Beware AG brewing and drinking - Memorial Day

This was the second AG batch we did. The weather was great in Jersey for outdoor brewing. We ( me and my son, Janzik) did our first batch 2 weeks ago and watched 2 batches being done compliments of Bobby M. So along what we picked from the board and read we were all set. My nephew came over and being the two experts we were, we explained all the technical aspects of what we were doing. Now, let me say this, Bobby M had a rule of no drinking till after 11am --- that's a good rule, too bad we didn't follow it. I think that if you are going to drink and brew (especially all grain) you better write down every step you are going to do ( in detail) and check it off. Well we heated up the sparge water and were crushing the grains when the battery went dead on the drill. We had to crank the rest of it by hand. Then we filled the mash tun with hot water. It would have been a good idea to put the manifold in the mash tun first. We finally got the manifold in place without getting scalded and then added the grains. It would have been a good idea to take a temperature reading of the water first. So after adding ice to the mash tun we had another beer. Everything was now running smooth until the boilover. Also I converted my counter flow chiller into a parallel flow chiller which is not as efficient. There's only 2 ways to hook this thing up and of course I did it backwards. As far as efficiencies and gravity readings -- who knows. Maybe my son wrote them down. All in all, it was a good day, I didn't burn my hand on the kettle this week.

That's why I won't crack one open until after the last hop addition, to much can go wrong. Why let 3 or 4 beers ruin 6 gallons of beer.:cross:

That is too bad, but Im sure the beer will be good, better luck next time, no drinking till you have it in the fermenter, lol, j/k, cheers.

good advice!

Great story, even better that no one got hurt.

sigmund said:

Great story, even better that no one got hurt.

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we were lucky, looking back we were pretty stupid. AG brewing requires your full attention to detail and has all the elements for disaster. I think it will be coffee and bagels next time out. Plenty of time to drink afterwards.

I don't know about you guys, but how can you not drink beer while making beer?

I thought that was the #1 rule...

I guess to each their own. Sure, I'm a natural clutz so I see my share of spills and such. I have yet to make a big mistake on brew day that was beer related. I always triple check everything due to minor OCD issues..

Benny Blanco said:

I don't know about you guys, but how can you not drink beer while making beer?

I thought that was the #1 rule...

I guess to each their own. Sure, I'm a natural clutz so I see my share of spills and such. I have yet to make a big mistake on brew day that was beer related. I always triple check everything due to minor OCD issues..

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I drink beer when I brew, but I make sure that I drink a beer until it is all in the fermenter. Then I have more.

I have a few while brewing. Haven't had a problem yet. I can't see not drinking a brew while brewing...

Oh wow, we drink the whole time we're brewing and haven't had any problems yet. I know it takes more than 1 beer to mess with your judgment, guys! I can handle a few before I feel like I'm going to mess something up.

I was brewing this weekend and since I started early in the day I wasn't drinking. Then my neighbor showed up who works for AB and asked if I wanted to try any of the new beers. I was like eh sure, how bout the new Michelob Pale Ale? In the meantime my #$%@! digital thermometer died (2nd one in a month) and I had to run out and get one. When I got back there was a mixed case of new AB products in my garage. Then when I go next door to thank him, he leads me into his basement and hands me half a case of Bass and a Brewmasters Reserve.
I started drinking right after that.

I decided this past weekend to mostly hold off on the drinking until after mash-in. I know, that sounds like it's near the beginning, but I make sure to have a clear head when setting up all the equipment, doing target calculations and measuring out ingredients, adjuncts, etc. (actually SWMBO, aka BrewWench, has been doing most of the measureing). Once I get mashed in and have my calculations and schedule written down, I've got at least an hour to kill and that's when we can sit and relax with a beer.

Little mistakes are great learning experiences, especially when nobody gets hurt. You'll probably not make those mistakes again.

Since I am just learning the AG process I figured I would do it on the not so sober side. Learning while a few pints in, seems to be the answer. As I see it if I learn it buzzed, doing it sober will be a breeze.

MrFebtober said:

I decided this past weekend to mostly hold off on the drinking until after mash-in.

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Well, I'll be drinking the whole time anyway :c )

Drinking while brewing, while fun, can lead to some issues. Case in point, we did a Cinnamon Porter a few months back. The recipe we came up with called for two sticks of cinnamon with 15 min. left in the boil. Due to our "beer tastings" that afternoon, two turned into TWELVE! It now smells like Close Up toothpaste and you really have to fight to find anything "porter" about it.

Still, though, I think drinking while brewing is an inherent part of the process. Just make sure to have some food in there somewhere.

Cheers,

I'll have a couple brews on brew day but I pace myself and I'm not exactly an all grain beginner. I feel like I'm relatively dialed in at this point. The more sober I stay though, the better chance I have of not falling down the basement stairs with a full carboy.

I will usually have a beer during the mash. After that I'm so busy with everything that I find it hard to find time to drink heavily.

Just pace yourself and you'll be OK.

For the record, we hit a pre boil gravity of 1.040, which led us to a 68% efficiency. I think the low eff was caused by using too much sparge water.

I'll have a few while I'm brewing, but not to the point of even getting a buzz.

Even when I'm brewing with others we don't start the real drinking until the chiller goes in.

No beer till flame out. It's the smart thing to do when dealing with 13 gallons of scalding boiling wort, propane, multiple flame sources, etc.

