Confession Time

[sudbuddy]

my dog dropped her slimy tennis ball into a bucket of cooled hefeweizen wort. I just pulled it out, pitched the yeast and let 'er rip. Served it to about a hundred people and got lots of compliments. One guy noticed a weird off flavor, but couldn't put a finger on it. I didn't have the heart to tell him about the slobbery tennis ball.

 

[HumulusHead]

my dog dropped her slimy tennis ball into a bucket of cooled hefeweizen wort. I just pulled it out, pitched the yeast and let 'er rip. Served it to about a hundred people and got lots of compliments. One guy noticed a weird off flavor, but couldn't put a finger on it. I didn't have the heart to tell him about the slobbery tennis ball.

Could have been some Brett wet horse blanket sounds like wet dog ball id say!

My thing is that I don't wash anything that I don't have to. I've basically got it down to a science. Nothing preboil gets washed or even sanitized. And I mostly just sanitize things as long as they look clean for things post boil. I've used maybe a quarter of the small thing of pbw that I bought years ago. Mostly use it for soaking bottles when I need to empty a keg quick like.

I also have had a batch of beer recently since I switched to new ferment buckets get some weird mold growth starting from the lid heading down the wall of the bucket. Don't think I get a good seal in these new buckets. But I didn't think the mold touched the beer so I racked and carbed in keg. Didn't taste moldy at all and all my friends enjoyed it Super Bowl Sunday!

 

[mikescooling]

my dog dropped her slimy tennis ball into a bucket of cooled hefeweizen wort. I just pulled it out, pitched the yeast and let 'er rip. Served it to about a hundred people and got lots of compliments. One guy noticed a weird off flavor, but couldn't put a finger on it. I didn't have the heart to tell him about the slobbery tennis ball.

Dog slobber is totally fine to brew with, true fact.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtqbk9pgPXw[/ame]

 

[Kblandfo]

I wasn't going to have a homebrew after work... this thread has changed my mind

 

[wtaylor3]

I don't control fermentation temps, whatever my house ambient temp is....typically 68-70* that's why I always use us-05 (nervous about using s-04 on my ESB tomorrow)

I let beers sit in the better bottle for extra weeks sometimes if I'm too lazy to wash/sanitize bottles

After bottle day my fermenters sometimes go a week before I clean them (love oxyclean)

I'm on this forum or doing something brewing related if I'm not sleeping

 

[Zepth]

I let beers sit in the better bottle for extra weeks sometimes if I'm too lazy to wash/sanitize bottles

I think you mean to say "I prefer to perform an extended primary. Or I prefer to use bulk conditioning."

 

[GHBWNY]

Still brewing from a kit. *gasp*

 

[Wreck99]

Nothing wrong with brewing kits. I still do them from time to time. Why not?

 

[poptarts]

AIH just released their beer club in all grain, pretty sweet deal considering all the free shipping and free shipping coupons for us that live out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[sumbrewindude]

I grew 6 different varieties of hops last season, and while I did get a harvest that was more than expected, I think overall it was a waste of time and resource. I would have been money ahead putting it into buying a few pounds of the hops I use frequently with known AA values and stable product.

And it's not like I don't enjoy gardening, I love it. I'm debating hard about whether or not to continue them.

 

[Jetski]

If I'm low on homebrew, I often bottle after only 7-10 days, then crack one open 2-3 days later. At about the 4th-5th day, most of my beers are moderately to fully carbonated. With some yeast strains, I've found full carbonation after 3 days. I think it has to do with the yeast not having much time to settle out.

Oh and also, I have a background in Biochemistry and do not use starters for 5 gallon batches. Never once in 2+ years. Do not believe in them (currently).

I find this interesting. I've always waited at least three weeks before bottling even after checking FG (just a habit I guess), and I've always cracked one open after a week in the bottle to see how its going. Some have had slight to moderate carbonation but none have ever been fully carbonated (I've only brewed a little over a dozen batches). The last batch I made, I bottled after 2 weeks to try something different and after a week in the bottle it was very close to fully carbed. Makes me wonder if it does have something to do with the yeast not settling out as much. I've never looked into or thought about that before.

 

[hezagenius]

When a keg kicks, I usually don't clean it until the day before I'm ready to fill it again. That could be 4 weeks or 4 months.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

When a keg kicks, I usually don't clean it until the day before I'm ready to fill it again. That could be 4 weeks or 4 months.

Wait, that is not how everyone does it?

 

[wi_brewer]

When a keg kicks, I usually don't clean it until the day before I'm ready to fill it again. That could be 4 weeks or 4 months.

That's what I do. There is 18 between my brew partner and me. I'll wait until I have 12 or so dirty then bust out Mark's Keg Washer.

