Most embarrassing homebrewing mistakes

[mongoose33]

Brewing at 1°. Fill garage-housed brew kettle from outdoor faucet. But faucet covered by styro-bucket and worked! So I didn't have to fill 7g from kitchen and carry to garage. But 40m later, into the mash I'm thinking, maybe I should just run the water so .... too late. Hose froze. Spent entire mash and boil trying to thaw hose to use for chiller.

I had a similar thing happen to me. I'm getting everything ready--brewing water in the kettle, starter ready to go, water additions laid out, hops ready---and it dawns on me that the hose, on a hose reel outside, is frozen. Usually I'd have taken it inside the garage a couple days before to thaw out.

I run to the home store, buy a cheap hose, and the brew day is saved.

 

[dsaavedra]

Just last week I was milling grains for a planned brewday the following morning. My mill can only handle 7 lb of grain at a time so I usually have to stop halfway through and refill the hopper. Well this time I didn't stop, instead I decided to leave my drill running in one hand and reach for the container holding the rest of my grains with the other hand. Its at this perfect moment that the rollers in the mill seize up, causing my low-speed high-torque drill to start whipping the whole damn mill around, throwing unmilled grain all over my back deck, knocking over the bucket of milled grain spilling it also, and completely covering my face in flour. Looking back it's quite comical now, but at the time that was not a good day.

I managed to salvage probably half of the grain that had already been milled into the bucket, and I used it to brew yesterday after re-acquiring the remaining ingredients. After I cleaned out the mash tun I found a tiny pebble in the bottom... there's the culprit. That's the 2nd time I've had a pebble seize up my mill.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Just last week I was milling grains for a planned brewday the following morning. My mill can only handle 7 lb of grain at a time so I usually have to stop halfway through and refill the hopper. Well this time I didn't stop, instead I decided to leave my drill running in one hand and reach for the container holding the rest of my grains with the other hand. Its at this perfect moment that the rollers in the mill seize up, causing my low-speed high-torque drill to start whipping the whole damn mill around, throwing unmilled grain all over my back deck, knocking over the bucket of milled grain spilling it also, and completely covering my face in flour. Looking back it's quite comical now, but at the time that was not a good day.

I managed to salvage probably half of the grain that had already been milled into the bucket, and I used it to brew yesterday after re-acquiring the remaining ingredients. After I cleaned out the mash tun I found a tiny pebble in the bottom... there's the culprit. That's the 2nd time I've had a pebble seize up my mill.

Got kids throwing rocks in there?

 

[ba-brewer]

Stones/pebbles are pretty common. I have been lucky enough to find a few while conditioning my grain and unlucky enough to have a few jam my mill. I set the torque setting a few clicks off of drill mode for just such an occasion.

 

[NGD]

I may have recently forgottten a VERY full keg of sanitizer in the garage.

View attachment 609853

Thanks for this. Been wondering what it would look like if beer or sanitizer froze in a keg.

 

[NGD]

I remember re-sanitizing the bottling bucket, dumping them all back in and started over bottling with the priming sugar. That was a long night.

Been there, done that! From my tasting notes “Beer tastes slightly oxidized”

Stupid tastes bad!

 

[seatazzz]

This happened today. Epic brewday using home-roasted & caramelized malt, should be a winner. While on the boil decide to keg the lager that had been lagering 2 weeks. On the top shelf of the ferment fridge, so pulled carboy out carefully so to get the autosiphon in. Cap on the bottom pops off, rats. So had to set up the pump to keg, no worries. A bit later, after cleaning up brew mess, move the carboy into the bathroom to clean it. Didn't need to save the yeast, so ran some water in to loosen it up and dumped in the toilet. And flushed. Bye bye autosiphon tip.

 

[Still Brewn]

Been there, done that! From my tasting notes “Beer tastes slightly oxidized”

Stupid tastes bad!

And what is it they say.... "you can't fix stupid"

 

[JCasey1992]

Here's a new one for me. I discovered an OLD batch in the basement from my early brewing days. Just guessing but I think there is a chance it developed an infection in the bottle or didn't finish fermenting before I packaged. I've come a long way since brewing this one lol.

 

[Kharnynb]

i've had geysers with spiced beers that are over half a year old rather often.

