Ever had one of "Those" brew days?

[husker]

So to start of my brew day I burned my hand on the strike water- Not a big deal

Then I got a stuck mash, and I mean really stuck!

Then my garage door spring broke- I didn't realize how heavy garage doors are! I finally got the door open enough to get my car out but in the process my wort boiled over.

But hey, brewing still beats work.

Any similar storys?

 

[TheDom]

Damn man, sorry to hear that. At least you can laugh at the absurdity of it all happening at once! Thankfully, I have no similar stories that come close to that one. Stuck sparge every now and then, but that's about it.

 

[Grippe]

Had mine last weekend - was so upset by the end of the day I passed on lubbins offered by the wife

 

[unionrdr]

Well,I brewed another batch of my Sunset Gold APA today,& everything was going pretty good. Changed the hops used from US Perle & Czech Saaz to Ahtanum & Sterling hops. Hopping went fine. Re-hydrated the 15g packet of cooper's ale yeast (really fresh,dated 5/30/13!),into 1.5C of boiled/cooled water instead of 2C. No dextrose this time as well. Ok,going great.
Then it started. I put the BK in the sink with cold water to knock off some initial heat. didn't cool as much as it did last time. Oh well,there's still the ice water part. So I drain the now warm water,push down on the sink strainer. I figure all's well,& fill the empty pace with ice. I go to top off the ice with water,& it's draining. Damn! So I try salt...not working. Def need the water too. So I remove the BK,scoop the ice into a large SS bowl,& fiddle with the sink strainer some more. With a little water,I see it's holding this time.
Put the BK back in the sink,fill with ice,then top off with water. Finally,it's holding. It takes 45 minutes to chill down to 70.5F.
Then I realize I forgot the spigot (coopers micro brew type) is still in a mug of starsan. Oh man,come on! So I go to the man cave to brush it out & re-install it. I put in 1G of starsan,& was going to screw on the lid,then I see the little push on strainer part laying there stairing at me.
I'm like,well...you can imagine how I reacted to that. So I have my son hold the FV at an angle so no more starsan leaks out while I unscrew the spigot & install the strainer. Put it back in,screwed on the lid,& swished it around a bit.
Cool,it smells fresh again!
Then I remember I left the 70F wort in the ice water...@#%$&*!@$#%^$!!! So I went ahead & poured the wort throuh the fine mesh strainer with the top off water,which this time of year is really bloody cold! Stir 5 minutes,tons of foam,cool,that's more like it! I go get the re-hydrated yeast,come back...& the temp strip reads about 13C (55.4F). DAAAAAMMMN!!! It's several degrees too cold for the cooper's yeast,even 15g re-hydrated. So,I took the hydrometer sample & pitched,figuring it'd be interesting to see the actual temp where it starts making the airlock center piece start rising. That was 3:10pm. It's now 8:22pm,& it's still at about 15C (59F). Damn it. It is sealed up with the airlock in place,but I've absolutely NEVER fudged up like this even once. All the yeast was at the bottom,& I swirled it up right before this diatribe. Never thought I'd have one of these"things were going great till..." stories.
***Just checked it again at 8:54pm. The temp is up to the low side of 16C,or 60.8F. The airlock center peice pegged the cap on the airlock. Finally in the reproductive stage. Wheeeew!!! Had me worried for several hours...

 

[wailingguitar]

I have been lucky that I haven't had any really bad issues at home, but have seen/experienced some crazy stuff happen in places I have worked!

first brewing job I had a kettle flash boil over and spray across my stomach. Co-worker said he knew I was really hurt when I was screaming instead of cussing! Nice 2nd degree burns across my belt line OW!

another place I fell off a ladder, hit my kettle, taking a big tri-clover valve in the kidney on the way down. Bad sprain, week off work, week light duty (yeah, right!)

same place had a hot water hose burst, my assistant jumped out of the way only to hit a hard pipe recircing 180 degree caustic... jarred a clamp loose on the pump and he got sprayed from head to foot. I had to crawl under the spray to get to cut off for the pump. He was screaming, as you can imagine! I had to pull him under the drench shower and hold him still until he was safe. That was "entertaining"

on a lighter note; not once, but twice at a place that had a 30bbl brewhouse someone (once it was the brewmaster! LOL) stuck runoff on oatmeal stout... typical runoffs were 2 1/2 hours, these went over 24! LOL ooops!

 

[husker]

Haha it is great to hear that I am not the only one who has had a bad brew day!

 

[unionrdr]

I guess I should've realized that anything that can happen,will sooner or later...Dang Murphy's law.

 

[Fizzycist]

Had mine last weekend - was so upset by the end of the day I passed on lubbins offered by the wife

That had to be a seriously bad day. What happened?

