Worst brew day ever

[WaltG]

So there I am. Put my water in my mash tun. Put the grains in. Stir that **** up.

Hour later go to get my 1st running. NOTHING!


Turns out my contraption in the bottom came apart clogging the whole system.

End of scooping everything into my old biab bag inside my kettle. In the process spilled wort all over my kitchen counters and floor.

Ended up with about 61% efficiency though which i guess it so-so. Too much stress for a brew day.

Just thought I'd share my pain.

 

[atoughram]

A stuck grain bed and the RIMS scorching was the highlight of my last brew day, a quick run to the LHBS for new grains and I was finished cleaning up at around midnight...

 

[W0rthog]

You win some and you lose some, I guess. Keep on truckin


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[WaltG]

This wasn't stuck. Cpvc grid in mash tun came apart. Bill should really glue it together

 

[WaltG]

I should

 

[WaltG]

My god. So mad my post made no sense

 

[BrewWNC]

Sounds like crappy brew session. Coul be worse though.

After one clog(and attempting numerous ways to unclog without success), I now keep a large mesh bag large enough to hold me grain bill. That way if it clogs, I can just pour the mash into the bag (over my kettle) and carry on.

 

[poptarts]

use your bag in your cooler, double filter and you can fix stuck sparges in about 5 seconds.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Exactly what Poptarts said. Bag in a cooler is where it's at.

 

[WaltG]

Rectangular cooler

 

[DevilNuts]

Wort all over the floor and counters.... sounds like a normal brew day to me. If you don't come out of the kitchen with sticky feet, you're not having enough fun.

 

[dmashl]

My worst....Burned my hand a couple months back. Not wearing proper PPE, and stupidly grabbing the pot as it was boiling over.

 

[Melana]

Sounds similar to my first attempt to brew in public - in front of other brewers... guys no less! I was horrified!

 

[brew_ny]

Rectangular cooler

if you do not have a bag use a window sheer/curtain

works well in my 74 quart Coleman extreme cooler

I have done 42 pounds of grain mashed with 13.5 gallons of water

with no problems

all the best

S_M

 

[poptarts]

http://biabbags.webs.com/
This guy it a bad ass and will make you one.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Rectangular cooler

Rectangular bag

 

[TheZymurgist]

Sounds exactly like when I tried to do my Roggenbier and forego the step mash. On top of that, I only had about half the rice hulls I should have. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the tun to drain. At least you'll most likely end up with good beer. This was so thick and syrupy, it was completely undrinkable. I'll never do another rye beer without a step mash...

 

[bbohanon]

if you do not have a bag use a window sheer/curtain

works well in my 74 quart Coleman extreme cooler

I have done 42 pounds of grain mashed with 13.5 gallons of water

with no problems

all the best

S_M

:rockin::rockin::rockin: This is awesome!

 

[fuzzy2133]

if you do not have a bag use a window sheer/curtain

works well in my 74 quart Coleman extreme cooler

I have done 42 pounds of grain mashed with 13.5 gallons of water

with no problems

all the best

S_M

That was my first bag for BIAB other tna being over kill it was great. I did not even bother sewing it for over a year, just used binder clips to keep the extra fabric under control.

 

[brew_ny]

That was my first bag for BIAB other tna being over kill it was great. I did not even bother sewing it for over a year, just used binder clips to keep the extra fabric under control.

I just use binder clips and a cooking rack to keep it off the bottom

for the first six or so batches I just pulled the tab on the spigot to open it

I did put a stainless cooler ball valve on it after that, I have done 40 11.5 gallon batches

with it since July of 2013 and love how well it works

maybe a cooler bag some day

S_M

 

[fuzzy2133]

OP my last brew day I tripped on the IC and got lucky the pot with its sweet wort did not tip. Now to figure out if fixing the IC is possible.

 

[jason1973]

My worst day was a month ago tried doing 3 brews in one day, 2 hopped extracts and 1 1 gallon all grain, big mistake made so many mistakes on all grain 10 minutes late adding hops and while talking to wife forgot to cool wort before pitching yeast, i'll know tonight after work how bad it tastes suppose be jalepeno, doupt thats what it tastes like
Tried putting growler in freeazer to rapid cool froze blow off line

 

[watermelon83]

if you do not have a bag use a window sheer/curtain



works well in my 74 quart Coleman extreme cooler



I have done 42 pounds of grain mashed with 13.5 gallons of water



with no problems



all the best



S_M

This may be why wives dislike this hobby. 😂

 

[Beernik]

This wasn't stuck. Cpvc grid in mash tun came apart. Bill should really glue it together

Don't glue it. The glue is only temp rated to 120F. You'll end up with pvc glue flavored beer.

