What is your brewing superstition/ritual?

I always offer up a toast (alway with previous batch's homebrew) when the boil starts and pour a little into the kettle. I don't know why i started doing that, and never really told anyone...just a sacrifice to the brewing gods or something. Anyway, anyone else with a brew-day superstition or ritual (that has nothing to do with the actual process of making beer) they care to share???

(Time to start mashing out!)

Yeah, clean the **** out of my equipment so that the beer gods won't get mad at me and infect my beer. I suppose cleanliness IS next to godliness.

I always have my 4-year old son brew with me. One time he threw his sweaty baseball hat into my boiling pot of oktoberfest. I called it schweaty-fest, and it turned out to be one of my favorite beers to date!

I always wear a beer related t-shirt when i brew

brewyourown4life said:

I always wear a beer related t-shirt when i brew

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me too, and I make sure I have plenty of holy water (homebrew) at the ready

I will usually try to drink commercial examples of what I am trying to brew.

I spray everything with my Starsan Solution spray bottle during the whole process. Pretty much the whole time I am waiting for the boil, or for the mash etc. Beer in one hand, spraybottle in the other, alternate sipping beer and spraying everything with sanitizer.

FAJ said:

I spray everything with my Starsan Solution spray bottle during the whole process. Pretty much the whole time I am waiting for the boil, or for the mash etc. Beer in one hand, spraybottle in the other, alternate sipping beer and spraying everything with sanitizer.

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Why do you sanitize before a boil? The only items you need to sanitize are things that touch the wort after boil, during cooling and obviously the fermentor.

Special Hops said:

Why do you sanitize before a boil? The only items you need to sanitize are things that touch the wort after boil, during cooling and obviously the fermentor.

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As the thread states, "ritual" and "superstition" do not have to be based in fact. Spray away!

That's funny! Kind of like the mom in my big fat Greek wedding with the Windex. I can just picture it!

i always wear the same hat and always have at least 1 (4+ beers).

jpoder said:

That's funny! Kind of like the mom in my big fat Greek wedding with the Windex. I can just picture it!

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Nothing related to the beer itself but I (almost) always have McDonalds when I'm done (usually ~1-2 PM), then a banana.

I have a giant wooden spoon I use in all my batches. Even in a 1 gallon batch, I used it out of ritual. I was given a mash-paddle for Christmas from my grandma, and i still use the wooden spoon for the boil.

Once I see vigorous fermentation start, I start singing "Who let the yeast out, whoop, whoop, whoop!" while I pump my fist in the air...

Okay, I only did that once.. but I 'could' make it a ritual...

I talk to the beer while its fermenting.

mixedbrewer said:

I talk to the beer while its fermenting.

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You too? I even sing to it!

I always drink my beer after its carbed up. Weird, I know. I've even gone so far as to drink an entire 5 gallons of beer over a period of time.

r8rphan said:

Once I see vigorous fermentation start, I start singing "Who let the yeast out, whoop, whoop, whoop!" while I pump my fist in the air...

Okay, I only did that once.. but I 'could' make it a ritual...

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Mind if i steal that ritual?

cyberwollf said:

Mind if i steal that ritual?

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Go ahead! Nobody watches me brew anyways... Now 'that' would be boring...

Would sitting in a chair and playing my guitar while singing love songs to the carboy be too 'out there?'

I get the grains steeping and buckets sanitizing with the wort chiller sitting in it and all the hoses air locks exc. Then pour homebrew take some pics and send them to some friends out of state. Kinda like haha see what your missing out on.

I put a dash of cinnamon into the mash tun everytime I brew. It started as a measured ingredient, and I think it comes from an old Charlie P text, but I soon decided it was doing nothing more than making the mash smell really good. I no longer measure it out, but I would feel like I was doing something wrong if I didn't sprinkle a dash on top of the grains before adding them to the strike water.

Certainly more ritual than scientific.

Joe

I bring the laptop into the kitchen and play The Pogues. My new favorite, for whatever reason, is Put the Finger on You by AC/DC. Also my FiL is no longer allowed at my house on brew days since the only time he came over was when my first beer infection showed up.

I put the Celebrator bock plastic goat on my currently active fermentor.

Carhartts, flannel and a really old, dirty Dogfish Head Hat. Of course, the flannel doesn't usually make an appearance during summer brews! Carhartts and the hat are essential!

ArtVandelay said:

I always drink my beer after its carbed up. Weird, I know. I've even gone so far as to drink an entire 5 gallons of beer over a period of time.

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Whoa...you're like, extreme!

I let my cat dip her paw into the wort right before I seal up the fermenter.

gio said:

I let my cat dip her paw into the wort right before I seal up the fermenter.

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gross

mixedbrewer said:

gross

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I'm joking, of course, lol but she is fascinated by the brewing process and probably would love to if I let her.

I sparge with hot water....superstitious? mmmmmmaybe....

beer t-shirt, commercial version of what I'm brewing, butt-ugly 20-yr old work boots

double high-five with my brewing buddy after we pitch the yeast to celebrate another successful brew

While I mash, sparge, and boil my wife is giving me oral gratification and then... wait...oh yeah, that was a beer dream I once had.

Ok, I remember now. I where the same T-shirt everytime.

I believe the batch I am making is going to be the best batch I have ever made.

r8rphan said:

Would sitting in a chair and playing my guitar while singing love songs to the carboy be too 'out there?'

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What if I was nekkid, except for galoshes? :rockin:

I always light a cigarette right as the wort comes to a boil (yes, i'm one of THOSE people, lol) and then I talk to it while it's boiling, and curse it off as it comes close to boiling over.

my sister thought i was nuts the last time I was outside cursing at the propane burner at 2am

I where a Miller High Life T-shirt. I figure no matter how much I may screw up my batch, it will still be better then that junk.
tom

I always give my dog a taste of the wort after mashing. He's my QA check to proceed. Incidentally, all of my batches have passed!