2 gallons Lost

I will never forget my 2nd day working in a winery. There was this other new employee and I watched him open the wrong valve. Needless to say its the funniest moment I've had at a job. He had an agitor arm in the valve so he couldnt close it alone. 500 galons hit him with force in about 75 seconds. And of cource it was red wine so his socks were pink in about 2 seconds. Remember I said funny. Yesteday I was cooling my wort. I strained it into a valved bucket and when I was doing other things the valve popped off. I heard that sound of gushing liquid and GASPED when i realized the wort was spilling out of that hole. For the new brewers this is where I was not prepared. I didnt have another sanitized kettle to go into. By the time I emptied one with sanitizer and saved the gusher I lost 2 gallons. Not funny. I am still bumbed. Two things I learned. Dont use a container with an unreliable spigot and have another emergency pot on the back burner. Pardon the pun. 4 gallons is better than none.

I think every single time I've mixed hot water into my mash tun I've left the valve open and freaked out when hot wort started shooting out. You'd think I would learn. Maybe I shouldn't drink while I brew.

Never brew without having one. The trick is only a few.....a few six pacs!! Well as they say get back in the saddle. If you get knocked down get back up and do it again. So I have three beers lined up to brew today with a friend.
"Dear Home Brew Spirit- May today be a spill proof day and Bless this sweet wort we are about to make-aho" :rockin:

The trick is to sanitize and close valves first, THEN start the mash water and pour a homebrew. I often setup the equipment the day before and check my ingredients against the recipe. This shaves an hour off of the brewing day and really cuts accidents (note: I didn't say it eliminates them completely).

You are right about planning and being prepared. The day started at 10am and three batches later we finished at midnight. No spills this time only smooth brewing. We did pace our drinking to keep a better focus.

Then there was the time I tapped my first Cornelius keg in the kitchen.
I left the picnic tap in the "Clean Postion" you know, locked open. That cost me probably 1/2 gallon of beer, a night in the doghouse for making a mess plus a night for wasting good wheat Dunkel that had been brewed just for her and I had to deep clean the kitchen.

My hat goes off to those of you who brew in doors. After a couple of batches brewed in a day I look around the deck and cant imagine making that mess inside. Especially the 2 gallons that spilled. My wife is understanding yet that would have been a serious mess. The good part of brewing outside is a quick spray down of the deck and no trace of those boil overs. I dont know how you convinced your wife to let you keep brewing indoors.