It's been said before: don't brew drunk!

[BassElement]

I just brewed up a beautiful 2.5 gallon batch of IPA, and was enjoying a few home brews while doing so. I recently switched to a ported carboy, and unfortunately while I was filling it after cooling I didn't realize the valve was open and my wort was flowing into the sink while I was filling it... so I now have maybe 1 gallon of wort fermenting in my basement instead of 2.5 . All that work (wort) literally down the drain. So listen up when we say it kids: do not drink too much while brewing, and always pay attention to the moment, it can make the difference between a full case and a six pack. I learned my lesson the hard way, I hope you can learn from my mistake.

On to the next recipe - older and wiser.

 

[Sammy86]

We all have those days...learn from it and move on!

 

[Kerrbrewer]

My mistake while having too much to drink was forgetting to sanitize the carboy. Realized it after I racked all 5.5 gallons. Let it go with hopes. It was junk and dumped. New rule after that, I dont twist a cap or fill a pint glass till the boil.

 

[masskrug]

Dropped the chiller in and left. Came back 30 minutes later to find I had left the burner on (It did get down to 120' though).

 

[BassElement]

Dropped the chiller in and left. Came back 30 minutes later to find I had left the burner on (It did get down to 120' though).

Kinda like having the doors open in the summer with the A/C on... I will keep your experience in mind for when I inevitably get a chiller down the road

 

[mfink519]

We made the mistake of doing that on our first brew and couldn't get the stupid siphon to work!

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Most of us have probably been there. I typically just mess up my hop schedule, but it always works out.

 

[Ike]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I don't think I ever lost a full batch to an alcohol-induced screw-up, but early in the game I had a couple of more minor "V-8 moments" and decided I'd never touch a drop until the wort was in the chamber and yeast was pitched.

Lately, I've also been in the habit of brewing relatively early in the morning. Set everything up the night before, brew early, and still have time to do other stuff during the afternoon. So, the strongest thing I'm usually interested in drinking at that time of day is coffee.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Lately I have been so busy I have had to schedule my brew days around not drinking... (like early in the day before work to keep the pipeline going)

I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to brew next weekend and enjoying at least six homebrews during the process haha

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I usually brew in the morning and finish around lunch time. I reward myself with a post-brew beer with my lunch. That way I don't have to worry about overindulging while brewing. That doesn't mean I haven't had any caffeine-induced morning brewing screwups

 

[jrodmfish]

Most of us have probably been there. I typically just mess up my hop schedule, but it always works out.

Yep, same here

 

[IslandLizard]

I once dumped a gallon of first runnings, high gravity wort, into the freshly heated and drained sparge water, while filling the kettle without closing the drain valve first. I stood there wondering what that sound was... Luckily, unlike your mishap, nothing was lost, hit all the numbers.

However I still can't seem to do brewing related activities without spilling at least something. Therefore I always have a few large towels on the floor. Without the towels I'd spill more.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Idk. That may not have been a "Drinking too much" thing. I've done entire brew days with out drinking and things like this still happen to me.

 

[wstcstnative]

I agree that brewing first thing in the morning is really nice. The neighborhood is quiet. There's usually a football game on or something interesting to listen to on the radio and people inside are usually asleep. That's my personal time for the week!

 

[Sammy86]

I agree that brewing first thing in the morning is really nice. The neighborhood is quiet. There's usually a football game on or something interesting to listen to on the radio and people inside are usually asleep. That's my personal time for the week!

My last four brews have been early morning...mashed in by 7-7:15 done by noon...it is so nice to have the rest of the day to do whatever

 

[bbohanon]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I don't think I ever lost a full batch to an alcohol-induced screw-up, but early in the game I had a couple of more minor "V-8 moments" and decided I'd never touch a drop until the wort was in the chamber and yeast was pitched.

Lately, I've also been in the habit of brewing relatively early in the morning. Set everything up the night before, brew early, and still have time to do other stuff during the afternoon. So, the strongest thing I'm usually interested in drinking at that time of day is coffee.

