Bad brew day

[petemoss]

I decided to brew an Oatmeal Stout on Saturday. Issues:

1. My buddy stirred the mash and knocked the hose going to the screen off of the screen. We had to dump the mash into buckets, clean the mash tun, reassemble, reload the mash tun, and restart lautering.

2. While cleaning the boil kettle with hot PBW and a paper towel (dumb I know), part of the paper towel got sucked up into the pump and I had to disassemble the whole hot mess to correct the issue.

3. Somewhere during the day my wife wanted to listen to the football game on here radio and so unplugged my stir plate to plug in her radio. I didn't notice until later. When I plugged it back in, it erupted like a volcano, spilling about a third of the starter.

4. When I went to oxygenate the wort my oxygen cylinder ran out about half way through.

5. I pitched the reduced yeast starter onto the reduced oxygen wort. That has been a couple days. No bubbles as yet. It could be leak somewhere letting the CO2 out I suppose, but this is a SSBrewTech BrewBucket which usually has pretty solid seals. I looked in and don't seem much activity, just a few patches of bubbles on the surface.

Not sure where I go from here.

 

[DVCNick]

Personally I'd just wait. It sounds like you have activity starting.

If it is a new-to-you yeast though, might want to do some searching around to find its quirks.

 

[IslandLizard]

You forgot to mention the best part... you brewed beer!

As some say, even a bad brew day is still much better than a very good day at work.

But I hear you and feel your frustration. We all get brew days like yours, where about everything you do seems to be a mistake or hassle. I yet have to brew without spilling something on the floor...

Put a clamp on that mash tun hose. If it isn't silicone, the heat makes it really soft and loose.

 

[sleev-les]

Hope it all turns out. My Sunday was a mess too.. Made the stupid mistake of dropping whole hops in at flame out as part of my recipe. Of course, they sank and clogged the outlet of my kettle. Had to star san the he// out of my arm and reach in to unclog it.. lol

 

[petemoss]

Personally I'd just wait. It sounds like you have activity starting.

If it is a new-to-you yeast though, might want to do some searching around to find its quirks.

Thanks. I sure hope so. This was one of the more expensive ingredient lists I have done. I sure would hate to waste it. I will research the yeast.
Thanks again.

 

[petemoss]

You forgot to mention the best part... you brewed beer!

As some say, even a bad brew day is still much better than a very good day at work.

But I hear you and feel your frustration. We all get brew days like yours, where about everything you do seems to be a mistake or hassle. I yet have to brew without spilling something on the floor...

Put a clamp on that mash tun hose. If it isn't silicone, the heat makes it really soft and loose.

There is certainly truth in that. I've gotten kind of in a groove lately with no problems to speak of. I probably needed this to shake me up a bit and get me focused.

Oh yeah, it was a vinyl piece of tubing. I should clamp it or probably replace it.

 

[petemoss]

Hope it all turns out. My Sunday was a mess too.. Made the stupid mistake of dropping whole hops in at flame out as part of my recipe. Of course, they sank and clogged the outlet of my kettle. Had to star san the he// out of my arm and reach in to unclog it.. lol

That is a bummer, and a new one on me with star sanning the arm. I love it. Just be glad you don't use iodophor.

 

[sleev-les]

That is a bummer, and a new one on me with star sanning the arm. I love it. Just be glad you don't use iodophor.

Yea, wouldn't be the same haha.. I ordered some brew gloves for the future. can sanitize them and can reach into a 5 gallon kettle w/o issue

 

[petemoss]

Yea, wouldn't be the same haha.. I ordered some brew gloves for the future. can sanitize them and can reach into a 5 gallon kettle w/o issue

Planning ahead. I like it. I just noticed that your id was sleev-les. That's fantastic.

 

[kh54s10]

My brewday was worse.... I haven't brewed since July 5th. I've got to get my priorities straight!!! I have been putting other projects ahead of brewing.

 

[petemoss]

My brewday was worse.... I haven't brewed since July 5th. I've got to get my priorities straight!!! I have been putting other projects ahead of brewing.

You are right. That is a far worse brewday. Hahaha

 

[CharlieW]

petemoss, you just watch and wait.I had a time with my Igloo mash tun, would not drain no matter what. Day was getting late, dumped the mash into a bucket and added the sparge water. Ladled it out of the bucket through a fine strainer, seemed to take forever, into the kettle. Brought to a boil, forgot my FWH at 20 min into the boil. Beer turned out pretty good. All my friends enjoyed it. Beer is pretty forgiving I've found. I think you will be alright.

 

[501irishred]

Not sure where I go from here.

Liquor cabinet. I love beer, but some days are just better suited for hard liquor......

 

[kevin58]

You can eliminate two of those potential headaches by using the "shaken not stirred" starter method and forget oxygenating. I've done both with no discernible difference to my end product.

 

[petemoss]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words. I appreciate it. We will see how it goes.

 

[bracconiere]

1. My buddy stirred the mash and knocked the hose going to the screen off of the screen. We had to dump the mash into buckets, clean the mash tun, reassemble, reload the mash tun, and restart lautering.

the LODO boy's would have advised putting a lid on the pot you used to scoop out the mash, lol

 

[Coastalbrew]

To quote Charlie Papazian, who I think was probably the Budha in another life, " Relax have a home brew" .

