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

[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.

 

[Maggot1980]

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..

 

[Maggot1980]

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.

 

[CavA3R4]

I like sampling beer when I'm making a batch and teaching people at the same time. Great fun to quaff about 6 maybe 6 oz samples. More then that, and I'd get trashed and screw something up.
I've always had fun brewing.

 

[DizzyPants]

My favorite, and just like when young, I would build model ships and at the end there was a bunch of important stuff left over. I get done brewing and my Wife says "What is all this?" I had already buttoned up everything and had dreams of bubbling. Oh.....that was the yeast not pitched she was talking about. Hmmmmm........

 

[rdavidw]

I enjoy drinking on brew day and continue to do so. From milling grains to the fermenter and cleanup it takes many hours of brewing and drinking. I have learned to make a very detailed list with everything I need to check off as I go. The list also has the exact time to do what and what temps and gravies should be where. I make my recipe before brew day and have a spreadsheet that calculates my water volumes, additives, temps and gravity targets. The idea is with the list it can be done well with little thought or guess work by almost anyone. I have been doing it this way for many years and have been happy with the consistency of the results.

 

[TKWoody]

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..

Ha ha, glad I'm not the only who that's done that. Although I realized it when I was in bed that night. Got up in the morning and opened 48 bottles and added sugar water to each.

Then there was the time my friend and I were brewing. After we finished chilling we put the wort in the carboy and sealed it up with an airlock. Then the person who hadn't brewed before that was watching us said, "So, when do you put in the yeast?"

Still, I'm in favor of moderate imbibing while brewing.

 

[DryHoppinMad]

I used to find it customary to enjoy some pints during the brewing process, until one day I couldn't figure out why the fermentation hadn't kicked in by the evening of the day after the brew session. Then I noticed the sealed starter flask, sitting in a dark corner on the kitchen counter.

 

[John Eberly]

Drinking and brewing at the same time - not any more. 20 liters of boiling wort is at least as dangerous as a chainsaw.

Besides, I make enough mistakes brewing sober.

 

[brewcat]

I brew in the morning so just want breakfast & coffee. But even if I didn't, I utilize downtime to clean and pick up. Not a whole lot of time for drinking.

 

[gboybama]

Besides, I make enough mistakes brewing sober.

I know what you mean, brother. I haven't even made the leap to all-grain and I am taxing my limited brain power to the max.

 

[dpaul420]

This happened around 5 years ago, so we can at least laugh about it now! I, like some others here, will always have beers while brewing. It is not as fun during Canadian winters, but any nice spring to fall day brewing outdoors is awesome. We will crack the first bottles around 10, after we have at least started mashing/lautering. Sometimes the beers are past homebrews, but often they skew into imperial territory.

One day with my constant brewing-parter and my brother, we finished two 5 gallon all-grain beers after a long day of drinking. I realized that my friend's batch was not aerated, so he went to fetch his sealed glass carboy. We were wearing shorts and flip flops, we did not have carboy straps, and so as he awkwardly carried the carboy across the concrete garage floor, he let it dip slightly. The tiny touch to the floor not only caused the carboy to explode and spill in the floor drain, a giant piece of glass cut his toe. All the drinking thinned out his blood and would not stop. Thankfully his wife had come home that afternoon and he spent some time at the doctor/hospital to get sewn up.

We wear better footwear now, we have better ways to transport carboys, we still drink. No beer wasted since.

 

[Solstice-Brewing]

I like sampling beer when I'm making a batch and teaching people at the same time. Great fun to quaff about 6 maybe 6 oz samples. More then that, and I'd get trashed and screw something up.
I've always had fun brewing.

I do the same thing - the pint glasses don't come out until the yeast gets pitched.

Brewing without drinking seems sacrilegious -

 

[Soccerbrew]

We've all had that moment, but like the first homebrew book I read, Relax and have a Home Brew.

 

[IndyBlueprints]

Sorry guys, I can't get on board with most of you. I see it as not only my right, but my responsibility as a Fermentation Artist, that I must drink home brew while making beer or wine. It keeps me grounded to my creative home brewing roots. Not to mention it it gives me a good buzz.

Have I made mistakes and forgot stuff? Absolutely. Is that going to change my habits? Absolutely not. I embrace it.

 

[BassElement]

Well, this has been entertaining and enlightening... Note that I didn't advocate notdrinking while brewing, I just noted that I personally couldn't handle beer plus wine plus vodka while brewing... I definitely enjoy a few homemade beers whilst home brewing, I'm just saying that for me I gotta watch what I drink and limit it to beer... What makes this planet great is that we are all different. I say go forth and do what's right for you!

 

[NaymzJaymz]

We all feel your pain to some degree. I recently knocked my brew kettle off my back deck as I was getting ready to chill a 5 gallon batch. I never drink when I'm brewing. Having pots of boiling liquid, glass fermentors, etc... in the presence of alcohol is just asking for trouble, IMO. Just use it as a learning experience.

 

[Brewmaster59]

I always seem to have some low ABV homebrew's around and that's what I limit myself to...while brewing.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

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

You are not alone, we always enjoy some brew on brew day right after the coffee. Hefe weizen is a breakfast beer. Also, we always start very early just like bakers. We have also really screwed up.
Prost!

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Dump the glass and go plastic or stainless.

 

[Joe10r]

Take comfort in the fact that it will ALL eventually wind up down one drain or another...😱

 

[rxpx40]

Poured the 165 degree strike water into the mash tun with the drain valve open. On my foot.
Safety first, kids!

 

[brewcat]

Poured the 165 degree strike water into the mash tun with the drain valve open. On my foot.
Safety first, kids!

I turn the valve away from me just in case.