Stupid, sickening &@&#$ mistake!!!

[Bacchus]

I spent about $70.00 (with shipping) on the ingredients for a Belgian strong ale. Primaried for three weeks. Secondaried for three weeks. Was bottling up tonight and was happy as a lark. Was transferring to my bottling bucket and prepping my priming sugar at the same time. As I turned from the stove to head for the sink......SPLASH!! I stepped in a massive puddle of beer. I had left the spigot open on the damned bottling bucket!!!! Of a projected twenty-five, 22oz bottles I got seventeen. Eight of them got mopped up off of the kitchen floor. Need my friggin' head examined for such a stupid oversight.

 

[fineexampl]

bummer man. gotta say though, you're not the first. chalk it up to "it'll never happen again" and enjoy the 17 bottles.

 

[152Sumo]

I almost didn't realize the mishap.... I was thinking: "well, if you left the spigot open, shouldn't the beer just stay in the bottling bucket"..

Sorry to hear about that. I would say forget the loss and learn. Easier said than done, I know, but keep it fun. Enjoy what you brewed and were able to bottle and move on.

Thanks for sharing your mistake. Mistakes are great learning tools.

 

[klyph]

I've done the same thing on the mash tun, but I caught it quickly.

 

[Chudz]

Sorry to hear about your loss. But look at it this way, after you drink those 17 bottles in one sitting, you'll probably forget it ever happened in the first place. Plus, you'll most likely forget your name and start falling down a lot, which will no doubt lead to serious bruising. The upside about the serious bruising is that it will keep your mind occupied over the next several days wondering exactly WTH happened, thereby putting those lost bottles further out of mind.

And hopefully if you order out for food during that time you will at least remember to answer the door while wearing pants. Not that that's ever happened to me . . . or anything.

 

[beergears]

After a similar mishap (caught early), I have added "Open and "Closed" markings to my bottling bucket spigot area... easy enough reminder and visual check before any fluid transfer.

 

[annasdadhockey]

$70 for 17 bombers of a belgian, about $4 apiece...sounds like a good deal.
Sorry for your loss, but enjoy what you have.

 

[dunnright00]

At least you didn't drop the whole carboy while bringing it in to bottle, like I've heard happen...

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks for all the positive vibes, folks. I'm actually chuckling about it (a little!!) now. I was just sickened because of all the Belgians I've made, this one was coming along better than any before. I was rubbing my hands in delight at the thought of drinking it. Oh well.....next batch is already on deck. Time to move on. And yes, seventeen bottles of this stuff will be worth 200 Budweisers.

 

[IceFisherChris]

And yes, seventeen bottles of this stuff will be worth 200 Budweisers.

No it won't! It won't even be worth 2 million bottles of bud!

 

[jturie]

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks of real homebrewers. I made that mistake once but happened to be looking at the spigot, so I only lost a couple of ounces. Just last weekend I was about to pour the wort into the fermenter, and caught myself just in time. Yep, spigot was open. Once you've made that mistake, you get real careful--I think that's the real definition of experience.

 

[cyclonetx]

Ran several pints of nut brown ale out on the kitchen floor a couple of weeks ago while bottling. This is a two person job in a house where only one person likes a good beer.

 

[Bacchus]

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks of real homebrewers. I made that mistake once but happened to be looking at the spigot, so I only lost a couple of ounces. Just last weekend I was about to pour the wort into the fermenter, and caught myself just in time. Yep, spigot was open. Once you've made that mistake, you get real careful--I think that's the real definition of experience.

I appreciate the words of wisdom but the sad thing is.....I'm not a noob!! I've been brewing for over two years and am about to brew my 40th batch. This is the first time I've pulled this kind of a bonehead move. LOL! I've come close a time or two in the past but never like this.

 

[JefeTheVol]

Whenever I would screw up in the woodshop and cut something I didnt need, etc...I would write a message/life lesson on the scrapped piece of wood and hang it on The Wall. The Wall was where I hung my mistakes so they could constantly remind me of the 7 P's of success. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
-Jefe-

 

[Bacchus]

Whenever I would screw up in the woodshop and cut something I didnt need, etc...I would write a message/life lesson on the scrapped piece of wood and hang it on The Wall. The Wall was where I hung my mistakes so they could constantly remind me of the 7 P's of success. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
-Jefe-

Hahahaha!!!! I like that! I'll try and remember it.

 

[ChshreCat]

I did the same thing. Fortunately, I noticed it really early and got it closed up quick and promised to learn from THAT mistake.

Then it did it again the next time I bottled.

*facepalm*

 

[mhochman]

I did something similar in my last bottling session. I was rolling with filling 6 bottles, capping them, then filling 6 more and capping those. I decided to stick the bottling wand into the next (7th?) bottle so it could sit and stay clean while capping. Until I went back to start filling the next 6 and saw I had pushed it too hard and the beer was overflowing from that bottle. Can't say how much I lost, except I only filled 44 bottles. I was pissed until I realized I now had about 6 extra bottles clean and ready for filling from a new batch!

 

[rebeltruce]

I did something similar in my last bottling session. I was rolling with filling 6 bottles, capping them, then filling 6 more and capping those. I decided to stick the bottling wand into the next (7th?) bottle so it could sit and stay clean while capping. Until I went back to start filling the next 6 and saw I had pushed it too hard and the beer was overflowing from that bottle. Can't say how much I lost, except I only filled 44 bottles. I was pissed until I realized I now had about 6 extra bottles clean and ready for filling from a new batch!

I was going to tell my tale......but you already did!!!......ILMFAO!!

I did exactly the same thing but walked away for about 20 minutes........

 

[defenestrate]

thats nothing. i've walked away from my kettle while my immersion chiller was running and the inlet hose had popped off and was just diluting my wort.

i've also walked away from my kettle will i was siphoning the wort out and returned to discover my hose had slipped out of the bucket and was watering my lawn with wort.

lesson learned, never walk away. we are only human

 

[BendBrewer]

I've heard that makes the beer taste even better.