+100 on brewing as an early bird to avoid the temptation of drinking during brewing.

 

[Decimotox]

I always drink while brewing. I'm obviously in the minority here lol

 

[PlexVector]

I had sanitized the 18" plate chiller during the 60 min mash, boil & two beers (had left the starsan in plate chiller to drain just before chilling wort directly into fermenter), so when I turned the valve and looked to see the first wort start draining into the fermentor I just stared at the clear liquid dumbfounded and thought "oh well, more beer, less gravity, I'll increase dry hoping" rather than close valve, dump a small amount and continue. Turned out okay, but a little thin.

 

[Jaybird]

"No Beer Before Boil" Been saying that forever.

Cheers
Jay

 

[Murphys_Law]

When I first started brewing last Spring I would combine brewing and drinking and just about always did something screwy. I now rarely drink until I'm well into the boil, if at all. And I still tend to screw up from time to time.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

(had left the starsan in plate chiller to drain just before chilling wort directly into fermenter), so when I turned the valve and looked to see the first wort start draining into the fermentor I just stared at the clear liquid dumbfounded and thought.

Eh. Don't fear the foam. I've listened to the Starsan reps say they've heard stories of people sanitizing 5 barrel Conical fermenters with Starsan. Then they racked in the wort without draining. Oops! The rep said it's not ideal but safe. Just really thin beer.

 

[Jimbodaman]

I learned to brew while drunk with a friend (roughly 10 batches I helped with). I finally bought some of my own equipment and started brewing by myself; sober (with intent of not messing up) turns out I get too stressed to brew completely sober and my best beers have come after 4-5 beers. However that was many years ago I've since learned to have 1 or 2 while brewing and my beers turn out great. So I'd say learn to brew sober or else you'll be doomed to learn again.

 

[BassElement]

Great to hear that I'm not alone Back when I was playing in a band I found I played best during beer 2 and went downhill after that, I think homebrewing must be about the same. Thanks for all the great feedback, I'm going to try morning brewing for my next batch (aka "brew coffee then brew beer"). Cheers!

 

[radwizard]

Yes! Brewing totally sober, or a bit tipsy are no good for me.

I brew early and drink a lot of coffee during the brew to solve both problems....
Cheers!

 

[martiniw2olives]

I always drink while brewing. I'm obviously in the minority here lol

Lol, it's a component of brewing to me. That's why I don't brew in the morning, too early to start drinking.

 

[martiniw2olives]

I learned to brew while drunk with a friend (roughly 10 batches I helped with). I finally bought some of my own equipment and started brewing by myself; sober (with intent of not messing up) turns out I get too stressed to brew completely sober and my best beers have come after 4-5 beers. However that was many years ago I've since learned to have 1 or 2 while brewing and my beers turn out great. So I'd say learn to brew sober or else you'll be doomed to learn again.

Sounds like how I bowl

 

[max384]

I once left my cooled wort to siphon into my fermenter. As soon as I walked away, the hose slipped out. I came back five minutes later to six gallons of wort on my basement floor. Not a fun cleanup... Particularly when I knew all that work for absolutely nothing. Definitely as a result of drinking too much with a friend while brewing.

So after learning from that mistake, F- it, I still drink and brew.

 

[Kent88]

I've brewed and started a wine after a couple too many. I'm pretty much just a social drinker, so when that happened I was at a friend's house and he has a higher tolerance than me. I got about 45% efficiency and a stuck sparge on one and said eff it, because it was a partial mash anyway. The wine turned out great because my wife was there and she was completely sober, but I still took all the credit at the wedding we served it at.

