What did you learn this week?

maybe it was just dumb luck for me, but my red, two handled, bottle capper is just about the easiest thing to use of any of by home brewing toys

dadshomebrewing said:

maybe it was just dumb luck for me, but my red, two handled, bottle capper is just about the easiest thing to use of any of by home brewing toys

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It is easy enough to use, but it also does not take much to break a bottle if you push down the handles onto a stationary bottle. Just a little side load or a little too much pressure on one handle and it will break the bottle.

It will work this way, but I broke a few bottles doing this way as well. Once I got into the habit of picking the whole thing up once the capper was attached to the bottle I didn't break any more.

like i said, it might be pure, blind, dumb, luck (because it surely isn't knowledge or experience), but i've never had those issues.

heaven knows i have my share of other problems, just not that one.

dadshomebrewing said:

like i said, it might be pure, blind, dumb, luck (because it surely isn't knowledge or experience), but i've never had those issues.

heaven knows i have my share of other problems, just not that one.

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It could also just be pure bad luck on my part. Or maybe since they were recycled bottles they were weaker. I don't know.

I learned not to drop my glass hydrometer in the bottom of the glass flask.

I think I've learned this before.

I've learned that no matter how many times you read the recipe, you should read it again just to make sure you're doing it "right."
I've also learned, it's good to be more careful with muslin hop sacks. I had one start to catch on fire because it wasn't knotted to the brew kettle and I had another one get knotted up in my infusion blender.

I learned that all capable bottles aren't the same. I was saving Dos Equis bottles then a friend pointed out the collar. Its very close to the rim and may not cap as easy. I've moved on to Sam Adams.

I learned that chocolate nibs are notorious for infecting wort if added after the wort is cool. I'm pretty sure that's what got my 2nd batch of chocolate stout. I got lucky on the first batch; I added at flame out, which would sterilize them, but I'm pretty sure I did not do that for the second batch.

I guess a corollary lesson is: take REALLY good notes on every single procedural detail!

I've learned that nothing makes me lose more sleep at night than the thought of nearly a gallon of beer dripping through the boards of my deck. But the other four happily fermenting away makes it a little better.

I learned that even though you *think* your back is getting better, it might not be

stpug said:

i learned that even though you *think* your back is getting better, it might not be :d

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+1

adiochiro3 said:

I learned that chocolate nibs are notorious for infecting wort if added after the wort is cool. I'm pretty sure that's what got my 2nd batch of chocolate stout. I got lucky on the first batch; I added at flame out, which would sterilize them, but I'm pretty sure I did not do that for the second batch.

I guess a corollary lesson is: take REALLY good notes on every single procedural detail!

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This is why I keep track of my brews using lecturenote on my note 10.1.

It had a handy "insert timestamp" function that I use quite a bit.

I keep track of anything I do that may affect the beer, including adding water to a mash to adjust temperature, additions, etc.

I learned the WLP530 is a friggin' animal! 2.5 gallons of head space and it put out and endless stream of blowoff for days!

I learn that going to a homebrewers meeting it´s dangerous, I´ve also learnd that you can´t possibly drink dozens of beers from 11:00 Am til 4:00 AM next day and pretend to wake up 5 hours after that to assist to conferences...

I learned there is some really nasty crud that lives at the bottom of empty beer bottles.

I learned that a Black and Tan means something different in Ireland compared to the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans

fuzzy2133 said:

I learned that a Black and Tan means something different in Ireland compared to the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans

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Whups.

I learned that after brewing my first all grain batch a few weeks ago and kegging it today that ag is not all that hard and I can make absolutely Crystal clear beer!

I learned i should use two muslin sacks when I split my hops up to dryhop instead of being a cheap bastard and cut one in half. Barely could tie a knot in them!

I (re)learned that the temperature really does rise during fermentation. I had the heat set at 70, and after I chilled the wort down and added cold water, it was about 65 degrees in the primary. The next day the thermometer on the primary said 70 and I thought, great, that's about what I want. Then it kept rising even though the ambient temperature was 70. The highest the brew got was around 74; that's when I turned the heat down to about 67. The temperature slowly came down, now it's in the secondary sitting right at 70 degrees and the heat's set at 69.

This is my first batch in many years. This is something I had completely forgotten about. I imagine in the months to come there will be a lot of other "oh, yeah" moments.

Was reminded again that color is influenced by yeast selection....same starter wort, 3 different colors...

I learned to label my fermenters. I wasn't paying attention when I racked to keg and racked my pale wheat. I meant to rack a cream ale that was right next to it for a party tomorrow. Talk about surprised when I drew a pint to test it.

