ICzed Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 This happened to me this morning – not really a mistake but I’ve been stewing about it all day. Last night I racked an English Bitter from my FV into the crashing cube and chucked it in the fridge. I woke up this morning and the Wife told me that there was beer leaking through the bottom of the fridge. Thought ‘Oh sh!t’ and assumed the tap wasn’t on tight enough so I cleaned it all up, tightened the tap and put it back in the fridge. Half an hour later I checked it again and more beer was leaking from the bottom of the cube itself, must have sprung a leak (only the second time I’ve used the cube!!). I was already running late for work and had to bite the bullet: tipped all 20-odd litres down the sink. I figured that by the time I got home there wouldn’t be much beer left in the cube and/or I could have risked an infection by putting it back in my less than sanitary fridge. I would have hated going to all the effort of bottling it up, waiting a month for drinking and finding it was crook anyway. I’ll put the same brew down again next week and have another go (minus the crashing cube). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattrox Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Was bottling up the English Bitter........ We baby sit a 7yo some evenings whose parents run a resturant. I'm bottling up on the kitchen bench and she just wanders up and blows over the top of the clean bottles fresh out of the hot cycle of the dish washer. Grrrrrrrr. Luckily I was near the end of the bottling and I had spares to replace the contaminated ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezza Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My biggest mistake so far is a constant one of having no brewing fridge... My second biggest mistake was thinking 2L orange juice and 25ml of coconut essence would be nice in a canadian blonde... My third biggest mistake was adding a brigalow yeast sachet to a canadian blonde i think i would have been better off using bakers yeast.... My fourth biggest mistake was making Aztec Gold tasted like s*%t.... My fifth biggest mistake was brewing full strength beer because i usually sleep on the couch the nights i drink them.... My sixth biggest mistake was putting on a Thomas Cooper Selection Bitter the night before going into a 5 day heat wave.... My seventh biggest mistake was making my apple and blackcurrant jungle juice 7+-% and having nothing else ready to drink.... And last of all my biggest mistake was thinking i could one day open my own brewery :( and never work again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 My fifth biggest mistake was brewing full strength beer because i usually sleep on the couch the nights i drink them.... I feel you on that one. I had only a 6% IPA at one stage' date=' drink a few of them in the heat.... [img']sleeping[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICzed Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I just remembered another stuff up - smashed my hydrometer on Sunday prior to taking my reading. What a mess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I got my latest batch of Coopers Pale Ale bottled with no problem. In fact on doing a taste test it actually tastes better than any of my previous brews - this before it's even had secondary ferment and ageing! As I usually expect some minor mishap to occur I was pretty chuffed. Then I started my clean up. I cleaned all my gear with generic napisan and got ready to do the bleach soak, just to be sure. I poured a 20 litre bucked of diluted bleach into the FV - with the tap still out, whilst the FV was sitting on the loungeroom floor. Diluted bleach all over the carpet! Easily 10 litres of it, though thankfully a solution diluted enough not to cause too much damage. I plugged the tap hole with my hand whilst I frantically reached for the tap to stop the flow. Eventually I got it all under control, but took the next hour cleaning up, including using the wet/dry vacuum to get the diluted bleach out of the carpet. I now have the doors open with a fan blowing on the carpet to dry it completely before the mrs gets home! Now I remember why I usually do all the clean up stuff outside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Woohoo! Finally I've managed to qualify for memberships of this club of the Brewing Greatest (Idiots). I bottled a Scottish Ale about a week ago (in PET bottles) and only just got around to labelling this morning. First bottle, lay it on its side, applied the label, returned it to the upright position on the table, and it rocked from side to side for about 5-10 secs. Labelled the second, and it did the same thing. So I picked it back up and looked at the base of the bottle expecting to remove some grit or similar from the base. Nope, that's not the problem. Then I felt the bottle and it was absolutely rock hard. I looked at the lid and it was quite bowed out. Holey moley there must have been some pressure in there. So I released as much pressure as I could from all of them before the beer started leaking out around the seal. I'll need to do it again once the "head" in the bottles has settled because the bottles are still very very hard. