What are some of the mistakes you made...where your beer still turned out great!

Thanks for the great thread! It really outlines the RDWHAHB for me. Now if I can get my partner in crime and brother to read this! Talk about nervous nelly... He was convinced that our second batch ever was ruined by putting a little too much Irish moss in, were talking like a heaping spoon vs a level spoon measured. Haven't tasted it yet but I'm sure it will be fine.

I've been lurking around here for a few months now. Just wanted to say thanks for all the info. When I get back from Afghanistan I plan on using everyone's wisdom to start on my own brewing adventures. I can't fricken wait.

burned sugar to the bottom of a pan and the resulting beer was one of my best with a caramel aroma and slight taste ,I have tried to duplicate it many times and cant

I really needed to read this post after today's disaster. 5 minutes left in boil my wife attempts to heat up a bowl of sausage in meatballs in micro above the range. Some how she managed to loose the handle and dropped sausages, meatballs, and tomato sauce in my nearly finished wort! To top it off the bowl holding the italian goodies landed on a cup filled with cocoa I had on range. Most of the kitchen got dusted with a portion of brown powder. Unlike most these stories I didn't bother fishing out the foreign objects and procede to the fermenter

Irishwrench said:

I really needed to read this post after today's disaster. 5 minutes left in boil my wife attempts to heat up a bowl of sausage in meatballs in micro above the range. Some how she managed to loose the handle and dropped sausages, meatballs, and tomato sauce in my nearly finished wort! To top it off the bowl holding the italian goodies landed on a cup filled with cocoa I had on range. Most of the kitchen got dusted with a portion of brown powder. Unlike most these stories I didn't bother fishing out the foreign objects and procede to the fermenter

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now tell your wife that you need to upgrade your brewing equipment and move the brewing outside to avoid disasters like that from happening again

Irishwrench said:

I really needed to read this post after today's disaster. 5 minutes left in boil my wife attempts to heat up a bowl of sausage in meatballs in micro above the range. Some how she managed to loose the handle and dropped sausages, meatballs, and tomato sauce in my nearly finished wort! To top it off the bowl holding the italian goodies landed on a cup filled with cocoa I had on range. Most of the kitchen got dusted with a portion of brown powder. Unlike most these stories I didn't bother fishing out the foreign objects and procede to the fermenter

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So you left cooked processed meat in your wort to be fermented?

Let us know how it turns out!

Mysticmead said:

now tell your wife that you need to upgrade your brewing equipment and move the brewing outside to avoid disasters like that from happening again

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Should have known the day was going to start bad when I took my brand new turkey fryer out of the box to find a huge dent in the bottom of the pot. I had full of intentions of moving the process outside, even though it was 10 degrees yesterday.

Bradinator said:

So you left cooked processed meat in your wort to be fermented?

Let us know how it turns out!

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I dumped the whole pot . She took me out for a couple beers and a pizza last night. By the end of the night we were already laughing about it.

Irishwrench said:

Should have known the day was going to start bad when I took my brand new turkey fryer out of the box to find a huge dent in the bottom of the pot. I had full of intentions of moving the process outside, even though it was 10 degrees yesterday.

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if it's an aluminum pot. you can safely and GENTLY tap those dents out. as long as the pot will sit steady on the burner it can be used.

Irishwrench said:

Should have known the day was going to start bad when I took my brand new turkey fryer out of the box to find a huge dent in the bottom of the pot. I had full of intentions of moving the process outside, even though it was 10 degrees yesterday.



I dumped the whole pot . She took me out for a couple beers and a pizza last night. By the end of the night we were already laughing about it.

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You should have taken the meat out and gone full steam ahead. Could of been interesting. I was bottling an apa one day after I had just cleaned out my aquarium. I had gotten confused and ended up using my unsanitized tubing for my aquarium vacuum to siphon my apa into my bottling bucket. Beer turned out great.

slomo said:

You should have taken the meat out and gone full steam ahead. Could of been interesting. I was bottling an apa one day after I had just cleaned out my aquarium. I had gotten confused and ended up using my unsanitized tubing for my aquarium vacuum to siphon my apa into my bottling bucket. Beer turned out great.

