one of those days....

[Mismost]

big weekend planned for landscaping and dirt work...rented the Bobcat, first day got a lot done, all roughed in...i can do that. Had a operator lined up for today to put the finishing touches on it. He called last night and he forgot he had something else to do today. It got pretty heated pretty fast, this had been planned, deposits made, equipment here, and now no finish guy. Ticked off is a mild word. Running a bobcat is kinda fun and I can get by on one....but after you're roughed in.....you can tear up more in ten minutes than you can fix in three days with a shovel. This guy is an artist on a bobcat which is why I wanted HIM.

Oh well, I'll rack and bottle the Smash and boil up the Speckled Heifer...so, I get going on that...guess who got to feeling guilty and shows up right after I've got one beer in the bottling bucket and one almost boiling? What a dog and pony show! running all over the pasture, boiling beer, trying to get beer in bottles, and shooting final grades....got a real strong feeling, none of them are gonna turn out exactly right.

Then a buddy shows up with a bunch of my bottles and he wants some more beer. I spent two hours last night cleaning bottles. I said show me the bottles...nasty, cruddy, crusty mess. Just right place , wrong dang time....I popped a cork! Pitched the bottles back in his truck, told him if he couldn't least bring back CLEANED bottles, I couldn't give him any more beer. I mean it is PRINTED ON MY LABELS.....CLEAN AND RETURN MY DANG BOTTLES....I was thought was pretty easy to understand.

Well, I'm headed back out to the pasture to push up some old burn piles. I am actually looking forward to my real job Monday morning.

BUT...that Smash even warm and flat with ice in the glass...ain't bad at all

 

[Pappers_]

We've all been there with brew days that don't go as planned, we understand exactly what you're saying. There was the time my brew partner measured the hops in grams rather than ounces, for example

 

[Mismost]

In hind sight, it was mostly me that put the pressure on me. I have never bottled and brewed the same day and doubt I will try it again. This was my first partial mash...should have read the instructions several times days before...wasn't bad, I just didn't know exactly what I was doing....and it didn't get done exactly as it should have been...RDWHAHB.

Used a no rinse bottle washing powder that dried to a thick white crust...had do the bottles twice...so I was already ticked off about bottles...buddy just got caught in the lava flow. Good news, he came back about 8 last night and dropped off two cases of very clean delabled bottles, he told my wife cleaning them was a huge PITA and going forward, they will all come back cleaned.

You live and you learn. "A man has got to know his limitations"...Clint Eastwood.

 

[Erik_Mog]

I have never bottled and brewed the same day and doubt I will try it again.

I brewed and bottled two Sundays ago and it went fairly well. I was able to do the bottling during my boil, watching the kettle through the kitchen window.

I have 2 cases to bottle next Sunday, and thinking about brewing again as well. I could probably pull it off, but I am thinking about putting off the brew for another week (I still need to come up with a good Oktoberfest recipe).

 

[Mismost]

yeah...the whole week end has got me thinking invection burners, temp probes and controllers or the Grainfather......ohhhh, and kegging too. I have all the keg gear, have just never used it.

Nothing like a little stress to push you outta your comfort zone.