Don't Do That.

[balrog]

Got online and did a quick mental evaluation of what I needed and then placed the order and was quite happy that I had plenty of peripheral stuff on the list to meet free shipping requirements. When it came in, I went to put it away and discovered I already had more than enough PBW and Whirfloc and could have used more Starsan, DME and hop bags. Note to Self: Ordering first and checking inventory later - Don't Do That.

Story of my life. Excitement and sketchy memory always overrides preparation and all that silly checking inventory stuff.

[Edit: also happens in the kitchen with Sesame oil, mayo, oregano, etc]

 

[HM-2]

[Edit: also happens in the kitchen with Sesame oil, mayo, oregano, etc]

I did a cupboard inventory at the weekend and discovered I have 5 (!) shakers of oregano.

 

[balrog]

I did a cupboard inventory at the weekend and discovered I have 5 (!) shakers of oregano.

How many Paprika though?
Or how about that 6yr old large bottle of onion "powder"? And by "powder" I mean impenetrable white cylindrical block of impossibly densely molecularly fused onion that would cut diamonds.

 

[lumpher]

Or how about that 6yr old large bottle of onion "powder"? And by "powder" I mean impenetrable white cylindrical block of impossibly densely molecularly fused onion that would cut diamonds.

Only 6 years old? I bought mine in I think it was 1836...

In the spirit of "Don't do that"... Made me go look in my cupboard. Found a large bottle of onion powder, a large bottle of Cumin, and a large bottle of Oregano, all over 15 years old. If you want to buy a large bottle of spice, unless you want to pass them on to your kids and grandkids, don't do that...

 

[HM-2]

How many Paprika though?

Two normal, one sweet, a small shaker of smoked, plus a 1kg plastic tub of thel latter that i bought in 2010 (BBE October 2012), have used all of about 200g of, and which although remaining in a powder form rather than a singular clump is now the colour of walnut wood instead of red.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Story of my life. Excitement and sketchy memory always overrides preparation and all that silly checking inventory stuff.

[Edit: also happens in the kitchen with Sesame oil, mayo, oregano, etc]

Mayo

Onion powder was funny because my wife dried some and the ground into a powder and put it into a shaker. When I went use said 'powder for my jerky marinade I found said impenetrable block...
Was able to shake said block out and grate into the marinade.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Don’t ask me how much pepper, (black & crushed red) sage, ONION BRICKS, and garlic powder I have; I refuse to go check.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Don’t ask me how much pepper, (black & crushed red) sage, ONION BRICKS, and garlic powder I have; I refuse to go check.

And refusing to check all but guarantees you'll be buying one of each on a shopping trip in the near future.

 

[balrog]

And refusing to check all but guarantees you'll be buying one of each on a shopping trip in the near future.

Two.
I hate running out.

Clearly I hate running out; but clearly I hate checking first, even more.

It's a classic blunder, the most famous of which is to get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less-known than going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Or having to grate a "powder" block of onion.

 

[oakbarn]

And triple check your ball valves are still closed before you add any liquid.

I use BruControl but have a step where I check the Fermenter Valves CLOSED BEFORE I transfer the WORT. You can guess why!

 

[Cameronl]

I use BruControl but have a step where I check the Fermenter Valves CLOSED BEFORE I transfer the WORT. You can guess why!

SOPs: Know them, Love them. Use them.

 

[ncbrewer]

SOPs: Know them, Love them. Use them.

Absolutely. I still have some issues, but it really helps a lot.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

It's a classic blunder, the most famous of which is to get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less-known than going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Inconceivable!!!

 

[day_trippr]

 

[Brew_Dude41]

 

[beren]

When mashing a large (circa 1.080 OG) double IPA in about 7.5 gallons of water (minimal sparge) in a Brewzilla Gen 3.2- you know, the ones with the big stainless steel malt pipe for holding your grain- don't forget to actually put in the big stainless steel malt pipe for holding your grain.

I can confirm that without the malt pipe sparging is really hard and quite time consuming, as is removing the grain from the kettle in preparation for the boil (by hand with a large chinois sieve, if you're interested). And having to do a partial clean halfway through your brew day is no fun either.


Thankfully I had a couple of 5 gallon buckets handy to drain my mash into, but preparing to pull out the grain basket only to realise "hang on, there aren't any holes for the handle to go in" was not a great moment.

Got great conversion, though!

I forgot the false bottom in my mash tun before…

 

[Knightshade]

I've made this mistake numerous times now, and again late last week. I decided to sleep in the day after brew day, so I think it was Sunday?

Wife: Your outdoor fridge is leaking and your dog is loving it.
Me: FFS, again?

Connecting the blowoff jar to the OUT post. How many times have you done this now? Let's ignore the fact that the connector is more than a little stubborn because you're connecting it to the wrong damn post. Yet again, you still manage to screw it up???

<--this guy is a dope...

 

[HM-2]

I forgot the false bottom in my mash tun before…

I've done that too.
Can confirm, forgetting the mash pipe is a much bigger pain in the backside.

