Confession Time

[wtaylor3]

I love PBR.

Me too, 'MURICA

 

[Zepth]

When I was single and first started brewing in 1990 I jumped in with
the enthusiasm meter pegged out. Finally, I was in my 680 square
foot apartment cooking up a batch and looked in the corner
to realize I had EIGHT CASES bottled.

Took a self intervention and a few parties but got it all back under
control. Never thought of doing smaller batches.

All the Best,
D. White

You think that's bad? I tend to find 8 cases and 6 kegs in the closet. Not including what's currently in the keezer. OK, I might have a problem. Drinking faster is not the solution.

Part of what really brought this on was building the e-kettle. Took about 3 hours less than a stovetop batch and could double batches up to 10g instead of 5. I tried to make a 5g batch the other day, honestly. I just can't bring myself to do it when the time required to make 10 vs 5 is so minimal.

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

I'm a microbiologist, got a M.S. and when I was in school I had a big fancy lab with all kinds of culture equipment, incubators, autoclave, etc.

Yet I've never been the least bit interest in yeast culturing. Aside from reusing a yeast cake from time to time I never do much more than sprinkle dry yeast or pour in the smack pack. I never make starters, but for big beers I may make a "starter" beer a few weeks ahead of time.

It seems strange to me that I feel this way, but maybe I've just gotten so lazy from all the lab equipment that going back to Pasteur's methods is too much work.

 

[SnakeRidge]

I'm a microbiologist, got a M.S. and when I was in school I had a big fancy lab with all kinds of culture equipment, incubators, autoclave, etc.

Yet I've never been the least bit interest in yeast culturing. Aside from reusing a yeast cake from time to time I never do much more than sprinkle dry yeast or pour in the smack pack. I never make starters, but for big beers I may make a "starter" beer a few weeks ahead of time.

It seems strange to me that I feel this way, but maybe I've just gotten so lazy from all the lab equipment that going back to Pasteur's methods is too much work.

I'm a microbiologist too, and like you I don't have any interest n yeast culture. I make starters and save yeast but only to save trips to the store and $$. I treat it more like a prep step for brewing. Like in the lab you think 'I need to purify some protien, better get some cells going so I can transfect on wednesday'
I'm happier learning about the rest of brewing

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

I'm happier learning about the rest of brewing

[emoji106]

 

[starsman20]

I love PBR.

Me too!! Nothing like Pure Bred Redheads.

 

[Barley_Bob]

If that's what was in the can, I'd have a 30 pack in front of me right now.

 

[Psylocide]

RDWHAHB... fell in @ flameout.

 

[roastglint]

I Really dont like oak flavored, oak aged or oak infused beers... Not a fan.

 

[roastglint]

RDWHAHB... fell in @ flameout.



View attachment 270895

I had a lable drop into my boil kettle once. Spent the hole hour sitting there waiting for it to circulate for to the top and trying to snatch it. Never did get it till flame out. lol

 

[BBQB]

'Sanitized' a bung in kolsch rather than star San on accident. Beer turned out ok. No harm no foul

 

[doug293cz]

Of all things to drop in the BK while siphoning to the fermenter... I dumped in my spray bottle of StarSan. The batch has almost been consumed, and not a hint of an infection.

Brew on

 

[brewmesomewater]

Well I'm confessing as its happening, 2 back to back batches and thermometer broke in between I guess because at boiling point it's reading 238, meaning I mashed about 20 some odd degrees too high

 

[cyanmonkey]

Well I'm confessing as its happening, 2 back to back batches and thermometer broke in between I guess because at boiling point it's reading 238, meaning I mashed about 20 some odd degrees too high

Do you by chance live underground?

 

[DrFuggles]

I can confess to doing a night-time run to the supermarket to go dumpster diving for empty beer bottles from the bottle bank rather than buying glass. I'm not proud.. nor was SWMBO who refused point blank to even leave the car even though I tried reasoning with her that her small hands would be perfect to reach through the holes to grab the bottles or despite my offer to dangle her by her feet into the bin to reach the ones at the bottom... mind the wasps!