I learnt that 2 brand new hydrometers and a 2 year old girl are not a good mix - the daughter is unharmed - the same carn't be said for my poor hydrometers

I learnt that homebrewed beer is more sensitive than commercial crap to being served at the right temperature, (I learnt this years ago with wine, now I have found out its true for beer too)

I've learnt that running out of ingredients when your nearest homebrew store is almost 1500 miles and 3 countries away REALLy sucks (defininetley not a LHBS)

I've learnt that cracking open a 2 Litre bottle of my best and strongest homebrew so far makes it bloody hard to type - think I've caught all the typos but this will be my last post for tonight (but not my last beer! )

bighorn_brew said:

Was reminded again that same color is influenced by yeast selection....same starter wort, 3 different colors...

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Thanks for that! I had no idea. So I assume you are running a experiment to see how each tastes right? That's awesome and something I'd like to try eventually. I've done liquid vs dry yeast before and didn't really taste a difference. There were carbonation level differences, but I assume that wasn't due to the yeast.

mtnagel said:

Thanks for that! I had no idea. So I assume you are running a experiment to see how each tastes right? That's awesome and something I'd like to try eventually. I've done liquid vs dry yeast before and didn't really taste a difference. There were carbonation level differences, but I assume that wasn't due to the yeast.

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Yeah, I am trying to develop a somewhat universal grain bill with the ingredients on hand to use my stock up that I can then use with the 7 yeast strains on hand. I may make some minor adjustments as I see fit, and the hop additions will be tailored to each recipe.

With this starter wort, I mashed 5 lbs of great western 2 row to make 3.5 gals of simple starter wort.

First time I saw this was on a 12 gallon split batch.

I've been learning the art of patience... I just want to bottle my first brew already!!!! I can't, cause I only put it in the fermenter Sunday night, have yet to dry hop, and more importantly haven't taken any gravity readings since before I pitched the yeast! It'll have to wait till Tuesday for any of that too (out of sanitizer)

GMJager said:

I've been learning the art of patience... I just want to bottle my first brew already!!!! I can't, cause I only put it in the fermenter Sunday night, have yet to dry hop, and more importantly haven't taken any gravity readings since before I pitched the yeast! It'll have to wait till Tuesday for any of that too (out of sanitizer)

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It helps to start planning and prepping your next brew day! If the funds and time (or SWMBO) allow try to start brewing more frequently and get a nice pipeline going! That ways you always have something to do every couple of days!

I keep learning how fragile thermometers are. Why the hell did I try to balance it on the edge of the pot while whirlpooling? Grrr.... Guess I will have to buy another one after todays Stout brew and before my Cream Ale brew tomorrow.

I learned that if you fill a keg a little too full, it an be pretty messy when you purge it. Oops :/ brown ale bath!

bighorn_brew said:

Was reminded again that color is influenced by yeast selection....same starter wort, 3 different colors...

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Awesome pic.

kh54s10 said:

I learned that a fermentation chamber with a Johnson A419 controller beats the crap out of changing ice bottles in a swamp cooler!!

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This

I learned that if you think your last batch of beer is a little flavorless all you have to do is open a miller lite or other BMC to get your taste buds back inline. Can't believe i used to think that stuff was drinkable.

I learned that the bottom of a mlt may get a little warm after heating sparge water with turkey fryer and it is best to avoid contact with said bottom.... Drunk.

I learned to keep the bottle capper away from bottle bucket and prevent it from falling into the beer again. #fail. I pulled it out with racking cane as i stirred the coffee and bottling sugar into porter. I almost dunked my arm in Strahan... hahah. Oh well./shrug

I learned when bottling using recycled bottles that the Red Baron bottle capper does not work on Hobgoblin bottles cause of the round top of the bottle.

uxo said:

I learned to keep the bottle capper away from bottle bucket and prevent it from falling into the beer again. #fail. I pulled it out with racking cane as i stirred the coffee and bottling sugar into porter. I almost dunked my arm in Strahan... hahah. Oh well./shrug

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Almost dunked your arm in Strahan?!

scrapes said:

I learned that all capable bottles aren't the same. I was saving Dos Equis bottles then a friend pointed out the collar. Its very close to the rim and may not cap as easy. I've moved on to Sam Adams.

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Why save green bottles? Head down to your nearest bar and ask the bartender to save you some Heineken bottles from the coming night. You'll get tons.

If you're going to drink Mexican beer, suck it up and grab a Modelo. The Negra makes a great beer bottle and the Especial makes a great Apfelwein/Skeeter Pee bottle.



Third from the left... gross.

thadius856 said:

Almost dunked your arm in Strahan?!

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lmao! Nice.

thadius856 said:

Almost dunked your arm in Strahan?!

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I just got a very good laugh out of that, thanks. I learned to check my kit before throwing the box away, so I don't lose my priming dme to the garbage men.

uxo said:

I learned to keep the bottle capper away from bottle bucket and prevent it from falling into the beer again. #fail. I pulled it out with racking cane as i stirred the coffee and bottling sugar into porter. I almost dunked my arm in Strahan... hahah. Oh well./shrug

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Thanks to the last line of this post I've learned to switch off the autocorrect feature in my phone