• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Help! Is anyone here?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ceedubya

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
1,460
Reaction score
14
Location
Helena, MT
OK, So I finished the boil on a 5.5 gallon batch, connect the immersian chiller, go turn on the spigot and when I get back my wort is turning..... and fuller than when I left!!! I yank it out and there are 2 gaping holes in the bottom of the chiller. Now i have probably 6.5 gallons of weak wort sitting at 150 degrees...... sooooo now what do I do???
 
Let it chill and pitch the yeast - you'll still have beer

If you have some dme you could add that
 
Re boil it and supplement addl hops. Or just ferment and hope for the best.

And get a new chiller
 
I wouldn't dump it, no way. Just bring it back to a boil and boil off the excess. Then do the old ice bath method. It sucks, but it's just for now till you get a new chiller. I also wouldn't add any extra hops, not really necessary.


Rev.
 
Just as a friendly (and I mean that honestly, not sarcastically as one might expect from me) piece of advice.... I think you will be more likely to get the help you're looking for with a better subject line in the future. "Hhhheeellllppp!!! Is anyone here???", in addition to being visually painful, doesn't give anyone a clue what you're talking about.

Of course... I clicked on it. So maybe I should just shut up about whether your title was effective or not. :D
 
What kind of beer?


If it were me I'd certainly bring it back to a boil. Depending upon the style of beer I might re-add late hops additions and get it back to maybe 6 gallons or so...
 
+1 for reboiling. Not a full 60 minutes maybe just 15 or 30 to sterilize the wort and evaporate a little water. Add a few more hope at the end if you have them so your hop aroma and flavor dont drop off
 
Just as a friendly (and I mean that honestly, not sarcastically as one might expect from me) piece of advice.... I think you will be more likely to get the help you're looking for with a better subject line in the future. "Hhhheeellllppp!!! Is anyone here???", in addition to being visually painful, doesn't give anyone a clue what you're talking about.

Of course... I clicked on it. So maybe I should just shut up about whether your title was effective or not. :D

I thought this same thing as I was typing that, but it did get the desired result.... response ;)

after I took a minute to think and stopped freaking out, and called the LHBS I came to the conclusion of a reboil (15 minutes or so), 3.3 lbs bavarian wheat malt extract, and .25oz hop addition at the beginning of the boil. Should hit my OG this way and its a hefe so should't really need the hops anyways, so it might actually be too much.

I am going to have extra wort this way though...

will let you all know how it turns out!
 
Oh and Joe @ mount baldy brewing supply let me borrow an immersion chiller when I picked up the extract and hops!! What a guy!
 
Hit my gravity, temp, and pitched dry yeast. Thanks for all the quick input, helped me come to a fast decision. Sorry for the freak out!! Sample was a little hippy but should be good.
 
a few lessons learned here:

1. relax, have a homebrew
2. I need a sight glass on my keggle, or the very least a graduated measure stick (more toys!). I had no idea exactly how much water made it into my wort
3. don't leave a chiller outside in the winter, even if you are sure its been cleaned out. I am certain that some water froze in the bottom corners of the chiller this winter and weakened the copper. when it hit that boiling wort it must have split. I know it wasn't that way before I put it in there.
4. The new valve on my keggle with dip tube and screen and my new ported better bottle are AWESOME! well worth the $$ spent.
5. Time to buy a plate chiller (more toys!)
6. ALWAYS support your local homebrew shop, if you are fortunate enough to have one. Never know when they might have save your bacon.
7. relax, have a homebrew
 

Latest posts

Back
Top