Dumbest Mistake Yet

[Gytaryst]

I just decided to make the switch from bottling to kegging recently. I bought a used 5 gallon corny keg from Offer Up for $45. After buying it I had a lot of concerns and decided it was worth the extra few dollars to buy new just for piece of mind. I decided to save the used one as a secondary fermenter and bought a new one.

I also bought a canister filter and some 1 micron sediment cartridges. I've been beating my head against the wall trying to get the clearest wort possible from my mash tun to the BK, then transfer the clearest wort possible from the BK to the primary, then rack the clearest beer possible from primary to secondary, etc., etc., etc. I decided since I'm kegging now and have the CO2 thing going, I'll quit worrying about clarity until everything's done and then just filter it from the secondary to the serving keg. This is the festbier I filtered yesterday:

Everything went off as smooth as it possible could have. No leaks whatsoever while filtering. When I hooked the CO2 to the serving keg I noticed a small dribble. Seems I forgot to tighten the swivel flare nut on the QD. Silly me. I grabbed a 9/16 wrench, got it good and tight and TA DA - no more leak.

I went out to check on things this morning and the keg and CO2 tank were swimming in 2 gallons of beer at the bottom of my freezer. Seems I forgot to tighten the swivel flare nut on the liquid side QD as well. Seems like that would have been an automatic check after discovering the loose connection on the gas side . . . but obviously it wasn't.

On the bright side - I believe I got all 2 QD's tightened up now.

 

[passedpawn]

Yea that sucks. I've had kegs floating in beer before.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Is that your little one digging a massive hole while you sit there and drink beer!?! Right on! Tell her there's no dinner until the job is done!

 

[Gytaryst]

Is that your little one digging a massive hole while you sit there and drink beer!?! Right on! Tell her there's no dinner until the job is done!

Yes. And just to set the record straight I wasn't sitting there drinking beer.

I was standing there drinking beer at that point.

 

[JohnSand]

That's a great story, but it's nowhere close to the dumbest mistake.
Keep trying.

 

[mongoose33]

You aren't the first one to do that, and you won't be the last.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

 

[Gytaryst]

That's a great story, but it's nowhere close to the dumbest mistake.
Keep trying.

Oh yeah, I agree. I said it was the "dumbest mistake YET!!!" I didn't say I wasn't going to try and outdo myself.

 

[JohnSand]

LOL, I realize now that you meant Your dumbest mistake. I thought you meant all time champion!

 

[passedpawn]

LOL, I realize now that you meant Your dumbest mistake. I thought you meant all time champion!

Just recently somebody put a glass carboy on their burner, and got the expected result. That one is pretty high on my derp list. Also, I like the guy who many years ago built an electric boil kettle (element and all) into a home depot bucket. Oof.

 

[Br3w4u]

Just recently somebody put a glass carboy on their burner, and got the expected result. That one is pretty high on my derp list. Also, I like the guy who many years ago built an electric boil kettle (element and all) into a home depot bucket. Oof.

I have heard that’s the common practice in the UK. The Home Depot bucket not the glass carboy....I don’t think that is common practice anywhere hahaha.

 

[cubalz]

Been there and done that. It sucks losing good beer without passing it through your liver first.

 

[Gytaryst]

Just recently somebody put a glass carboy on their burner, and got the expected result. That one is pretty high on my derp list. Also, I like the guy who many years ago built an electric boil kettle (element and all) into a home depot bucket. Oof.

I guess I should have specified MY dumbest mistake. I'm not even going to try to compete with other people for the all time dumbest mistake award.

 

[Br3w4u]

What’s the saying? It’s all fun and games until someone loses a beer right?

 

[passedpawn]

I guess I should have specified MY dumbest mistake. I'm not even going to try to compete with other people for the all time dumbest mistake award.

I probably have most people beat here for dumbest (numerous awards). For example, I broke a glass carboy by filling it with hot wort and setting in a cold in-ground swimming pool. It's easy to convince yourself that these things will work, but in the end you find yourself in the wee hours of a cold January night, standing in a pool wearing pajama shorts and tennis shoes and flashlight, wading around looking for shards of glass and praying your wife doesn't catch you.

 

[dyqik]

I have heard that’s the common practice in the UK. The Home Depot bucket not the glass carboy....I don’t think that is common practice anywhere hahaha.

The buckets used in the UK are normally polypropylene, not polyethylene. PP has a significantly higher softening point. And generally the buckets are white and marked food safe.

And they definitely aren't Home Depot buckets, because we have a different brand of large orange DIY store - B&Q.

 

[Gytaryst]

I probably have most people beat here for dumbest (numerous awards). For example, I broke a glass carboy by filling it with hot wort and setting in a cold in-ground swimming pool. It's easy to convince yourself that these things will work, but in the end you find yourself in the wee hours of a cold January night, standing in a pool wearing pajama shorts and tennis shoes and flashlight, wading around looking for shards of glass and praying your wife doesn't catch you.

HA HA HA HA! You got me beat. Notice the pile of dirt in the driveway with my 4 year old daughter digging?

Here's where it's going. Not much chance I'll be repeating your mistake.

The happiest day of my life was when the wife finally said, "Yeah, go ahead and fill it in."

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Ouch. At least it wasn't 5 gallons of Fest bier.

 

[passedpawn]

The happiest day of my life was when the wife finally said, "Yeah, go ahead and fill it in."

How are you going to chill then I used to float my kettle in the pool to chill it. I tied a pool noodle around it, and just let it float in the pool (with the IC sticking out of the kettle). Got an unexpected shower once though and nearly tipped it while retrieving with the long pool brush. Derp. I don't think that beer got infected, but probably should have. I still use the pool water for chilling, but I've upgraded to pumps.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

@passedpawn
Oh man, that totally looks like an accident waiting to happen!

"...uh, honey, I need to drain to pool.....again"

 

[Br3w4u]

I would think that the chlorine would screw up your kettle pretty good but it looks like that kettle has allready been battle tested anyway.

 

[Br3w4u]

Recently I was transferring a beer to a keg and had my racking cane connected to a ball lock connector and it was in the siphon that was submerged in a bucket of sanitizer. I didn’t really think about it and just popped the connector on the keg without releasing the pressure from the keg. It was like one of those water rockets! Not too bad of a mess and at least it was just star san. That’s my only disaster story........

 

[passedpawn]

If you guys listen to Basic Brewing (James Spenser), he does a disaster stories episode once a year. He asks for submissions, and the best one wins. I did win one year. I sent him this video. I got a mention in his show. My 15 minutes of fame! It was early in my brewing career, and I was unknowingly documenting a list of bad practices.

 

[brew_darrymore]

How did this beer turn out in the end?

 

[Vintage Iron]

OMG!!! That video was awesome. I love the dog licking everything in the background too. LOL

 

[passedpawn]

How did this beer turn out in the end?

No idea. I'm sure it blew off all over the place. I keep pretty sweet notes on every brew I've ever done, but I don't know which one that was. I was taping for my brother, who wanted to learn to brew (he now has a 30g system with gylcol conical, etc, basterd).