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Yes if only a cooler head would have prevailed.

Great thread. Is there anyway to pin it. Wish I had known this thread existed 3 months ago after I brewed my first batch.

Rascal said:

Wish I had known this thread existed 3 months ago after I brewed my first batch.

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^same, though 6 months, not 3

Between overheating my steeping grains (causing a much higher gravity- or else I fail at hydrometer reading), getting DME all over the kitchen, transferring to secondary via multiple oral siphons (due to ruining the HEPA filter essential to the siphoning assembly that came with my initial equipment), and producing some initially foul-tasting stuff, after a month in the bottle it was a wonderful, though accidental, doublish wit (just under 7% ABV)- well-received at my first DC Homebrewers' Club meeting-even though I bottled what I brought to said meeting in a (Euro) growler!

First batch (extract) I got hammered drinking rum and cokes. Set the kettle down put IC in wort, ran output hose into drain. I had to run a garden hose through my kitchen window because i had no where inside to attach a hose to. Went outside, turned on hose and smoked a cig. Came in, output hose flew out of drain and hosed down my entire kitchen. Luckily SWMBO was sleeping and my drunk ass towel dried everything just fine.

The next morning SWMBO gave me a hummer because i mopped the kitchen floor the night before. Score.

that's one way to turn pain into pleasure haha..

i'm worried right now because of the dry hop addition. I didnt sanitize the bag the hops came in nor the container i placed them in and place the lid on the bathroom counter with out sanitizing it (keep my fermenters in the half bath because of steady temperatures). Hoping that there is no infection when i add the second addition next week. *fingers crossed*. will update if it has or hopfully havent

Like a million others, I've made the mistake of grabbing the wrong sized stopper (by about a half size) and pushed it all the way into the carboy just after I had pitched the yeast. It was sanitized, so everything turned out okay. Had to come to the forums to figure out how to get the stopper out though.

See the video... [ame=http://youtu.be/2dLzHhlpl7k]Brewing a Wheat Beer Kit - YouTube[/ame]

BrewGardenCA said:

Like a million others, I've made the mistake of grabbing the wrong sized stopper (by about a half size) and pushed it all the way into the carboy just after I had pitched the yeast. It was sanitized, so everything turned out okay. Had to come to the forums to figure out how to get the stopper out though.

See the video... Brewing a Wheat Beer Kit - YouTube

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LOL. I *literally* just did that this past Sunday!

this is a great thread! this should be put somewhere so that all new brewers can see it on the first page!

DisturbdChemist said:

that's one way to turn pain into pleasure haha..

i'm worried right now because of the dry hop addition. I didnt sanitize the bag the hops came in nor the container i placed them in and place the lid on the bathroom counter with out sanitizing it (keep my fermenters in the half bath because of steady temperatures). Hoping that there is no infection when i add the second addition next week. *fingers crossed*. will update if it has or hopfully havent

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You're fine. Did you sanitize the hops(not saying you should, just making a point)? Are you sure that they weren't covered in germs when they were packaged? Alcohol is a disinfectant, you're biggest worry time should be after the wort has cooled but before fermentation has completed. If that's all you did wrong I would be extremely surprised if it doesn't turn out fantastic!

Just kegged this guy up again. 2nd time I've ever brewed it with the right hops and yeast, so I'm very excited. Only difference is I used my left over simcoe for hop candy, so I had to open a 1oz package of Simcoe and just tossed the whole thing in for dry hopping(extra .5oz). The sample tasted fantastical, and it was just kegged last night

brewed a partial mash last year around July. To be honest I was drunk.

Messed up my hop schedule.
Forgot to add irish moss.