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd be using glass bottles, and would have started an urban guerilla conflict with these bottle bombs for sure. Post mortem time: I checked the FG in my notes and it was just below what I expected from the Kit & Extract Designer spreadsheet (but it looks as though I only had 2 successive days stable readings). However, I'm 95% sure it was more bloody laziness on my part. I recall thinking it was too far to go upstairs to get the scales, and I'd done enough bulk priming by now to estimate 140g dextrose pretty accurately. Now I'm sure I'm not that clever! Oh well. When you have an IQ below fermenting temperature combined with dementia, you just keep learning new things over and over again. Edit added (21/2/14 3:30pm) Just to make sure it wasn't from any other reason, I cooled down a bottle and drank it purely for diagnostic and scientific research, and it was just booty-ful. So I can't blame an infection or other reasons . BTW, Mr Ale Hedonist, I don't think I've ever remarked on your avatar: It has to be (IMHO) the best one I've seen on the forum. (OK, that's the end of any mutual admiration society membership, so from here on in, expect me to be an annoying critical sarcastic prick - the same way I treat every other person!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Oh well. When you have an IQ below fermenting temperature combined with dementia' date=' you just keep learning new things over and over again.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Woohoo! Finally I've managed to qualify for memberships of this club of the Brewing Greatest (Idiots). Oh well. When you have an IQ below fermenting temperature combined with dementia' date=' you just keep learning new things over and over again. [/quote'] I to have been able to join this club with what seems to be an infection of some sort, bad vinegar taste in the bottled tester after a week, no carbonation, dreadful taste! I was concerned at bottling that all was not right, but no doubt now, yuk, blurr. Rigorous cleaning and sanitizing review and implementation done, not wanting a second ticket to the club. Lesson learned, no shortcuts, no she'll be right, must only be rigorous with cleaning and sanitation. All newbies, learn from my mistake! Good brewing, one and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 bad vinegar taste in the bottled tester after a week Keep some, could be a rather nice, hopped, malt vinegar in 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Keep some' date=' could be a rather nice, hopped, malt vinegar in 6 months.[/quote'] Hey Ben 10, I'll send you a couple of bottles, you can put it on your chips??? and no poisoning the seagulls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 not wanting a second ticket to the club. Dear Mr Magnanimous Man Now that I have a second club qualification' date=' I think several citations should be an aspiration, not a shame. In fact, it underlines my personal motto of [i']perfecting stupidity for over 50 years[/i] (I wish I knew Latin because that would sound incredibly noble). I ras recently putting down a hefeweizen, taken the OG, sealed the lid and placed the old-style FV in the water bath. Then I realised I hadn't pitched the yeast. I tried to open the lid, but with wet hands I had done too good a job tightening it. Lifted the FV out and placed it on the table. Wet slippery hands still prevented me. So, in a light bulb moment that would make Abbott and Costello proud (you choose which duo to consider), I anchored the tap against my thigh, and used both hands to rotate the lid. It seems when the lid is really tight, the tap assembly has less resistance than the top. By the time the slow-ticking brain sprang into action I had all the wort accounted for, about 20 litres in the FV and about 3 in the carpet. I shall accept any and all your accolades! PS. Perfectio autem stultitiam super L annis (thank you, Google Translate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 in a light bulb moment that would make Abbott and Costello proud ' date=' I anchored the tap against my thigh, and used both hands to rotate the lid. It seems when the lid is really tight, the tap assembly has less resistance than the top. By the time the slow-ticking brain sprang into action I had all the wort accounted for, about 20 litres in the FV and about 3 in the carpet.[/quote'] Whacko the diddly'O, well done sir, this raises one often asked question, why is the light of hindsight so brilliant and bright showing all our collective, mishap's in such clarity ??? how could something so obvious now have been so obscured just moments previous??? it's beer o'clock, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 I shall accept any and all your accolades! Fabulous! I have a polished concrete floor - much easier to clean up my mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guzz Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 So far my biggest mistake is trying to open a PET bottle with a bottle opener. No one was injured and the beer tasted great. Needless to say, I havent been brewin that long :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Dropped hops into the urn. Pressed run on the timer. Looked later at the computer... WTF? I had boil set for 90minutes. My 15 minute addition became a 30 minute one. oops,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Bottled my first brew last night ... forgot to rinse the bottles after sanitizing. Thankfully I used the Coopers sanitizer at a pretty diluted rate (about 1 capful in 40l) because this is the bottles' first use so hopefully the small remaining amount after draining the bottles won't do too much damage :-( One positive ... final taste sample was great! Much better than I expected