 

[unionrdr]

Reminds me of the Little Critter books we bought for our kids when they were little,"...& I was just so mad". Boy,that fits.

 

[JoeyChopps]

My first all grain I missed all my temps broke a carboy full of santatzion and got my socks wet. I broke a thermometer I just bought and missed my og but the beer was great

 

[mikeysab]

That had to be a seriously bad day. What happened?

Yeah, I second that. As a married guy with two crumb snatchers, I gotta be on my death bed, or the house has to be on fire to pass up any kind of affection from wifey.

 

[husker]

Yeah, I second that. As a married guy with two crumb snatchers, I gotta be on my death bed, or the house has to be on fire to pass up any kind of affection from wifey.

Can't wait for that. Cough Cough

 

[mikeysab]

You cant wait for me to be on my death bed? Or you want my house to burn down?

 

[husker]

No no I was saying I "Cant wait" be married. Sorry didn't read the entire quote.

 

[WestCoastHopper]

Yeah, I second that. As a married guy with two crumb snatchers, I gotta be on my death bed, or the house has to be on fire to pass up any kind of affection from wifey.

I'll second that. I could have a severed leg, and if the wife said she was game, I could probably rationalize a diversion on the way to emergency. It'd keep the blood centralized away from the wound.

Frankly, I'd keep it in mind to sever the other one if it "worked" for her.

 

[mikeysab]

If there was some nooky that was gonna happen, the blood wouldn't be hanging around in your severed leg.

 

[WestCoastHopper]

Exactly. She'd pretty much "have" to.

 

[unionrdr]

Relating back to my story,I just couldn't believe it happened to me. Sorta like a series of unfortunate events. I'm also finding that with regard to fermentation,it's about as bad to get initial temps too low as it is to get it too high. Either way,the ferment slows down instead of needing a blow off. But the beer still can come out good if care is taken.
I guess after brewing (beer anyway) for a year now,I likely just became too relaxed & confident about my process. Until one little thing I forgot booted me down the hill. It's fermenting slowly atm with about 1/2" of krausen At 19C.

 

[jeffjm]

Could you elaborate on what happens if initial temps are too cold? I've been pitching very cold, at the bottom end of the suggested temp range for my yeast or a bit colder, and other than a bit of a slow start , haven't seen any problems. I'm also warming up for the first 24-48 hours to 'normal' fermentation temps.

 

[Dr1nkBeer]

worst thats happened to me on brew day... is after brewing a really expensive IPA my glass thermometer broke as i was taking temps before pitching... I pitched it anyway since the new thermometers dont have Mecury in them a little straining into the secondary and a careful eye i drank it.. nobody is dead. I should have called it "DIPA" dead India Pale Ale... :cross:

 

[unionrdr]

Could you elaborate on what happens if initial temps are too cold? I've been pitching very cold, at the bottom end of the suggested temp range for my yeast or a bit colder, and other than a bit of a slow start , haven't seen any problems. I'm also warming up for the first 24-48 hours to 'normal' fermentation temps.

The cooper's ale yeast has a range of 62-72F. I got distracted by the spigot still sitting in a mug of starsan wjen I got the wort chilled down to 70F. So I left it in the ice bath,& went to finish brushing out & re-istalling the spigot. Only to realize I forgot the lil push in strainer thing that goes on the inside. Couldn't just rach in & push it into place. Had a gallon of starsan in there to. Had my son hold it while I corrected the problem.
So,by the time I was done,I go get the wort,didn't look at the temp,& poured it & top off water through a fine mesh strainer into FV. I see 4 or 5 small sky blue flakes in the strainer,with two flakes of what looked like dry bread crust?...
I then go get the re-hydrated yeast (large 15g packet of cooper's ale yeast) & was about to stir & pitch when I see the wort was at 13C,about 55.4F. So by the numbers,it was some8 degrees too low for the yeast to start up right away. It just went dormant & settled to the bottom. That 3:10pm yesterday.
At 8:54pm,the center piece in the airlock raised up against the cap,good sign.
But even now,there's only about 1/2" of krausen. The exact same thing I saw on my 1st brew when I pitched at near 90F. Hence my conclusions. By the way,it's at a solid 20C,or 68F atm. Hard to tell,but that 1/2" krausen might now be nearly 2".

 

[jeffjm]

I've not used the cooper's yeast, but I've chilled too far with both 1028 and 3068 and then pitched well below their fermentation temps. The beers came out fine, I bet yours will too.

 

[husker]

I should have called it "DIPA" dead India Pale Ale... :cross:

Haha made me laugh out loud!