Anyone Else Enjoy The Occasional Brew Hiccup?

[jglazer]

I was mashing in 10lbs of Vienna and 5lbs of Rye that I sent through the local homebrewshop's mill twice because I wanted to see if I could bump my efficiency up a little. No rice hulls, stuck sparge pretty much immediately no matter how slow I release, how many times I re-stir, blow air back up the tube into the mash tun, or dilute with more water. Had to dump the entire mash tun into a grain bag and sparge that way (it had already mashed for 1 hour). Even in the grain bag, 5 lbs of rye ground way too fine would collect water and not let it go, it was like a slimy glob of grains, would suck water in and not let go. After about an additional hour of trying to sparge with the grain bag and getting wort everywhere, I was finally ready to boil.

Even though my whole kitchen was covered in sticky wort from transferring to multiple kettles and coolers and sweating profusely because I brew inside, I really enjoyed the struggle. Sometimes I brew and I feel like I am on auto pilot and it is fun to have to think on your feet.

Anyone else feel good after a big f*** up?

 

[TheSmithsEra]

I wouldn't say I enjoy them as much as maybe appreciate them. It is in my opinion that the true test of how good you are is how you handle the hiccups.

 

[beersk]

Not me, I like it when a brewday goes off without a hitch. Makes all the hard work over the years seem worthwhile because you've got your process down. Way to think quickly there, even thought a 2 hour mash is pretty dang long. That sounds tedious, kind of like when I do decoctions.