from the included Lager kit. Possibly to do with the pretty constant 18 degree ferment + another week in the fermenter to settle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poets Brew Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Hmmm, in my haste to get my 2nd brew put down I could not work out how to pull the tap apart - duh.... think it did not occur to twist it as usually round things twist undone?!?! (it's one of the square shaped newer - I assume - Coopers taps) - just dawned on me that the top section twists undone & then it comes apart...... cannot do much about it now as the brew is on the go! I did however run a heap of hot water through it, emptied the FV full of Sodium Perc' through it and drowned the tap from both ends (open & closed also) with no rinse sanitiser mixed at 1.5ml per litre.... I figure the parts that will have any contact are clean anyway - fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Dropped hops into the urn.Pressed run on the timer. Looked later at the computer... WTF? I had boil set for 90minutes. My 15 minute addition became a 30 minute one. oops' date='.[/quote'] Yup. I've been there & done that! Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The A man Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 had the FV in my esky to keep it cool in a room with the curtains closed, would swap frozen ice bricks into the esky in the morning (dark) and at night (dark) Went in to check the beer on a weekend day and noticed there was a gap in the curtains, full cranking sun straight into the FV, and i wondered why i had two dead brews! Moved the FV and put up an extra blanket over the curtains, no more crap brews! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poets Brew Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 had the FV in my esky to keep it cool in a room with the curtains closed' date=' would swap frozen ice bricks into the esky in the morning (dark) and at night (dark) Went in to check the beer on a weekend day and noticed there was a gap in the curtains, full cranking sun straight into the FV, and i wondered why i had two dead brews! Moved the FV and put up an extra blanket over the curtains, no more crap brews! Alex[/quote'] So should FV's be kept in a dark place or just out of direct sunlight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Bugger ... why am I posting in this thread again so soon? So I bought a Thomas Coopers IPA recipe pack from the Coopers online store, then carefully printed the standard IPA recipe to follow. I brewed my 25g Cascade hop tea to add, and all was going well. Thinking that the recipe pack contained everything I needed in just the right amounts I put it all in. Here's the 'bugger' part ... that meant instead of 300g dextrose, 1kg dextrose went in I wonder how much higher than the recipe's 4.2% my ABV will end up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Hi porschemad911. I wonder how much higher than the recipe's 4.2% my ABV will end up? Expect something in the order of approx. 5.5% ABV or slightly higher depending on the yeast attenuation. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bardus71 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Mistake? Being too young and too keen. I got a reputation amongst my friends for my home brew many years ago. One was lovingly named "Regret Bitter" by its adherents. The other, the Chilli Beer, made me famous amongst my peers as a physical challenge. But from memory of it, it was very thin bodied, gassy enough to get up your nose, fruity like an unfinished ferment, right up until.................. I forgot that I hid some in a obscure cupboard in this rented house. I moved out and another friend moved into my room. Apparently I had left behind 6 hidden bottles of Chilli Beer, which was discovered 18 months later. I got a phone call telling me of the news. I arrived to claim my prize, and there were 6 long necks, each bottle with 4 chillis in them (labelled C4 for impact). I didn't take them home. I cracked them there, and they were f#@king superb! Cellaring. Good lesson learnt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Last week after adding my grains for a small mash, I placed the pot in my oven as usual, only this time I stupidly placed the lid on the pot! (Something I never do). I didn't even give it a second thought until the timer went off to remove the mash from the oven. After opening the door to the oven I recall at this point I said something to the tune of "WTF IS THAT LID DOING ON THERE??!! OMFG!!" I immediately took the pot out of the oven & plunged a thermometer into the mash. As I expected, the temperature inside the pot had increased past the normal 65-68°C range I usually work in. 76°C!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! So angry at myself!! Being only a partial/extract brew, I'm hoping I can salvage something drinkable from it. The only base grain that will really be affected is the 500gms of Munich, the rest were specialty grains & really shouldn't be affected by the temp rise. I'm not sure what sort of conversion I've got from the Munich & the brew is smelling a little sweet a week on through fermentation. All I can do is monitor gravity & taste samples & hope it comes good. I'm not a morning person, & put the lid issue down to getting up earlier than normal on brewday to start earlier. Lesson learned, I'll stay in bed next time! Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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