Brewing last night and almost lost everything due to some punks!

[pshankstar]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post in but I need to vent! I am a father of two little girls (5 & 2) and a husband (our 8 year anniversary was yesterday). So my life is pretty busy with family, work and just plain life. So my hobbies of home brewing and video games (Xbox One) are only done at night after the kids are in bed and usually the wife too, so it doesn't interfere with family time. I travel for work, so I cherish all the time I get! Fishing is my other hobby but unfortunately that doesn't happen too much these days.

Anyways, last night after the family was in bed I decided to brew an IPA recipe I found online to ferment in my new "Fast Ferment" conical fermenter. So I started the whole process around 11pm. I went out to the garage, setup inside the garage with the door partially open due to the rain. I was well into the brewing process, maybe more than half way through. I placed the second set of hops into the muslin bag, placed it into the kettle then walked inside quickly to wash my hands and toss the hops packaging. I was gone no more than two minutes and I found a smashed egg on my garage floor! I could tell that someone threw it from outside based on the splatter! Luckily it didn't hit anything from what I could tell! This was around 1:30am!! I walked outside and didn't see anything else covered with eggs, but found an empty shell in our yard where I think the punk(s) was standing when he/she threw it! I continued to finish brewing and clean everything after I pitched the yeast, then went to bed around 4am.

I am still burned up about this whole thing! Yes I'm mad about them possibly ruining my batch of beer! What I'm more upset about is the possibility of them knocking something over and starting a fire since I was brewing! When ever I need to walk away from the brew kettle, I make it supper fast. I never like to leave it unattended for any period of time. Plus I'm upset with the lack of respect kids (I'm assuming it was kids) have these days!

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to get this off my chest and I figured this would be the best place to vent some.

 

[Hello]

Kids are ****heads, I wish you could have caught them. Glad the brew wasn't ruined given you do seem to lack much time to repeat your process.

 

[BalloonGuy]

I know the feeling of brewing late at night. I started a smoked pork but and a stout on monday at 10:00 and finished at 3:00.
I am glad that it was just a mess for you clean up. As you said it could have been much worse. Maybe it is time for some cameras.

 

[Homercidal]

Ah well, kids will be kids. I tend to get fired up over that kind of thing, but deep down I know that even good kids can have bad days, and a few broken eggs are practically good deeds compared to what they might have been doing.

When I was young my best friend talked me into playing on Devil's Night. We grabbed some veggies out of our garden and a carton of eggs and proceeded to bomb the neighbor's house. He was an elementary teacher we didn't like (for no good reason IMO).

But we got caught, got in trouble and learned a lesson. Well, I did anyway. My friend ended up getting in trouble, going to jail, and finally being killed downstate, probably due to his errant ways.

Anyway, thank God none of them walked into the garage and started playing with things. It could have ended up badly.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I'm more surprised that people still throw eggs. I'm with BalloonGuy on this one. Get some camera's if it becomes commonplace. Or, better yet.. if you know when it happens, watch for them to return and blast them with a hose or sprinkler system.

 

[YeastMode]

Or, better yet.. if you know when it happens, watch for them to return and blast them with a hose or sprinkler system.

Or, maybe a paintball gun filled with pepper spray rounds. The beauty is you don't shoot them, just around them.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Or, maybe a paintball gun filled with pepper spray rounds. The beauty is you don't shoot them, just around them.

I came here to say paintball gun as well. :fro:

 

[Homercidal]

Or, maybe a paintball gun filled with pepper spray rounds. The beauty is you don't shoot them, just around them.

I came here to say paintball gun as well. :fro:

Of course you know that there may be consequences to shooting someone with a paintball gun in some areas. Check your local listings or risk jail time and/or fines...

There may be local restrictions on even shooting TOWARDS a person!

And of course there will be those people who hear about it and grab up the pitchforks just because the punks were kids.

You could go with the classic Ex-Lax trick. Except hide the Ex-Lax in some bottles of homebrew. When they come around next time have a couple of bottles of homebrew sitting outside the garage for them to steal.

 

[Homercidal]

Or, maybe a paintball gun filled with pepper spray rounds. The beauty is you don't shoot them, just around them.

I came here to say paintball gun as well. :fro:

Of course you know that there may be consequences to shooting someone with a paintball gun in some areas. Check your local listings or risk jail time and/or fines...

There may be local restrictions on even shooting TOWARDS a person!

And of course there will be those people who hear about it and grab up the pitchforks just because the punks were kids.

You could go with the classic Ex-Lax trick. Except hide the Ex-Lax in some bottles of homebrew. When they come around next time have a couple of bottles of homebrew sitting outside the garage for them to steal.

 

[JonM]

Well, at least they threw the egg from a distance - that suggests to me that the little miscreants are too chicken%$*# to actually come onto your property.

Probably a one-time thing. You've brewed outside without brats messing with you before, right? They probably just were screwing around and saw an opportunity to do one of the stupid things stupid kids do. Probably won't be back, so don't get too worked up about it. Just keep the hose and a camera on hand next brewday.

 

[pshankstar]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and kind words. I really needed to vent about this and by doing so and reading your comments, it has given me some laughs. Thank you! I've only brewed outside one other time but that was during the day this past winter (freezing cold in Western, NY). This was my second time making a 5 gallon batch, the others have been smaller and done inside on the stove.