 

[sboyajian]

Thought of another one, if fermenting in a bucket I drop the (sanitized) hydrometer right in the bucket to measure gravity. If I thief a sample from a carboy and use a hydrometer jar, I pour the sample back in after (usually wine or sour beers only though).

This is almost always how i check my gravity. Right in the bucket.

 

[Hoppity]

I just got fine explaining my BIAB bucket to SWMBO. She thinks I've gone insane. Paint strainer bags and hardware store buckets can make beer?

Though I did realize in the detailing process that I don't have a lid...I'll pick one up at Home Depot tomorrow.

The spin off Gamma Lids are worth every penny of the $7 cost. Paint section at HD.

 

[WI_Wino]

The spin off Gamma Lids are worth every penny of the $7 cost. Paint section at HD.

Totally agree. Even better is their free service where you place your order online then they go around and pick everything for you. Roll in, pay at the customer service desk and out you go.

 

[hezagenius]

This is almost always how i check my gravity. Right in the bucket.

Me too. I just sanitize it and spin drop it in. I figure there's actually less risk of infection than using a wine thief.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Me too. I just sanitize it and spin drop it in. I figure there's actually less risk of infection than using a wine thief.

I've always used the thief because, even though I could pour it back in (and risk infection) I always taste every sample to get a feel for where it is at. The hydrometer is a great tool, but I trust my mouth more.

 

[Hoppity]

The hydrometer is a great tool, but I trust my mouth more.

Can I get an AMEN, brothers and sisters?

 

[Chadwick]

The third beer I ever made was done with a friend. We were drinking quite a lot while brewing. Before pitching yeast I wasn't happy with the OG of 1.049 so I decided to fix it real fast. I heated up a couple quarts of water on the stove and dump a bunch of sugar in from the bag. It dissolved quickly and I pitched it into the wort.

I grabbed the wrong bag. It wasn't sugar, it was salt. We didn't discover our mistake until we sampled the wort after fermentation finished.

And here comes the guilty confession part. Did we dump the batch? No. We went to the hardware store and bought some copper line and......well. We made a nice batch of household cleaning solution.

 

[msa8967]

I frequently wait ~18 hours before pitching my yeast post-boil while allowing the wort to slowly drift down to the right temp on its own.

Do you leave the cover on your brew pot or do you transfer the wort to a fermentor letting it cool during this time?

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Okay, so if it's confessions you want, it's confessions you get.

When I had been brewing for about 4 years, a friend of mine took me to meet a friend of his who was also a "homebrewer". I put it in quotes, because the dude made 50 gallon batches of the same beer, over and over and over. He had a huge steam kettle in his back yard, poured in a crap ton of extract and hops, boiled it up and pumped it into a crap ton of 5-gallon carboys in his basement, and kegged it as he drank it. When I asked what other kinds of beer he made, he looked at me like I was the bat-****e crazy one, and said that this was the only beer he made. I couldn't even think of him as a ******* alcoholic, because it cost him a hell of a lot more dough than the same number of suitcases of megaswill.

So what is my confession? Just for sh*ts and giggles I made a BIAB "Imperial Wheat Cream Ale". Wheat, barley, rice and corn, eight-point-nine friggin percent ETOH. For even more giggles I put it into a competition as a "Wheat Malt Liquor", Category 23. I pity those judges. And the Pièce de résistance? I wouldn't be confessing to any of this, but I've had two of those suckers tonight, and I'm thinking I might keep working on the recipe.

 

[Zepth]

When a keg kicks, I usually don't clean it until the day before I'm ready to fill it again. That could be 4 weeks or 4 months.

I thought this was a confessional thread?

 

[Horseshoot]

Amen.

 

[jhall138]

I'm still very new to hombrewing (5 brews in) but while checking the gravity on my first beer, (brewers best IPA) I had a dip of Copenhagen in and my girlfriend had asked me a question. Well like an idiot I decided to answer and accidentally drooled/spit dip into the fermenter.
....anyway, the beer turned out fine and was actually quite good! Never said a word to anyone though lol...

 

[HB_in_Subic]

As others have said, I use the KISS principle.

I do not use the hydrometer (doing extract and let it sit for 3 + weeks) and bottle whenever I have bottles available. Aside from a fermentation chamber, I just make sure that everything that doesn't touch the boil is thoroughly cleaned. I do clean the ball valve in the kettle every batch (I keep finding gunk in the grooves) as I don't want it to affect the taste of the following batch.

I want this to remain an enjoyable hobby and just that. No pressure, no rushing of anything. My biggest challenge is staying on top of which beers are at the minimum ready to drink dates and ordering ingredients 3 months out (takes that long to ship to me). I share at least 30% of my beer with friends and only if the beer is worthy of being shared. I will not hesitate to dump a bad bottle now, as I have a well populated pipeline and would just analyze what I did different for that batch.

