Stupid wort chiller....
 

So, I was having an awesome brew day (a nice oatmeal stout for around St. Paddys). The sun was shining, and I had just hit my pre-boil OG on the nose :rockin:. Go out to the garage, fire up the burner, and have a very uneventful hour long boil. Stuck the wort chiller in with about 10 minutes to go. Timer goes off and I cut the burner and turn on the hose. I watch the brew kettle thermometer start dropping as the chiller does its thing. It seems to be going a little faster than usual, but it's fairly chilly outside and the water coming out is colder than usual, so I think nothing of it at the time. Keeping an eye on the thermometer while stirring the wort, I get the temp down to ~80 and am about to pull out the chiller when I notice that my volume seems to have changed. I pull out the chiller and its leaking water everywhere :eek:. I had checked for leaks before I stuck the thing in the kettle, so the only thing I can think of is the tubing caught too much steam and loosened up. Oh well, not the end of the world. I'll just measure the gravity and boil it down a little to hit my target OG right?? Wrong. I measure the gravity which is about 1.044 corrected. So I go inside to rinse off the hydrometer and thermometer and the hydrometer slips out of my hand. I catch it, but the momentum snaps it at the base of the neck :smack:. So now I can't take a gravity reading. I'm more than a little irritated to say the least but I finished bringing the wort back to a boil. I tightened the hose clamps on the wort chiller and made sure to pay more attention this time while it was chilling and had no issues. So who knows what my OG is. It's higher than 1.044. :o Sample tasted not terrible so I'm not terribly pessimistic about the outcome. Just felt like venting.....stupid wort chiller

The second chiller I made (after having this problem) I used enough tubing to go above the keggle and turned outwards before the hose connections, problem solved.

Yea. I already adjusted the ends so they sit up higher out of the wort. Still one of those irritating things.

Hehe, I too had wort-chiller issues during brew-day yesterday. Mine were definitely user-caused though...

It was my first time using my new wort chiller I had made the night before, and after the mash and boil had gone as perfectly as any beer I've brewed, I was thrilled to put in the new chiller. I decided to use the hot output water to fill up a secondary pot that I used for draining my grain bag (BIAB of course), which would ahve been a great idea if I hadn't left it unattended while I went to the bathtub to sanitize my fermenter...

I'm sure you can imagine where this is headed... I return to the sound of water tinkling onto the floor, and enter the room to see a huge puddle, that has also found its way under the stove and under the fridge. It had actually started to seep underneath the wall, and moistened the carpet on the other side. Eep.

After spending about 45 minutes sopping up water with towels, rags, paper towels, the shirt I was wearing...I think I got enough of it up that the remaining stuff should dry out with no ill effects...but it sure sucked going from what I was expecting to be my easiest wort-chilling ever to having on wet socks, sore knees, and a load of laundry to do...

I just figured I'd vent alongside you if that is okay. My beer should turn out good in the end at least. :tank:

You are more than welcome to vent with me. :tank:

For what it's worth, I switched out the blow-off tube for an airlock today and couldn't help but pull a sample while I had it open, and it tastes pretty good so far.

Why don't hydrometers come in pairs??

I broke my hydrometer after making my last batch. When I ordered a new one, I ordered two...I think from now on I'll always have two on hand...I feel your pain.

A couple brews ago, my tubing (which was kind of thin to begin with) got hot for the last time I guess and blew off as soon as I turned on the hose, which was conveniently 30ft away. Did this about 3 times until I wised up and completely replaced the faulty hose with a thicker one I had lying around. I guess enough hose water made its way in and infected the beer, so I now have a sour in the making... I have no idea what I am going to do with it though

been there, done that with the chiller. then i bought a plate chiller and haven't looked back since.