I was just wondering if anyone else ran into this situation, where they made a ton of mistakes either by chance or because it was their first batch...and that batch ends up being remarkably great.
I made an amber ale where i screwed up a bunch of things...I forgot my moss, I forgot to throw the LME plastic jug into some hot water to loosen it up and ended up just not putting in a good half-cup minimum, didnt have my wort chiller and ice bathed it in a sink that was way too small and the cold break literally look like 3 hours. Then, I kept dropping equipment into the fermenting bucket as i was trying to transfer it and having to fish it out, leading to a sanitary issue. Finally, I panicked with the trub at the bottom (was my first batch) and ended up dumping the final gallon or so of wort and topping the recovered wort off with some warm water from the sink. In combination, this was when i also made a half-a**ed yeast prep for my dry yeast which may or may not have had a temperature issue when i pitched it. Finally, I then allowed my ale to ferment at 75 degrees ambient, which with fermentation inside put it at least 5 degrees over the proper range for that ale.
Im not done yet.
Then, during bottling, I did not have a bottling bucket available, so i siphoned to a carboy and then into bottles...doing this with all of my containers at level ground and being forced to pump siphon the entire time (again, first time), which wasnt a horrible deal, if not for the fact i kept allowing the racking cane to keep getting air into it and i was literally force aerating the carboy before bottling.
Well, i'll be damned if it isnt one of the most crisp and enjoyable amber beers i've ever had. Ironically, i have other brews that ive done perfectly, and they're not as good.
I made an amber ale where i screwed up a bunch of things...I forgot my moss, I forgot to throw the LME plastic jug into some hot water to loosen it up and ended up just not putting in a good half-cup minimum, didnt have my wort chiller and ice bathed it in a sink that was way too small and the cold break literally look like 3 hours. Then, I kept dropping equipment into the fermenting bucket as i was trying to transfer it and having to fish it out, leading to a sanitary issue. Finally, I panicked with the trub at the bottom (was my first batch) and ended up dumping the final gallon or so of wort and topping the recovered wort off with some warm water from the sink. In combination, this was when i also made a half-a**ed yeast prep for my dry yeast which may or may not have had a temperature issue when i pitched it. Finally, I then allowed my ale to ferment at 75 degrees ambient, which with fermentation inside put it at least 5 degrees over the proper range for that ale.
Im not done yet.
Then, during bottling, I did not have a bottling bucket available, so i siphoned to a carboy and then into bottles...doing this with all of my containers at level ground and being forced to pump siphon the entire time (again, first time), which wasnt a horrible deal, if not for the fact i kept allowing the racking cane to keep getting air into it and i was literally force aerating the carboy before bottling.
Well, i'll be damned if it isnt one of the most crisp and enjoyable amber beers i've ever had. Ironically, i have other brews that ive done perfectly, and they're not as good.
