Well, here's to screwing up about $150 in beer and wasting about 3 months...
I had a Russian Imperial Stout I brewed (partial mash) a few months ago. Threw in some maple syrup and cinnamon in the wort. Brewing went amazing; I expected a great body and I knew I'd reached the highest OG possible for the mix, 1.093) Fermentation seemed to go well, things smelled well, until today...
I also I had belgian amber ale I'd brewed a few weeks back. Brewing went awfully. I got distracted and had a boilover, and even with a quick recovery I knew I'd lost a good amount of proteins and sugars I'd converted during the partial mash. After finishing brew and adding water to make 5 gallons, I had an OG of 1.036 when I expected one of about 1.076, so I added about 2 lbs of sugar which brought the OG up to 1.074. At this point, I had already given up having the beer I'd set out to create. Fermentation popped along quite nicely, and I apparently was going to settle for about 1.020. I decided I'd use this beer for science, so I pasteurized about 4 gallons of peaches, 2 pounds of apples, and 3 lemon peels and racked on top of them.
Both of my beers smell hot. For my RIS I pitched 2 packs of wyeast 1056 (I know, I should have made a starter, but I was hit with some schedule problems and was forced to do what I thought would make up for my lack of time). For my Belgian Failed Ale I pitched one pack of wyeast 1272. Since both smell hot I assume, even though I've been fermenting it in my apartment with windows open and have fermented other beers during hotter times without fermentation problems, that I have fermented them at too high of temperatures. I really thought I would have the RIS taken care of with two packs of yeast, and I was greatly saddened today when I racked it to secondary and it smelled so goddamn hot. I threw in another 12 oz of maple syrup because hey, why not? For the Belgian, I really don't know. It is what it is, ad I've done all I can.
So, for now, I'm drinking my first good brew, a heavily-hopped IPA and wondering what to do next. Do I try one of the styles again, or do I accept the mistakes and try something else? My plans for a next brew were a British style pub ale or doing another IPA. Either way, it's a bum night around here.
Here's to failed brews, big mistakes, and learning from them, all in humility and for the sake of better beer. And here's to this community for keeping me educated enough to make it this far without any big hang ups!
I had a Russian Imperial Stout I brewed (partial mash) a few months ago. Threw in some maple syrup and cinnamon in the wort. Brewing went amazing; I expected a great body and I knew I'd reached the highest OG possible for the mix, 1.093) Fermentation seemed to go well, things smelled well, until today...
I also I had belgian amber ale I'd brewed a few weeks back. Brewing went awfully. I got distracted and had a boilover, and even with a quick recovery I knew I'd lost a good amount of proteins and sugars I'd converted during the partial mash. After finishing brew and adding water to make 5 gallons, I had an OG of 1.036 when I expected one of about 1.076, so I added about 2 lbs of sugar which brought the OG up to 1.074. At this point, I had already given up having the beer I'd set out to create. Fermentation popped along quite nicely, and I apparently was going to settle for about 1.020. I decided I'd use this beer for science, so I pasteurized about 4 gallons of peaches, 2 pounds of apples, and 3 lemon peels and racked on top of them.
Both of my beers smell hot. For my RIS I pitched 2 packs of wyeast 1056 (I know, I should have made a starter, but I was hit with some schedule problems and was forced to do what I thought would make up for my lack of time). For my Belgian Failed Ale I pitched one pack of wyeast 1272. Since both smell hot I assume, even though I've been fermenting it in my apartment with windows open and have fermented other beers during hotter times without fermentation problems, that I have fermented them at too high of temperatures. I really thought I would have the RIS taken care of with two packs of yeast, and I was greatly saddened today when I racked it to secondary and it smelled so goddamn hot. I threw in another 12 oz of maple syrup because hey, why not? For the Belgian, I really don't know. It is what it is, ad I've done all I can.
So, for now, I'm drinking my first good brew, a heavily-hopped IPA and wondering what to do next. Do I try one of the styles again, or do I accept the mistakes and try something else? My plans for a next brew were a British style pub ale or doing another IPA. Either way, it's a bum night around here.
Here's to failed brews, big mistakes, and learning from them, all in humility and for the sake of better beer. And here's to this community for keeping me educated enough to make it this far without any big hang ups!
