to be a lot of Job Sheets there bloke, as long as it works out in the end. I always assemble the ingredients ensuring all are correct before starting the brew.

Regarding mixing the Brew Enhancers & the LDM in cold water I find this works best for me, I hardly get any clumps - the yeast will dispose of them anyway.

Some will say hot water is better but the only hot water I add is to the freshly emptied can of extract to rinse it out thoroughly, wrap a towel around the can though, burnies!

Somehow, I always achieve my pitching temperature of about 24c with this routine.