I still haven't lived this one down.

 

[hollianni]

Sometimes when I read forum posts of otherwise intelligent homebrewers being dicks to other homebrewers, espousing their entrenched beliefs in rude and obnoxious ways, I read them in this guy's voice and it all makes sense:

Haha! Sometimes I don't post because I am such a noob and know I'll get those people responding.... But I think you have just given me the solution!!

 

[Psylocide]

Haha! Sometimes I don't post because I am such a noob and know I'll get those people responding.... But I think you have just given me the solution!!

For every one of those types, there are ~20 that are going to be super helpful, I wouldn't be afraid to post any questions you might have. But doing a search on the subject also helps a ton.

 

[philipCT]

I can confess to doing a night-time run to the supermarket to go dumpster diving for empty beer bottles from the bottle bank rather than buying glass. I'm not proud.. nor was SWMBO who refused point blank to even leave the car even though I tried reasoning with her that her small hands would be perfect to reach through the holes to grab the bottles or despite my offer to dangle her by her feet into the bin to reach the ones at the bottom... mind the wasps!

I still haven't lived this one down.

this kind of dedication to the craft just brings a tear to my eye

 

[brewmesomewater]

Do you by chance live underground?

No, I have 2 thermometers just couldn't locate until the wort was too a boil. Still came in over my est. OG, gonna name this brew God Given because he himself musta been doin the mash.

 

[branman]

I can confess to doing a night-time run to the supermarket to go dumpster diving for empty beer bottles from the bottle bank rather than buying glass. I'm not proud.. nor was SWMBO who refused point blank to even leave the car even though I tried reasoning with her that her small hands would be perfect to reach through the holes to grab the bottles or despite my offer to dangle her by her feet into the bin to reach the ones at the bottom... mind the wasps!

I still haven't lived this one down.

Lmao! More of this^^^!!

 

[LAHammer]

I quit drinking for 24 hours one time. Lucky for me there was a beer close by when I came to...

 

[roastglint]

Just had KBS last night at a special tapping. It was meh.

 

[roastglint]

I never "wash" my fermentors or kegs or keg lines. I just rise with really hot water and shake my fermentors. For the really stuck on stuff I might use a hot wash cloth. I just push hot water threw my lines and call it good. Never had an infection.

I always sanitize though.

 

[biochemedic]

I just brewed a beer, and whereas I normally filter out most of the hops and trub by pouring into my bottling bucket through a mesh filter before then putting everything into the fermenter, I just didn't feel like busting out, sanitizing and after cleaning all that extra stuff...I just siphoned wort, trub and 4 oz of spent pellet hops directly into my better bottle.

I also pitched US-05 at 59*F... (God, I love the groundwater temps here in western PA! Used to fight to get my beers down to 70*F in the dead of winter when I was in NC...)

And you know what, I feel good about it!

 

[Kee]

I just brewed a beer, and whereas I normally filter out most of the hops and trub by pouring into my bottling bucket through a mesh filter before then putting everything into the fermenter, I just didn't feel like busting out, sanitizing and after cleaning all that extra stuff...I just siphoned wort, trub and 4 oz of spent pellet hops directly into my better bottle.

I also pitched US-05 at 59*F... (God, I love the groundwater temps here in western PA! Used to fight to get my beers down to 70*F in the dead of winter when I was in NC...)

And you know what, I feel good about it!

Dumping everything into the fermenter is a legitimate technique.

 

[biochemedic]

Dumping everything into the fermenter is a legitimate technique.

Yep...I was inspired on the fly to just ditch the filtering, which frankly, is a pain in the a$$, by one of Brulosopher's recent exBeeriments...

 

[SnakeRidge]

I also pitched US-05 at 59*F...

And you know what, I feel good about it!