At the time I was cooling the wort by putting in my bathtub, and to keep it from floating I was weighing the pot down with a cast iron lid from my dutch oven.

So I moved my pot into the tub and started filling it up. It takes awhile so I walked away, watched a little tv with my roommate. After remembering the beer I sprinted to the bathroom. The pot was slightly tipped to the side, and was completely submerged by about 4 inches of cold water.

Removed the pot, drained half the tub.
As it was draining I walk in the kitchen and realized I forgot to add the small container of LME(3 lb.) with the other one. Poured it into the pot and stirred. Cooled it in the tub and proceeded as usual.

Also, I forgot to sanitize one of my buckets, and I aerate by pouring the wort back and forth between them. I realized this as I was going through the motions.

5 weeks later, my nut brown disaster was getting rave reviews from all my beer loving friends. Some times its pays off to just relax and don't worry.

However I no longer get drunk when making beer anymore.

Here's another classic "I stuck my whole arm into my cooled wort before pitching the yeast" story.

First time using new brew kettle with a ball lock spigot at the bottom. Brewed as usual, whole hops for bittering, additions of chocolate and spices. With this setup, the last gallon or two requires a siphon from the dip tube to remove, so I have the BK up on the kitchen counter, tubing going from the spigot into the fermentor bucket and start the flow. Takes no time at all for hops and chocolate to stop the flow. I took off my shirt, sprayed my arm and a hop bag down with star san and held the hop bag over the dip tube at the bottom of the BK, sweeping it with my fingers every time something got sucked up against it.

It worked. The beer didn't get contaminated and it tastes great!

Lesson: I now use hop bags in the boil for anything other than pellet hops and small ground spices.

I set the temp controller on my Johnson to 66 but forgot to unplug the hair dryer I was using to heat my chest freezer. It got to 131F when I went back to pitch the yeast. The heat caused a vacuum/melted the tops of my better bottles in. I siphoned off the one that had been fermenting for a week into the keg (assuming most of the yeast were dead).

No plastic taste or anything. My caribou slobber is delicious. I'm now going to use these BB for cider.

I did not know I needed to aerate my wort prior to pitching the yeast, I actually siphoned the beer from kettle to fermenter and it still fermented out just fine.

My digital thermometer went a little haywire, so when I thought I was mashing at ~152, it was really about 160* F. I didn't realize the problem until four weeks later, when the FG on this mother-of-all-stuck fermentations was 1.032. I bottled it anyway, and while I don't think it's my best effort, it's not bad and everyone else loves it. So I'm not going to argue with them!

I had the output hose come off my immersion cooler, spraying water into my cooling wort. Pulled the coil out of the wort and reattached the hose while balancing the coil on the edge of my brewpot. Still turned out great

Thanks guys. You made me feel a ton better. My very first brew is fermenting (Yay, Mr. Beer!), but I have been worried because: A) I had accidentally dropped the yeast packet into the batch and had to fish it out and B) I was worried a bit that the temp wasn't exact enough when I added the yeast. Hopefully it will turn out great...

I have had some crazy stuff happen in pubs and micros I have worked... very few problems at home though.... However;

I was making an Oktoberfest, second AG brew I had done in my current locale with new mlt I had made, etc. Was brewing on an electric stove, something distracted me and there was a massive boilover. Oh fug! So much wort flooding the stove top. Must not lose all that wort! Put on some gloves, grabbed a clean kitchen towel, started sopping and wringing.. sopping and wringing... the top was fairly clean, but there was probably a little bacon grease and god knows what... Well, I recovered the majority of it, nailed my gravity. My effort was rewarded, beautiful marzen... perfect... mmmm! I think that beer is the best I have ever made at home!

I bottled a batch of mighty arrow using old mighty arrow bottles (new Belgium ).that I bought. The catch - I left all the labels on the old bottles. Just threw them in a bucket with Sanitizer. Labels, glue, everything. Pulled them out and filled them! I dont know what I was thinking! Beer turned out decent.

