Brewpastor
Beer, not rocket chemistry
Recently I saw a thread about brewing screw ups. I couldn't find the thread so I will relay my story here.
Years ago I had my brewery set up in an outbuilding. I had an all grain set-up and hot and cold water, including lines along the ceiling for my HLT. It was sweet.
I bought 200 pounds of German grain and stored it in a large tub. One night it got really cold and all my pipes froze. One of the ceiling pipes popped a coupling and when everything thawed out the water shot out and as luck would have it all the water went into that tub of grain.
When I found it I was pissed. It was late at night and I didn't know what to do so I pulled the tub outside to be dealt with in the morning. As it happened I didn't get back to it for a day or so, but it was really cold and so I figured it would be a solid chunk, but instead I found the mess was hot. I had fermentation going!
I decided I should make a sour beer and proceeded to mash the grain. I tried to crush it but wet grain doesn't crush. In the end I had 15 gallons of sour wort and a very poor yield. But at least beer had been made and the grain wasn't a complete loss.
At the time I lived on some land and had three sheep. I regularly fed the spent grain to them so I repeated this again. The next morning I awoke to a fresh layer of snow outside and three dead sheep. The grain had bloated them and they now lay stiff in my yard. I had to load them into my truck and take them to the land fill.
I called a friend and told him my whole sorry tale to which he replied, (and I am not making this up) "Well at least your beer has named itself, Silence of the Lambic."
The beer turned out to be very nice and even won Best of Show at the Dukes of Ale Spring Thing. But I can honestly say that is one recipe that will never be repeated.
Years ago I had my brewery set up in an outbuilding. I had an all grain set-up and hot and cold water, including lines along the ceiling for my HLT. It was sweet.
I bought 200 pounds of German grain and stored it in a large tub. One night it got really cold and all my pipes froze. One of the ceiling pipes popped a coupling and when everything thawed out the water shot out and as luck would have it all the water went into that tub of grain.
When I found it I was pissed. It was late at night and I didn't know what to do so I pulled the tub outside to be dealt with in the morning. As it happened I didn't get back to it for a day or so, but it was really cold and so I figured it would be a solid chunk, but instead I found the mess was hot. I had fermentation going!
I decided I should make a sour beer and proceeded to mash the grain. I tried to crush it but wet grain doesn't crush. In the end I had 15 gallons of sour wort and a very poor yield. But at least beer had been made and the grain wasn't a complete loss.
At the time I lived on some land and had three sheep. I regularly fed the spent grain to them so I repeated this again. The next morning I awoke to a fresh layer of snow outside and three dead sheep. The grain had bloated them and they now lay stiff in my yard. I had to load them into my truck and take them to the land fill.
I called a friend and told him my whole sorry tale to which he replied, (and I am not making this up) "Well at least your beer has named itself, Silence of the Lambic."
The beer turned out to be very nice and even won Best of Show at the Dukes of Ale Spring Thing. But I can honestly say that is one recipe that will never be repeated.