Perfect brew day to complete disaster

After my last brew day which was a complete disaster (had friends over and I think we were concentrated on shooting the breeze and drinking beer than brewing) I had what was a perfect brew day until the end yesterday. I was brewing a DIPA I had been planning for a while, hit my mash temps perfect, remember to do everything this time, etc.

When it came time to go from kettle to fermenter, whirlpooling didn't work well and I was getting a lot of trub coming through. I was trying to filter it off, ended up losing the hose and draining wort all over my basement floor, of course the ball valve was locked open which made things worse. I was in panic mode after this, ended up having to dunk my hand in my star san bucket and fish stuff out of the fermenter namely the funnel, ended up starting a siphon with my mouth to finish filling the fermeter and getting wort into my starter jug to suspend and pitch the yeast.

Basically I ended up giving myself every opportunity possible in a panic to ruin this batch after a perfect day. I guess at this point, Ill just have to hope I pitched enough yeast to ward off any infection (was a smack pack stepped up twice, 2L and 4L on a stir plate so there were plenty of yeast) and hope for the best. At least I can take solace in that my fermentation took off in less than 12 hours and was going crazy as of 6 am this morning.

 

RDWHAHB. It's amazing how many 'brew-day disasters' can turn into delicious beers. While good sanitation is the number one rule of brewing, even slip-ups often don't lead to infections.

 

Don't forget...500 years ago, nobody even heard of sanitation! And LOTSA great beer was brewed back then! RDWHAHB! And it will turn out just fine.

glenn514

 

Yeah, that Lacto takes off crazy quick huh?!! Just kidding...

 

Yeah, at this point it is all in the hands of the yeast, its either going to turn out or be an expensive mistake. Just felt like sharing my story of how things can go so wrong so quickly.

 

I feel ya! I've had several close calls with hoses, funnels, carboys, ball-valves, hot wort, etc., myself.

Chalk it all up to learning...

I hope your beer turns out well in spite of the small disaster.

 

I had some bad times with siphoning, gargling mouthwash to clear my mouth, using sanitizer to start the siphon. Then I got smart and bought an auto-siphon.

 

Sorry to hear how your day went but I would love for you to follow up afterwards. Keep us posted, let us know how it ends up

 

I once dropped a dirty towel I had been using all day into my fermenter bucket. I bent over to pitch my yeast and it fell off my shoulder into the bucket....I thought for sure it was ruined. Turned out fine....the brew gods were with me that day. Don't sweat it.

 

rudu81 - why not use StarSan as a mouth wash instead?

 

Bleh! Have you ever gotten SS in your mouth? For me it's an instant gag reflex, and then a crazy dry mouth and gritty acid feel/flavor.

 

You shouldn't have worried so much about the trub IMHO.

 

THEBREWINATOR

So, are you drinking this yet?

 

+1, Star-san tastes like a trash. I don't know how its a no rinse sanitizer, but I'll take their word on it. When I'm priming my oxygen stone, I have to suck in, blow out, etc. Getting that stuff in your mouth, gives you the insta-spits :rockin:

 

I just kegged and dry hopped it last night. It dropped from 1.080 to 1.010 so it dried out nicely like I was hoping for. The hydro samples tasted really good. I can't wait to pull a pint in about a week after its carbed up and the dry hops have had time to do their work.

 

I have gotten away with the trick of using my mouth, blowing to clear debris from the ball valve. usually happens when leaf hops or a coarse addition like cocoa nibs is added to the boil without the benefit of a grain bag. Put a rag over the end of the hose, then sprayed the end of the hose with Star San once the problem was fixed.

 

Arise!

Awwaw awhawa!

(Spooky organ music)

 

Interesting signature, KC.

 

Complete disaster usually involves bodily harm and/or destruction of equipment. This was a minor inconvenience. Beer will almost assuredly be just fine.

 

Beer probably sucks by now.

 

....zombie thread....