I hope this is a one time thing. If it happens again, I will probably invest in a camera system. I think the next time I brew, I will open the garage door all the way so I can see everything. Last night it was only partially open. I will also keep my dogs with me outside. This way if they see or hear anything, the alarms will go off! This will probably keep any of these little %$&!@ away... haha

Or maybe I will move my operations to my back deck under the gazebo (13'x11'). This way I am sheltered from the elements and out of sight from the street...

Maybe I will make some water balloons filled with paint... If I see them, I have something to fire back in return... Oh the different ideas of retaliation! LOL

 

[ChemEng]

This has been a problem in my neighborhood recently. It seems that there are a group of teenagers sneaking out late at night egging random cars and whatnot. They even broke into a new school that is being constructed across the street and trashed the place.

They haven't visited my street yet, but i have a big-brother-esque surveillance system ready to record their every move if they do.

 

[agrazela]

.

 

[Tin4]

Yeah, punks.

So I meet one of my teenage neighbors a couple of weeks ago while he's walking. He introduces himself as Link. My first question to him?

"Are you the one spray painting Zelda crap everywhere?"

"Uh..."

"You're getting the triforce all wrong.".

Next week? Stencils are in use.

 

[Mexibilly]

My dad used to say, "What do want, egg in your beer?"

 

[Billy-Klubb]

how do you know they were punks? they look like this? I was busy that night. it wasn't me.

 

[brew_ny]

how do you know they were punks? they look like this? I was busy that night. it wasn't me.

not to be confused with these folks

 

[Zuljin]

Top left. Billyklubb is Denis Leary.

 

[EcuPirate07]

Know how you feel. Almost feel violated. We have these punks who walk our road and right beside my house across the road is a path they take to go to the gas station. Well one day a package was delivered and it was a pair of shoes. It Had not been sitting on the porch for more than 2 hrs because I get UPS updates and couldn't make it home in time. I get home and couldn't find it. Walked to the path and there was the box with no shoes. He sat there on a rock looking at my house while he robbed me. They don't walk the path anymore because I don't stop my 3 dogs from running across the road towards them anymore. ;-)

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Here at my castle, I have Three Dogs Barking Security Incorporated, backed by the services of Mossburg, Ruger, Sig Sauer, and Associates, LLC.

 

[podz]

Or, maybe a paintball gun filled with pepper spray rounds. The beauty is you don't shoot them, just around them.

Bad move, man. No need to escalate matters just to prove a point - that's why people end up in jail for something as petty as stealing a can of beer.

OP's kids will become teens, too. When you tell them to wipe up their mess and they tell you they hate you and slam the door, what are you gonna do? Go and hang them from a tree branch with a winch and pulley so that they are forced to listen to you?

 

[YeastMode]

To clarify, I meant it as a joke. Please do not harm anyone or violate any laws.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Motion detector attached to a valve and a sprinkler. If they get in your yard it turns on. I have seen this used to keep birds and geese off of his dock.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I understand the OP's feelings and have some of those same feelings today. I remember being a "punk" a very long time ago with eggs, however if some one had invited me to learn what they were about or doing, I might have looked at that individual in a different light. Just saying, if its possible to identify the culprit, showing some love might be better than escalating bad feelings. Eggs could turn into a drive-by in a few short years.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I like the sprinkler idea. Of course, it costs you money, but may be worth it to protect your beer. Plus, unless you are getting egg-bombed by the Wicked Witch of the West it is unlikely that the water will cause the perp any manner of actual harm.

We're talking super annoying and obnoxious here... not exactly violent and criminal.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

By the way, when I joke about getting revenge for minor slights and affronts I like to use hyperbole to let people know I am joking. Had I gotten there first my advice would have involved anti-personnel mines, satchel charges and spinning knife blades. Perhaps Barbara Streisand blasting from speakers.

If you just say a little tear gas or a pellet gun people think you might be serious.

 

[brew_ny]

Perhaps Barbara Streisand blasting from speakers.

Oh, the humanity!

 

[TX_Brewing]

Perhaps Barbara Streisand blasting from speakers.

Dude that is just messed up, and op will likely get ticketed for noise pollution.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Are you sure you weren't being too loud in the garage and your wife threw it at you?

Seems better than a rock through the front picture window or a golf ball through the rear windshield of a car parked in your garage...

Hopefully it was a one time deal though.

 

[pshankstar]

Dude that is just messed up, and op will likely get ticketed for noise pollution.

In the neighborhood I live in, I'm sure I would get ticketed for doing that!!! LOL

 

[pshankstar]

Are you sure you weren't being too loud in the garage and your wife threw it at you?

Seems better than a rock through the front picture window or a golf ball through the rear windshield of a car parked in your garage...

Hopefully it was a one time deal though.

You are absolutely right it could have been worse!! I'm thankful it wasn't and I hope it's a one time thing.

I interrogated the wife and she passed the Polly test. So it wasn't her. LOL Just kidding [emoji6]

 

[DrunkleJon]

I like the sprinkler idea. Of course, it costs you money, but may be worth it to protect your beer. Plus, unless you are getting egg-bombed by the Wicked Witch of the West it is unlikely that the water will cause the perp any manner of actual harm.

We're talking super annoying and obnoxious here... not exactly violent and criminal.

Not if you use a sump pump in a mud puddle or stinky mosquito breeding ground water. That will fix them in short order. Plus it should fertilize your yard.