I feel your pain though. Or I should say, I felt it once. I had my manifold partially disassemble (one corner) mid-mash. I bare handed reassembled it in the 150F wort.

 

[fuzzy2133]

why don't you people use some thin SS safety wire to hold the cpvc parts together?

304ss safety wire

 

[jpeebs]

Had that happen the very first time I did AG. I feel your pain friend.


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[damlamb]

why don't you people use some thin SS safety wire to hold the cpvc parts together?

304ss safety wire

Do you just drill a hole through the parts and run the wire through??? Ive had to stick my bare hand in the mash before to reattach my manifold as well and I would like to avoid reliving that experience if possible.

 

[dude3516]

Brew day 2 weeks ago I find that a roommate ran over the garden hose, there was some 'growth' in my hot liquid lines, and a buddy of mine moved the turkey fryer while I was grabbing grains. The rubber hose ended up touching the metal leg. I caught it as flames started to spurt out. Needless to say I bought a braided stainless steel replacement, on top of all the other various hose replacements.

 

[Beernik]

I started Teflon taping the pieces that fitted too loose.

I'm now BIABing while I build a HERMS.

 

[brew_ny]

This may be why wives dislike this hobby. 😂

they are 4 dollars at walmart don't use the wife's and you are all good

 

[mattd2]

61% is pretty good all things considered
My brewday/night F-up on Sunday consisted of milling my grain direct into the MLT while heating strike water in the pot next to it. Unsecured hopper (juice bottle - I really need to build something better) tipped over and fell straight into the water. Had to grab it out of the 140(ish) °F water, scoop the grain out and the guestimate how much I lost... looks like I will not be recreating this batch if it goes down well

 

[fuzzy2133]

Do you just drill a hole through the parts and run the wire through??? Ive had to stick my bare hand in the mash before to reattach my manifold as well and I would like to avoid reliving that experience if possible.

all the ones I have seen are built like a ladder. My thought was to wrap end to end so all the fittings dont move much. If your bulk head has exposed threads you can wrap the wire around there to attach it to the cooler.

Post a pic of what you have. Maybe I am thinking of the wrong thing.(?)

 

[fuzzy2133]

Agh double post

 

[Zepth]

If it's any consolation it was only my last 2 brew days that I didn't end up mopping the kitchen floor. I mean I should do that anyways every so often, but not because of a recent screw up. It's either the new setup and less siphoning with more valves, or I got my act together. Or I'm more focused on the current task and less involved with finished batches if you know what I mean.

Worst: Indoor boilover on the stovetop. And down the sides. And onto the floor. And under the stove. And the counter beside the stove. And somehow the drawer at the bottom of the stove. What a bloody mess.

 

[jtratcliff]

Consider this... It might have been the Worst brew day ever, but in the end you'll have beer.... No so bad in the grand scheme of things

 

[LabRatBrewer]

After reading some of the horror stories on HBT ending in the ER, I think a thread about the worst brew day ever would end with, "Someday, I hope his widow will forgive me."

Still, yours does sound frustrating.

 

[damlamb]

Post a pic of what you have. Maybe I am thinking of the wrong thing.(?)

All the joints are soldered except the last one where it meets the bulkhead. The odd time its fallen out mid-mash and made for some bad days.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I added red with were I would wrap the safety wire. ~3 times around the bulk head and 2-3 times around the "T". You will need some pliers to twist the wire to snug the wire up. More than likely you will have to experiment to find what works best. 1lb of wire will last you a long time so don't be stingy.

 

[SnakeRidge]

"Someday, I hope his widow will forgive me."

Well Mrs Brewer, when the fire went out, there wasn't a whole lot left to bury....

 

[schematix]

**** happens when brewing.... Not to knock your day but at least you got beer and didn't get hurt. There are a number of stories on here about carbon monoxide poisoning, burns, major cuts, electric shocks, etc. Stickyness and low efficiency is easy to fix.

Personal memorable bad experiences are:
-Wort chiller splitting open when the wort was at 100 (had to re-boil and re-chill, great beer though!)
-Many stuck sparges, particularly with 1 bag particular bag of belgian pilsner malt
-Cooler warping during sparge constantly letting grain run out
-False bottom hose coming off while stirring
-Pump cavitation before I understood the huge difference in vapor pressure between 170F and 190F water
-Clogged plate chiller
-Clogged Hop Stopper

Out of my 50+ brews I've only had maybe 2 or 3 go off without a hitch. It's ALWAYS something. The better you deal with it, the better your brewing will be in the long term.