I have more problems brewing too late in the day. It isn't usually a huge problem, but when you plan to boil outside in December or January and sunset is 2 in the afternoon, encounter some awful stuck sparges, or start chilling down 2.5+ gallons of wort in your sink icebath at 11:30pm, it can make for a really long night. Last time I brewed I had awful stuck sparges, tried leaving the kettle in some snow to cool it down, and didn't end up pitching yeast and running my aerator until 3am because I took an unplanned 2 hour nap.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

You're not the boss of me!

 

[tgmartin000]

Great to hear that I'm not alone Back when I was playing in a band I found I played best during beer 2 and went downhill after that, I think homebrewing must be about the same. Thanks for all the great feedback, I'm going to try morning brewing for my next batch (aka "brew coffee then brew beer"). Cheers!

Haha this! Two beers is the limit for good playing!

 

[VeloxGuy]

Yesterday, had been drinking before I started brewing. Measured pre-boil gravity and it was really low. Said screw and added LME to add sugar.
I forgot to adjust for temp! It was pretty much right on the mark. I carried on, figured we'll see how it turns out.
Got worse:
I also forgot to put the hops into the mesh bag and they got sucked into and completely plugged my counter flow chiller. ****! It was ~ -20 Celsius so We carried the kettle outside and sat in in the deep snow in the yard.

Today I'm adding some yeast for high gravity beer and we'll see what happens. Wish me luck.

Brewing and drinking - goes so well together, but not always

 

[Gerry_P]

What a timely thread. Just last night I had tossed back a few and forgot to put my banjo screen in my Igloo before the mash went in. A couple shots of whiskey steadied my nerves after that fiasco. Then, after a few more shots for protection against the elements, I had the great last minute idea to add some molasses at the end of the boil. I measured out 8 ounces (with a scale and everything!), then completely forgot about it. My head hurts and I need a shower.

 

[drunkinThailand]

I would never not drink while brewing, seems to defeat the whole purpose if you ask me. I just stick to my checklist which has everything on it i need to remember, and physically check off each thing as i do it. i get pretty ****faced sometimes and it has definitely saved me

 

[EcuPirate07]

I was drinking in this past brew day picked up the 162 degree water to pour into the cooler to pre heat the mash tun and happened to look down and the BV was turned wide open. Glad I caught it bc I was mashing in the house due to the weather and my feet were right in the path.

 

[BassElement]

I too enjoy drinking while brewing, I'm just going to steer clear of the hard stuff so I don't get completely blotto and mess up again... I think I can only manage beer on brew day going forward. Especially because I don't want to mess up my next batch (my first try at oatmeal stout).

 

[LoonerBrewing]

I too have had major mishaps while drinking and brewing. I once carried a 6.5 glass carboy full of a furious clone with slightly wet hands. Went to adjust while carrying and slipped out of my hands, shattered on the floor, flooding my basement with sweet wort.

 

[ballewblake]

Eh. Don't fear the foam. I've listened to the Starsan reps say they've heard stories of people sanitizing 5 barrel Conical fermenters with Starsan. Then they racked in the wort without draining. Oops! The rep said it's not ideal but safe. Just really thin beer.

I had a beer called Starsan Saison for a short while. I did just that, racked the wort onto 1-2 gallons of starsan. Turned out being a damned fine beer, just lower gravity than I was aiming for. People still talk about it and its probably been five years.

 

[krunkpirate]

I too tend to screw up hop schedules when I've had a few to drink whilst brewing. The worst was when I had a friend over helping with bottling, boiled the sugar and forgot to add it while I was chatting not paying full attention. The same friend helped me drink all the flat beer so it didn't go to waste, never again..

 

[ballewblake]

Not one for drinking while brewing my own beers. I did manage to screw up the in's on my new counterflow chiller a year or so ago. Managed to dump 3 gallons or so of 1.100 wort down the drawn of what was a barleywine. Talk about wort you don't want to lose. Luckily I had some DME and I was able to top it back off pretty quickly, but I'm right there with ya. Lesson learned. I never disconnect my cold water line and water out now.

 

[balrog]

What @drunkinThailand says: make checklist (when sober), force self to follow checklist.