First and Last attempt at GF Brewing - EPIC FAIL

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

NewBrewB

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
807
Reaction score
48
Location
Pace
So I started brewing about a year and a half ago... My brew log sits at 90 gal, all done in 5 gal batches. I'm comfortable admitting that I am still an Extract-Brewer, because I was overseas for most of that time and have only recently begun to see AG brewing on the horizon.

Anyway, long long ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Okinawa, Japan), I ordered a Gluten Free Extract kit. A good buddy of mine was planning a trip to visit and I wanted to share my new hobby with him. Obviously, he has an allergy to wheat glutin, so I thought I'd rock the GF Brew in his honor.

The kit never seemed to arrive, so I finally tracked it down and it was delivered to our house back in the States, being rented by total strangers. I contacted the property manager and he kindly went by the house, retrieved the box, and forwarded it to me in Japan. That's about the time my friend's trip was canceled...

I kept the kit on the shelf as I continued to brew other batches and finally, we found ourselves approaching our move back to the Good Old USA. I decided I didn't want to risk having the movers throw out the kit (can't pack "liquids") so I mailed it to my wife's cousin. After the move, I got the kit from him and again the kit sat, waiting for an opportunity. Finally, my buddy made plans to come visit us this winter to go skiing, so I decided to brew it up.

I laid out all of my ingredients, started my water boiling, read through the directions, set my timers, and I was off. At the same time, I sanitized a carboy and prepared my pre-chiller with ice water.

Then, I realized I had added the honey 45 mins too early.
Then, I realized one of the tied bags of hops had come un-tied.
Then, I dropped my timer and it reset itself so I had no idea how much time was left.
Then, I finished the boil and took it outside to chill, but realized I had already winterized my hose so I had to go back into the basement to turn the water on.
Then, I started chilling the beer and one of the hoses came un-clamped and sprayed hose-water all over the place, including my open batch of 170 degree GF brew....

Sometimes, it's just not meant to be.

In January when he visits, we'll be drinking a lot of Captain-and-Coke, referring to it as "GF Brew."

:(
 
So I've made basically all of those mistakes on one beer or another, and I always got something drinkable out the other end. Why didn't you go ahead and ferment it once you had all the hard work already done?
 
To me, the "hard work" is sanitizing & bottling... I'm too spoiled by the kegging process now, to bother with bottles for a highly-questionable batch.

Until the garden hose sprayed in it, I was on the same track... "this will be funny to call it Around-The-World-Murphys-Law-GF
 
I still would have fermented that. Let the yeast do the work and then decide if it should be thrown out.

When I make mead, I mix water straight from the tap with honey and add yeast. I've never had a problem.
 
Once while brewing, I was attempting to filter out the break material on the way into the fermenter using a bag. The bag got heavy, popped a spring and splashed into the nearly full fermenter. It threw chilled wort all over the floor and me.

Without thinking I reached my unsantized hand into the beer to pull out the bag.

I fermented it, and it came out just fine. Beer can be durable.
 
In January when he visits, we'll be drinking a lot of Captain-and-Coke, referring to it as "GF Brew."

Hilarious.

Next time, hold on to it. even if you think the toughest part is sanitizing and bottling (i'm right there with you), its still towards the end of the process. you'd have a pretty good idea if it had gone bad before you went through the trouble of bottling.

good on ya for trying to hook a buddy up, though. well done.
 
Nothing wrong with the Captain. He's a good man.

I prefer some Baileys and coffee myself. Since I've grown more sensitive to caffeine, it's mostly just Baileys on the rocks now.
 
Back
Top