 

[growlrr]

Being down in my storage area...Showing off my wine racks of aging mead to my neighbor and bragging about how I've never, ever experienced any issues with over-carbonation, bottle bombs, etc. because "I know what I'm doing". At that INSTANT having a cork launch itself out of a bottle of rhodomel that was only about a month old. Cork nails me straight in "the boys" from about three feet away. Drop to floor...laugh, cry, cry some more. She is absolutely hysterical...literally in tears. Start wringing mead out of my clothing. Not making eye contact. Realize it looks like I peed myself and I smell vaguely of roses, honey and humiliation....

 

[JCasey1992]

i've had geysers with spiced beers that are over half a year old rather often.

If memory serves, this was just a basic porter but like I said, it was a sloppy bottling day.

 

[NGD]

Being down in my storage area...Showing off my wine racks of aging mead to my neighbor and bragging about how I've never, ever experienced any issues with over-carbonation, bottle bombs, etc. because "I know what I'm doing". At that INSTANT having a cork launch itself out of a bottle of rhodomel that was only about a month old. Cork nails me straight in "the boys" from about three feet away. Drop to floor...laugh, cry, cry some more. She is absolutely hysterical...literally in tears. Start wringing mead out of my clothing. Not making eye contact. Realize it looks like I peed myself and I smell vaguely of roses, honey and humiliation....

By any chance was Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” playing in the back ground?

 

[growlrr]

I

By any chance was Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” playing in the back ground?

Could have been, but I wouldn't have heard it over the ringing in my ears, the sounds of me whining and my neighbors hysterical laughter anyway...

 

[rlonardo]

So, I kegged one of my first beers this weekend. And put together my first lines etc. etc. Yesterday I had a couple pints - a blonde ale - and it was fantastic. Kegged beer is just a thing of beauty.

Then I went to pull a pint tonight. About 3 ounces came out before it started spitting CO2.

At first I thought maybe I mixed up the IN and OUT lines so I opened and checked but it was good. Then I noticed...a couple of inches of beer o the bottom of my keezer.

Oh no.

All 5 gallons gone. Absolutely depressing. Luckily I have 2 others on tap that aren't leaking all over the place. The swivel nut on my liquid DC needed just an 1/8th turn more to get a good seal. Live and learn. Check your damn hoses.

 

[Sbe2]

So, I kegged one of my first beers this weekend. And put together my first lines etc. etc. Yesterday I had a couple pints - a blonde ale - and it was fantastic. Kegged beer is just a thing of beauty.

Then I went to pull a pint tonight. About 3 ounces came out before it started spitting CO2.

At first I thought maybe I mixed up the IN and OUT lines so I opened and checked but it was good. Then I noticed...a couple of inches of beer o the bottom of my keezer.

Oh no.

All 5 gallons gone. Absolutely depressing. Luckily I have 2 others on tap that aren't leaking all over the place. The swivel nut on my liquid DC needed just an 1/8th turn more to get a good seal. Live and learn. Check your damn hoses.

View attachment 611125

Ouch

 

[dx250]

Well I have a new one and I don't know if it is embarrassing or just an alignment of random errors.

The plan was to brew one of Ron Patterson's historic mild recipes. I messed up and forgot brown malt but randomly added C75 in beersmith, I figured add some brown and go with it. Oh and I am out of amber so off to the lhbs, I got in a minor fender bender on the way, this is going well already, I need 1lb 4 oz he has 9oz. I was planing on buying 10 to refill, ahhh! At this point I decide that I will just add some dark munich and call it a day. It will be closeish. I get back home and grab the kettles and fill one to heat to mash temp, all is well. go to assemble the other, forgot to drill it for the new TC weldless. OK, not a problem. I don't have the correct hole saw. Shut down the burner and run to the big orange. They don't carry the size so back to the house. I kick the heat back on the mash water and commence work on the other kettle, drill a 1-1/2'' hole and go for the Dremil, no flap wheel or sanding drums, so a file it is. get the proper size opening and all is well. Then i realize my mash water is a 180, OK it can cool, wait why am I a gallon low? I forgot to tighten the weldless past just hand tight and it is pooled on the stove top. I get it cleaned up and tight. Mash goes to plan using my new pump and false bottom (gained 10 points eff). The boil goes well just a little shy of my volume but no big deal. 15min left I drop in my new chiller to sanitize and to run some boiling wort through the pump also. just a buzz from the pump, disassemble and it is the motor locked up great but not the end of the world I just have to do it the old way. Time to cool turn on the chiller water and run to grab the paddle from the storage room and come back to the chiller spraying water into the wort over a gallon. There was a pinhole in one of my brazed joints where the coils connect to the outlet. Now I had pressure tested this to 100psi of nitrogen overnight, must have been slag and the heat broke it free. at this point I just grabbed a bottle of bourbon and went to the couch. The whole thing got dumped the next morning.