Cheers!

 

[petemoss]

Well, here is an update. It has been 4 1/2 days since I pitched my yeast. I have not see a single bubble in the airlock. Looking at the wort, I have seen no activity, krausen, or anything else to speak of. I sanitized a spoon today and stirred things up to see if I could get it to do something. Afterwards, I decided to take a gravity reading (I should have done this first apparently). My gravity reading is actually below the expected final gravity. Looks like it is done. Must be a very docile yeast strain or something. Anyway, now I am going to wait several more days to give everything a chance to settle back down and for me to take some additional gravity readings. Looks like I may be good after all though.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

It probably did its thing overnight when you weren't looking.
Have you taste sampled it yet?

 

[petemoss]

It probably did its thing overnight when you weren't looking.
Have you taste sampled it yet?

It never even crossed my mind. I will do that tomorrow when I take a reading.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I sample my beer all through the process, from green wort at pitching to 2-3 times during fermentation, sometimes even daily. I enjoy tasting the transformation.

 

[kh54s10]

I sample my beer all through the process, from green wort at pitching to 2-3 times during fermentation, sometimes even daily. I enjoy tasting the transformation.

I sometimes taste the beer from the gravity sample on bottling day... I don't enjoy drinking warm unfinished flat beer.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I sometimes taste the beer from the gravity sample on bottling day... I don't enjoy drinking warm unfinished flat beer.

I find it useful to "see" what's going on in the beer.
And considering I brew mostly lagers, the samples aren't usually warm, but around 50F, which is plenty cold.

 

[kh54s10]

I find it useful to "see" what's going on in the beer.
And considering I brew mostly lagers, the samples aren't usually warm, but around 50F, which is plenty cold.

To each his own, I have nothing against learning all the tastes along the way. But for me, I don't care. I want a good finished beer. I don't do many lagers but still wouldn't be much interested in trying a flat unfinished beer even if it was cold. But that is just me.

 

[AkTom]

I once forgot 1 bottle or beer without a cap. 2 days later, no carb, warm and o so delicious.

 

[IslandLizard]

I sample my beer all through the process, from green wort at pitching to 2-3 times during fermentation, sometimes even daily. I enjoy tasting the transformation.

Agreed, I've learned more about the transformation process from those samples than from finished beer. Like this one Saison yeast (ECY03) giving pure pineapple while it's fermenting at 68-70F, then changing it to a complex melange later on.

 

[petemoss]

I took a taste this morning. It's okay. I have a hard time telling what flat beer is going to taste like once it is carbonated. It seems a bit more bitter and dry than I was hoping for. It's still pretty early on and things make age a bit. We'll see.

 

[kh54s10]

I took a taste this morning. It's okay. I have a hard time telling what flat beer is going to taste like once it is carbonated. It seems a bit more bitter and dry than I was hoping for. It's still pretty early on and things make age a bit. We'll see.

It may help some learn what happens during the processes. But I have never been able to tell anything about what the finished beer was going to be like by tasting it along the way. It is always different. I find it is often different when bottle conditioned for only 2 weeks (never tried one sooner) and at three weeks conditioning or longer. I have tried a couple of big beers at 2 weeks and thought this is not good. At a couple months, somewhat better. And at 6 months, really good!

YMMV

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I once forgot 1 bottle or beer without a cap. 2 days later, no carb, warm and o so delicious.

I just racked a porter in which I missed my spunding window, so it was flat and at 65 degrees. I had a whole pint of leftover that didn't fit in the keg, and I drank the whole thing and it was delicious. Can't wait to see what it will be like carbed and chilled!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I took a taste this morning. It's okay. I have a hard time telling what flat beer is going to taste like once it is carbonated. It seems a bit more bitter and dry than I was hoping for. It's still pretty early on and things make age a bit. We'll see.

It takes a lot of experience tasting in-progress beer to be able to predict the final outcome, but with enough practice you get to where you can tell mid-fermentation if it is going to be on target for bitterness, if it is developing any off flavors that you may be able to head off by adjusting the fermentation, etc. And in some cases, you may just enjoy it! One to two days after pitch, my German Pils wort tastes like frosted flakes drizzled in honey. If I could stop it right there and bottle it I would, it tastes so good. My Franconian Kellerbier tastes like a fresh loaf of bread two days in.

Again, YMMV, and you may not enjoy it or get anything out of it, but you'll never know unless you try it.

 

[Imhoppy]

I sample my beer all through the process, from green wort at pitching to 2-3 times during fermentation, sometimes even daily. I enjoy tasting the transformation.

Step 1 in the sampling process: I like licking the cover seal on the malt extract containers when adding during the boil. Hate to have any go to waste. Mmmmmm!!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Step 1 in the sampling process: I like licking the cover seal on the malt extract containers when adding during the boil. Hate to have any go to waste. Mmmmmm!!

I used to do that when I did extract too. Now I eat a few kernels of every grain I buy to see how it tastes raw and check for freshness. A good Pilsner malt and CaraHell are fantastic raw. Black malt is surprisingly tasty too - like eating espresso beans.

 

[Day-Day]

Liquor cabinet. I love beer, but some days are just better suited for hard liquor......

Yeah, I would have aborted mission at number 3 on his list (yeast volcano)... and proceeded to get drunk and pee in my front yard...