 

[balrog]

My biggest confession is that as a self-diagnosed perfectionist I cannot help but chase that seemingly unattainable white whale of repeatability--trying to remake a now-legendary mythical flavor of a brew done long ago.

I cannot use a bottle unless it's been oxy-soaked, brushed, StarSan'd, and I still got bottle infections from spigot-spooge.

Oh, and I have major kegging envy. Everyone's dip tube is bigger than none.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I'm still very new to hombrewing (5 brews in) but while checking the gravity on my first beer, (brewers best IPA) I had a dip of Copenhagen in and my girlfriend had asked me a question. Well like an idiot I decided to answer and accidentally drooled/spit dip into the fermenter.
....anyway, the beer turned out fine and was actually quite good! Never said a word to anyone though lol...

LMAO! And again, as I said before...

 

[burninator]

I'm still very new to hombrewing (5 brews in) but while checking the gravity on my first beer, (brewers best IPA) I had a dip of Copenhagen in and my girlfriend had asked me a question. Well like an idiot I decided to answer and accidentally drooled/spit dip into the fermenter.
....anyway, the beer turned out fine and was actually quite good! Never said a word to anyone though lol...

*record scratches*

 

[geoffey]

I'm still very new to hombrewing (5 brews in) but while checking the gravity on my first beer, (brewers best IPA) I had a dip of Copenhagen in and my girlfriend had asked me a question. Well like an idiot I decided to answer and accidentally drooled/spit dip into the fermenter.
....anyway, the beer turned out fine and was actually quite good! Never said a word to anyone though lol...

I gotta stop reading this thread. I may never drink someone else's homebrew ever again if these stories keep up...

 

[Stehag]

I Recycle the yeast. Several times, without washing it. Pour in half the yeast cake from last brewing into the fermenter and it works great.

I don´t use any airlock either on my fermenter. Stopped using it last spring and have had no problems yet. Fermenting under pressure is the answer.

 

[RandallFlag]

Since it's true confession time: I am intimidated (a bit afraid, perhaps) of venturing into kegging. I'm afraid I'll over pressurize a keg and have it blow up killing me or worse, someone else.

Irrational? Perhaps...

I keep reading and studying it but I just can't seem to get all the pieces put together in my head. Probably overthinking it.

 

[Zepth]

Since it's true confession time: I am intimidated (a bit afraid, perhaps) of venturing into kegging. I'm afraid I'll over pressurize a keg and have it blow up killing me or worse, someone else.

Irrational? Perhaps...

I keep reading and studying it but I just can't seem to get all the pieces put together in my head. Probably overthinking it.

I usually serve between 10 and 20 PSI depending on style. Corny kegs are rated at 130. They can likely take more than their rating, much as rope has a rated strength and breaking strength. On top of that they have a pressure relief valve integrated. If you blow up a corny you tried to.

 

[RandallFlag]

If you blow up a corny you tried to.

Your post definitely helps re: PSI ratings. Thx.

And the commented quoted above was hilarious!!

 

[hezagenius]

Once you start kegging, you'll wonder why you didn't start earlier. Way easier than bottling.

 

[RandallFlag]

Once you start kegging, you'll wonder why you didn't start earlier. Way easier than bottling.

That's what I keep telling myself. I have 2 beers to bottle and I am dreading it. It is so awful.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Since it's true confession time: I am intimidated (a bit afraid, perhaps) of venturing into kegging. I'm afraid I'll over pressurize a keg and have it blow up killing me or worse, someone else.

Irrational? Perhaps...

I keep reading and studying it but I just can't seem to get all the pieces put together in my head. Probably overthinking it.

After kegging for a while now I refuse to go back to bottles - prior to kegging I was pretty good at bottling and thought kegging would be an unnecessary expense. Boy was I wrong (and sort of right, it is an expense, but very worth while).

The only "oh crap" moment I've had kegging came from the moron at the fill station that managed to stuff 4# of CO2 into a 2.5# tank. I had everything hooked up - and this was my fault because the reading on the gauge looked weird when I hooked it up, but I didn't think through the problem like I should have, tank in the keezer, was minding my own business with a homebrew and the TV and BANG-FSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Wife hit the ceiling and I ran for the keezer fearing the worst, only to discover the burst disc on the tank let go (duh) and was rapidly frosting the inside of the keezer.

Took the tank back the next day and other than some sheepish looks and appologies, a new disc was installed and the tank refilled correctly.

For the record - the beer and regulator are (were) still fine.


Kegging is awesome. That is all.

 

[GHBWNY]

That's what I keep telling myself. I have 2 beers to bottle and I am dreading it. It is so awful.

Confession: I LOVE to bottle! AND label.

 

[wtaylor3]

Confession: I LOVE to bottle! AND label.

I don't necessarily hate the bottling and capping, I just hate washing and sanitizing bottles