 

[Willy]

Well, I made a batch of an expected 6.5% ABV and all was great until it came to the cool down phase after the boil. I wanted to try out the Brewzilla coils in lieu of my usual coils for some reason. Unbeknownst to me... The clamp on the hose had a small pin leak. By the time I noticed - the 11 gal batch was now 12.2 gallons with the slow but sure extra water. It's okay... It is going to end up as a 5.25% ABV (MY GUESS)... So gentlemen... Check the hoses. And don't do that.

 

[Willy]

Here's a new one for me.
Classic Stoopid.

Already have the wort transferred into the fermenter - things are great. Clean up time. Well, I dumped a fat scoop of PBW into about a gallon of water and had the pump running. And ... The pump intake got clogged by little PBW pellets and powder. It was easy fix and won't happen. Again. Dissolve the PBW well before turning on the CIP - otherwise you can clog the intake. (Brewzilla Gen 4 with the oh so small pump that is a little pony. )

 

[seatazzz]

While I did NOT forget the bittering hops during yesterday's brewday, I did forget that the heat lamp in the ferment fridge wasn't turned on when new blonde went in. Did no-chill yesterday, pitched yeast right before bed and went on my merry way. Woke up to controller saying 61° when I had it set to 68°. Yah, don't do that. Also don't leave cleaning to next day, since I have a busy morning planned with the parental, then housework.

 

[Skeeter686]

I picked up a small wet/dry vac that I use during cleanup for pulling residual water out of the CFC and other plumbing. I picked up a ball-lock-to-NPT connector which I attached to a piece of PVC, and I basically plug it into the end of the hose on the vacuum. It works pretty well, and the prior that time I brewed, I even popped it onto the intake for my Spike Flow pump.

This last time I brewed, I tried starting up the pump and it was obviously bound up somehow. I could heard the motor hum, but the impeller wasn't moving. I'd run PBW through everything and then rinsed with water, so I couldn't figure out why it would be stuck... there couldn't possibly be any dried wort in it.

I took the head off, and everything looked OK. Reassembled and had the same result.

I think it was the third time I removed the head, I noticed that the impeller shaft wasn't screwed in tightly. After fixing that, everything ran perfectly again.

It seems that if you run the impeller backwards at high speed (which might happen if you hook up a vacuum to the inlet), then you can unscrew the shaft until it binds the impeller. Don't do that!

 

[oakbarn]

I run water backwards
To prime. Fortunately never had this problem (yet)! But if i do, i will remember this.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

I picked up a small wet/dry vac that I use during cleanup for pulling residual water out of the CFC and other plumbing. I picked up a ball-lock-to-NPT connector which I attached to a piece of PVC, and I basically plug it into the end of the hose on the vacuum. It works pretty well, and the prior that time I brewed, I even popped it onto the intake for my Spike Flow pump.

This last time I brewed, I tried starting up the pump and it was obviously bound up somehow. I could heard the motor hum, but the impeller wasn't moving. I'd run PBW through everything and then rinsed with water, so I couldn't figure out why it would be stuck... there couldn't possibly be any dried wort in it.

I took the head off, and everything looked OK. Reassembled and had the same result.

I think it was the third time I removed the head, I noticed that the impeller shaft wasn't screwed in tightly. After fixing that, everything ran perfectly again.

It seems that if you run the impeller backwards at high speed (which might happen if you hook up a vacuum to the inlet), then you can unscrew the shaft until it binds the impeller. Don't do that!

Air can move impellers way faster than water sometimes. There have been many reports of water meters registering tens of kiloliters when the pipes were being refilled after repairs and someone left a tap open.

 

[Skeeter686]

Air can move impellers way faster than water sometimes. There have been many reports of water meters registering tens of kiloliters when the pipes were being refilled after repairs and someone left a tap open.

I totally get that. I just hadn't considered that by running it backwards, I'd unscrew the shaft and induce a jammed impeller!

 

[Knightshade]

It is amazing how much of a mess a little bit of impatience can make. Just because you've had success smashing the ziplock bag of salt in there before, doesn't mean that you'll have success every single time. If it decides to open while you're smushing stuff around, it is your own damn fault. And this is the mess that was easily captured in a photo (the other half of this container is usually full of various bags of DME which I already took out). The countertop is also white and let's just say there isn't much left in that bag.....

 

[hilljack13]

After not having brewed in several years AND going all grain first time around. I got so flustered I added my first hops during the mash...oops! Don't do that.

 

[doug293cz]

After not having brewed in several years AND going all grain first time around. I got so flustered I added my first hops during the mash...oops! Don't do that.

It will still be beer. You might even like it.

Brew on

 

[Brew_Dude41]

After not having brewed in several years AND going all grain first time around. I got so flustered I added my first hops during the mash...oops! Don't do that.

Better than forgetting the bittering hops altogether...

 

[hilljack13]

It will still be beer. You might even like it.

I ended up dumping most of it....that was about this time last year. Hopefully I have learned a few things...funny I almost did the same thing a few weeks ago..

Better than forgetting the bittering hops altogether...

True. Probably added a tad more bitterness.