The whole thing just seems like a joke, a very bad joke.

 

[22guns]

I think my worst by far was when I was still green to brewing. I had a couple of beer batches under my belt and wanted to try some mead.

So I brewed up my first batch and waited until I thought fermentation was over. I reused some Jack Daniel bottles cause I thought they looked cool. Had one stored under my cabinet and then one night !BANG! I woke up and walked around my apartment and nothin. So I went back to sleep. The next day the kitchen floor was soaked with about a liter of mead and the cabinets never stopped smelling like Japanese wild blossom.

I think the worse of it was realizing that after living in Norfolk, Va the sound of a shotgun blast was just another night noise.

 

[SEndorf]

Well I have a new one and I don't know if it is embarrassing or just an alignment of random errors.

The plan was to brew one of Ron Patterson's historic mild recipes. I messed up and forgot brown malt but randomly added C75 in beersmith, I figured add some brown and go with it. Oh and I am out of amber so off to the lhbs, I got in a minor fender bender on the way, this is going well already, I need 1lb 4 oz he has 9oz. I was planing on buying 10 to refill, ahhh! At this point I decide that I will just add some dark munich and call it a day. It will be closeish. I get back home and grab the kettles and fill one to heat to mash temp, all is well. go to assemble the other, forgot to drill it for the new TC weldless. OK, not a problem. I don't have the correct hole saw. Shut down the burner and run to the big orange. They don't carry the size so back to the house. I kick the heat back on the mash water and commence work on the other kettle, drill a 1-1/2'' hole and go for the Dremil, no flap wheel or sanding drums, so a file it is. get the proper size opening and all is well. Then i realize my mash water is a 180, OK it can cool, wait why am I a gallon low? I forgot to tighten the weldless past just hand tight and it is pooled on the stove top. I get it cleaned up and tight. Mash goes to plan using my new pump and false bottom (gained 10 points eff). The boil goes well just a little shy of my volume but no big deal. 15min left I drop in my new chiller to sanitize and to run some boiling wort through the pump also. just a buzz from the pump, disassemble and it is the motor locked up great but not the end of the world I just have to do it the old way. Time to cool turn on the chiller water and run to grab the paddle from the storage room and come back to the chiller spraying water into the wort over a gallon. There was a pinhole in one of my brazed joints where the coils connect to the outlet. Now I had pressure tested this to 100psi of nitrogen overnight, must have been slag and the heat broke it free. at this point I just grabbed a bottle of bourbon and went to the couch. The whole thing got dumped the next morning.

The whole thing just seems like a joke, a very bad joke.

That sir.... is an epic tale of disaster which rivals the Hindenburg.
My guess is that with your tenacity, once you've corrected your setup and methods, you will make some incredibly fantastic beers.

 

[dx250]

That sir.... is an epic tale of disaster which rivals the Hindenburg.
My guess is that with your tenacity, once you've corrected your setup and methods, you will make some incredibly fantastic beers.

I have been brewing for probably 4 years and probably 35 batches, I just finally decided to move on from my entry level setup to something better and eventually to a RIMS for the mash. That was my first time dumping a beer. I should know to stop once things go sideways.

 

[NGD]

I have been brewing for probably 4 years and probably 35 batches, I just finally decided to move on from my entry level setup to something better and eventually to a RIMS for the mash. That was my first time dumping a beer. I should know to stop once things go sideways.

That story damn near made me want to stop brewing and just take up bourbon drinking.

 

[mongoose33]

Well I have a new one and I don't know if it is embarrassing or just an alignment of random errors.