I've got a Cream Ale with US-05 fermenting at 59* right now and I couldn't be happier about it. I pitched it at about 50*.

 

[biochemedic]

I've got a Cream Ale with US-05 fermenting at 59* right now and I couldn't be happier about it. I pitched it at about 50*.

Good to hear! I expect it to start a little slowly, but work out just fine...I'll let it come up naturally on it's own while fermenting in my currently 65*F basement bar area...

 

[BrotherBock]

I poop in all my beers

 

[Kee]

I poop in all my beers

You win?

 

[SnakeRidge]

I actually pitched a third generation slurry, so it got started a good bit faster (12 hrs) than the first gen pitch generally(~24hrs). I ferment a lot of ales in the lower end, 58-62* and like how they come out. This is about what I can maintain this time of year by just trading out ice bottles, the lazy way. After about 72 hours, I just let it free rise to about 68-70* to finish out.

Cheers!

 

[biochemedic]

I poop in all my beers

I actually pitched a third generation slurry, so it got started a good bit faster (12 hrs) than the first gen pitch generally(~24hrs)....!

I actually had to do a quick double take to make sure SnakeRidge wasn't the same poster as BrotherBock....

 

[SnakeRidge]

I actually had to do a quick double take to make sure SnakeRidge wasn't the same poster as BrotherBock....

I'm the one who does not poop in his beers... I suspect Brother Bock may be a goat. That's how goats brew.

 

[MysteryHaus]

Just had KBS last night at a special tapping. It was meh.

Same here. All my beer hipster friends bust a nut over it but I gave the rest of mine away. $8.50 per bottle? I'd rather just have the regular breakfast stout.

On to my confession. My hydrometer has been collecting dust, never used the thing. Beer turns out fine

 

[BrotherBock]

I'm the one who does not poop in his beers... I suspect Brother Bock may be a goat. That's how goats brew.

Wait.....you're telling me I shouldn't be pooping in my beer? How else am I going to get such a unique house strain

 

[biochemedic]

I'm the one who does not poop in his beers... I suspect Brother Bock may be a goat. That's how goats brew.

Fixed that for you...

 

[revco]

I've made plenty of mistakes in my days of brewing, but I finally have a real confession.

I built the current iteration of my 10G brewery around 3 years ago. For the first time since, I've actually taken apart all the fittings for a thorough cleaning, soak in PBW and new teflon tape all around. I'd run PBW through the kettles and pump before AND after every brew day for about 20 minutes, thinking that was enough to keep it clean. I'm almost literally ashamed of the PBW's color from my boil kettle's parts after a good, long soak.

I don't even know how I've been able to successfully avoid infection up til this point. All I can say is boiling wort is amazing and I'll be doing this once a year from here on out.

 

[chisena]

I once measured gravity with a refractometer post fermentation without applying any correction factor. I freaked out because it appeared the fermentation had stalled at 1030. This was before I had studied oxidation much, so I proceeded to shake and stir, aerating what was really completely fermented beer. Even pitched another $6 vial... Nothing. Then I realized what I had done, tried the trusty hydrometer and voila.... Oxygenated 1.010 beer! Actually, it never ended up tasting like cardboard after all. It can be tough to ruin beer sometimes!

 

[roastglint]

I once measured gravity with a refractometer post fermentation without applying any correction factor. I freaked out because it appeared the fermentation had stalled at 1030. This was before I had studied oxidation much, so I proceeded to shake and stir, aerating what was really completely fermented beer. Even pitched another $6 vial... Nothing. Then I realized what I had done, tried the trusty hydrometer and voila.... Oxygenated 1.010 beer! Actually, it never ended up tasting like cardboard after all. It can be tough to ruin beer sometimes!

I find that it is incredibly hard to ruin a beer. especially to the point of not being drinkable.

 

[cyanmonkey]

I find that it is incredibly hard to ruin a beer. especially to the point of not being drinkable.

I have a Belgian triple mashed at 143 that finished at 1.002 that would say otherwise.