You should add bacon grease to your next batch to see if that is the secret

Was testing the gravity of my wort about a week into primary fermentation, using a bucket with a spigot, and the seal around the spigot began leaking. The only way to tighten was from the inside. It was leaking quickly so I just took the spray bottle of week old star san, soaked my arm, and reached into the bucket and tightened the seal.

Was my best batch yet (english version of SNCA).

bleme said:

You should add bacon grease to your next batch to see if that is the secret

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Everything... is better... with bacon!

turkey bacon, of course. yes, it sounds effed up, but life is better with turkey bacon. Pig bacon is great, but turkey bacon is the wave of the future, and the future is where it's at. (I"m not even convinced, but if I repeat it enough, it'll make sense)

The inlet hose to my immersion chiller came off 3 minutes into my chill. The hose was spraying tap water into my hot wort for about 40 seconds. I was really worried about infection. However, I just had my first taste of that batch last night and it tasted great. White IPA... instead of using a Belgian Wit yeast I used Forbidden Fruit. Anyone opinions/experience with this yeast strain?

The inlet hose to my immersion chiller came off 3 minutes into my chill. The hose was spraying tap water into my hot wort for about 40 seconds. I was really worried about infection. However, I just had my first taste of that batch last night and it tasted great. White IPA... instead of using a Belgian Wit yeast I used Forbidden Fruit. Anyone opinions/experience with this yeast strain?

it would have been totally screwed, but since you double posted your concerns, it'll be fine.

ahh, chances are, it will be fine. if you tasted it, and it tastes fine, then it's probably not infected, or ruined to the point of dumping. bottle/keg it, and enjoy the daylights out of it.

I made a 12 gallon bath of a Belgium tripel and also made all of the candied sugar. 4.5 pounds of it. I had it in the freezer chillen on wax paper on backing pans until i was ready to add it to the wort. It was a hot day an once outside the candied sugar started to get gummy and I couldn't get it off the wax paper without taking some with it. After a struggle I threw it all in the pot. Waited till the sugar dissolved and picked the wax paper out of the boil piece by piece. It was frightening at the time but you would never know by the taste now.

Made 4 gal of EdWort's Pale Ale, chilled it, pitched pacman yeast, put it in my ferm fridge, set the temp control, and went on with my day.

Long story short: it froze into slush b/c I set the controller wrong. Took it out, thawed it slowly to room temp (approx 67F) and it fermented out to 1.012!!! Hydro sample tasted great... We'll see in a few weeks if it really came out okay, but I couldn't believe the yeast survived and fermented!

This has nothing to do with the beer, but more to do with safety:

I brewed an IIPA recently and I was brewing in 15F weather outside. So I planned on calling the beer Frozen Face IIPA. After I pitched my yeast, I began clean up. My basement floor is one of those slick waterproof deals and while cleaning up I left water all over the floor.

I heard the dog yelp upstairs and I thought she was hurt, so I ran to help her. I slipped on the water landed on my left side and slide until the bottom step of the staircase stopped my momentum.

The dog was ok. She came down the stairs and licked my face. She was yelping at my roommate to pet her.

I ended up cracking my rib so the brew name changed to Cracked Rib IIPA. this turned out to be one of my best brews, but I'll never run across a wet floor again!

I was making a dark mild a while back, decided I wanted some Dr. Pepper while I was waiting. Well, I was not thinking straight as I was explaining something to my roommate, and ended up pouring about 7oz of Dr. Pepper into the kettle. Turned out just fine!

peanasky said:

I was making a dark mild a while back, decided I wanted some Dr. Pepper while I was waiting. Well, I was not thinking straight as I was explaining something to my roommate, and ended up pouring about 7oz of Dr. Pepper into the kettle. Turned out just fine!

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Dr. Pepper Dark Mild (DPDM)... nice!