The plan was to brew one of Ron Patterson's historic mild recipes. I messed up and forgot brown malt but randomly added C75 in beersmith, I figured add some brown and go with it. Oh and I am out of amber so off to the lhbs, I got in a minor fender bender on the way, this is going well already, I need 1lb 4 oz he has 9oz. I was planing on buying 10 to refill, ahhh! At this point I decide that I will just add some dark munich and call it a day. It will be closeish. I get back home and grab the kettles and fill one to heat to mash temp, all is well. go to assemble the other, forgot to drill it for the new TC weldless. OK, not a problem. I don't have the correct hole saw. Shut down the burner and run to the big orange. They don't carry the size so back to the house. I kick the heat back on the mash water and commence work on the other kettle, drill a 1-1/2'' hole and go for the Dremil, no flap wheel or sanding drums, so a file it is. get the proper size opening and all is well. Then i realize my mash water is a 180, OK it can cool, wait why am I a gallon low? I forgot to tighten the weldless past just hand tight and it is pooled on the stove top. I get it cleaned up and tight. Mash goes to plan using my new pump and false bottom (gained 10 points eff). The boil goes well just a little shy of my volume but no big deal. 15min left I drop in my new chiller to sanitize and to run some boiling wort through the pump also. just a buzz from the pump, disassemble and it is the motor locked up great but not the end of the world I just have to do it the old way. Time to cool turn on the chiller water and run to grab the paddle from the storage room and come back to the chiller spraying water into the wort over a gallon. There was a pinhole in one of my brazed joints where the coils connect to the outlet. Now I had pressure tested this to 100psi of nitrogen overnight, must have been slag and the heat broke it free. at this point I just grabbed a bottle of bourbon and went to the couch. The whole thing got dumped the next morning.

The whole thing just seems like a joke, a very bad joke.

Hopefully you used up all your bad luck in one episode.

And if you believe in a sort of karma-like thing, all that bad luck needs to be balanced by good luck, doesn't it?

So you have some coming.

 

[dx250]

I hope so and the worst part is, no beer!

 

[6Tap]

Well, I have made many mistakes homebrewing and so far the ones I remember the most thankfully I have not repeated.

A few days after filling my kegs from the fermentor I finally got around to clean it. When I started to remove the lower valve, I quickly realized that I forgot to purge the 10 psi of co2 that was left in the tank when the remaining beer, Yeast, and dry hops shot all over me from the waist down. Good times!
At least I smelled
Good..

 

[TKWoody]

Brewed a batch last night. 4 grains. I had some left over to use for one. Bought the other three at LHBS. Except for the part when I put the airlock on the carboy turned around and saw the yeast sitting on the counter I went to bed thinking that things had gone smoothly.

Woke up and realized I had used the grain from LHBS, but had forgotten to use the leftover grain. Did a small batch with that grain this afternoon and poured it into the carboy. I suppose time will tell if it was a good recovery.

 

[6Tap]

Well, I have made many mistakes homebrewing and so far the ones I remember the most thankfully I have not repeated.

A few days after filling my kegs from the fermentor I finally got around to clean it. When I started to remove the lower valve, I quickly realized that I forgot to purge the 10 psi of co2 that was left in the tank when the remaining beer, Yeast, and dry hops shot all over me from the waist down. Good times!
At least I smelled
Good..

Ok, I jinxed myself today when dropping out the dry hops prior to kegging. Guess I better put a BIG note on my fermentor to “check PSi”. Least I smell good! Anyone make a hop cologne or perfume? [emoji12]

 

[bracconiere]

Brewing at 1°. Fill garage-housed brew kettle from outdoor faucet. But faucet covered by styro-bucket and worked! So I didn't have to fill 7g from kitchen and carry to garage. But 40m later, into the mash I'm thinking, maybe I should just run the water so .... too late. Hose froze. Spent entire mash and boil trying to thaw hose to use for chiller.

damn winter weather, and trying to get things cold! lol

edit: +1

 

[NGD]

Ok, I jinxed myself today when dropping out the dry hops prior to kegging. Guess I better put a BIG note on my fermentor to “check PSi”. Least I smell good! Anyone make a hop cologne or perfume? [emoji12]
View attachment 611919View attachment 611920

Impressive

 

[6Tap]

Impressive

Ended up with 13 gallons of IPA instead of 15. Not bad for having the exposive mess all over my brew room.

 

[NGD]

Ended up with 13 gallons of IPA instead of 15. Not bad for having the exposive mess all over my brew room.

What is it they say when making tequila...that was the angels share?

Looks like a hell of a mess but damn, could’ve been much worse.