It also has the added benefit of still being of sound mind & judgment at yeast pitching time which is less than an hour after flame out.

Drinking while brewing led me to an interesting truism:

"We brew beer so that we have beer to drink while we brew beer."

My problem though-has been 'forgetting' to eat while brewing, but not forgetting to drink. I usually don't pour one until I'm sparging-but that still is usually before noon....so that means I go from coffee->beer. There's no real good time to eat, and I'm usually getting everything else ready during the mashing phase. So I'm making a note of that for next time.

But I've really found brewing to be fun (especially AG), because it gives me a chance to hang out with my brewing buddy, down a few pints, BS about beer and life..and the end result, besides a big mess..is a bunch of (hopefully good) beer.

I drank 3 during my first AG brew a couple weeks ago. It was nice in the fact that it relaxed me so I wouldn't stress about everything and everything went soo smooth. I didn't crack number 1 until mash started. (too early).

IrregularPulse said:

I drank 3 during my first AG brew a couple weeks ago. It was nice in the fact that it relaxed me so I wouldn't stress about everything and everything went soo smooth. I didn't crack number 1 until mash started. (too early).

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we were nice and relaxed too, we were drinking some of everything we brewed since last November, the good, the bad and the ugly . . . and where did that bottle of Jagermeister come from?

My rule, which I developed by learning the hard way, is to not drink until the boil gets rolling. If I start before then, I either get tired and/or buzzed and I screw something up. I usually save the heavy sampling for non-brew days...

I'm with EdWort on this one, except my rule is "No beer until the chiller's flowing". Then, I usually sit down with a pint and my laptop, so I can update my records in Beersmith.

Im cracking one open while the thermometer is taking the initial grain temps

The funny thing will be when this turns out to be the best beer you have ever made.

My friends say I take the homebrew thig too seriously, employing my various gadgets, measuring devices and etc... Maybe they are right!

As I read this, I'm starting to think that I might have a drinking problem. I don't drink a lot, but I can finish a 6'er (or more) during a brew day, and not even know that I've been drinking. So either y'all are drinking a hell of a lot of beer while brewing, or I have low ABV, or I drink WAY too much and have built up a tolerance! Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does anyone have the phone number for AA?

jay075j said:

As I read this, I'm starting to think that I might have a drinking problem. I don't drink a lot, but I can finish a 6'er during a brew day, and not even know that I've been drinking. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does anyone have the phone number for AA?

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Nah dude, we just know how to hold our liquor here in CT

jay075j said:

As I read this, I'm starting to think that I might have a drinking problem. I don't drink a lot, but I can finish a 6'er (or more) during a brew day, and not even know that I've been drinking.

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I'm more worried about the people that apparently can't start drinking until brewing is done! Can't you just pace yourself if it's that big of a problem?

I'm sure most people don't get smashed while brewing as that wouldn't be the best practice. Well..if you are on point and don't make mistakes when you are hammered, then so be it.

I usually have around 3 during the course of my brew day and I NEVER change the recipe on brew day if I end up having a "great" idea. Unless I miss my target OG with my mash in which case I make minor adjustments.

LOL I had 1 beer while doing my first batch, and still screwed up parts of it. Cheers!

I think part of our problem was that we started a 9 AM and it was already hot out. Next time maybe a 7 AM start. And we didn't eat anything ( except a bag of chips) till the afternoon when we had a barbecue. Maybe we should have a designated brewer that can't drink till the yeast is pitched.

My Rule of thumb is Never drink the first beer prior to starting the sparge or 11AM whichever comes second (I never brew in the evening)

The more I think about it, the less I'd like to blame the "problems" we ran into on the drinking and more on the lack of being prepared. While the drinking didn't leave us as sharp minded as we could've been, it was my responsibility to have the numbers ready (boil size, strike, sparge water etc) and I was going back and forth between the back yard and the computer for the recipe and the instructional links. If I was better organized I think it would've went smoother, I don't blame the beer consumption. The only real thing we did wrong was dropped the grains in before letting the strike water cool down. Technically we followed the recipe, but looking back I believe there was too much boil volume requested because it was a longer boil. (I actually think the recipe was entered wrong by whoever I got it from on the BTP web site).

For the next batch, we'll at least hold off drinking until 11, but we definitely need to be heating up water by 8am.

EdWort said:

No beer till flame out. It's the smart thing to do when dealing with 13 gallons of scalding boiling wort, propane, multiple flame sources, etc.

It also has the added benefit of still being of sound mind & judgment at yeast pitching time which is less than an hour after flame out.

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That is very sound advice, and the way my brew day goes

Wicked Daddy said:

My friends say I take the homebrew thig too seriously, employing my various gadgets, measuring devices and etc... Maybe they are right!

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Screw that. He who brews with the most gadgets wins. Wins what you say? Certified EAC schwag.

Bobby_M said:

Screw that. He who brews with the most gadgets wins.

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cheers to that one bro

+1 to holding off on consumption till after production.

For me it comes down to two related issues. One, my gear is stored either in the basement or in the garage and I brew outside so setup and tear down take up a lot of my brewday. Two, having a homebrew or two gets me nice and relaxed, which is a good thing, except when I have a ton of stairs to run and gear to haul. I'd prefer to wait till everything's done and then sit back and truly enjoy my homebrew.

Plus, I like to get up early on Saturday and brew and first thing in the morning the "brew" I'm interested in is not made with barley.