My first big Oop's

[car421]

So after brewing for almost 2 yrs I made what I think were a couple of mistakes with my brew. I was trying some new things and I think that was what got me side tracked. I brewed a IIPA and was using some advice a friend gave me. It is a high gravity beer so I modified the recipe by removing 2 lbs of DME so the alcohol content would not be so high, went from projected ~10% to projected ~7.5%.
Here are the things that I did differently:
Dumped in my hop pellets instead of using a bag - should not be an issue
Racked on top of a yeast cake from a Pale ale that I kegged last week. This could be an issue, as I was racking I noticed some white spots on the inside of the carboy as I was racking.
And then after I pitched my yeast and put in my blow-off tube I realize that I forgot to take a gravity reading. So I removed the tube took a reading and then poured the sample back into the carboy.

Complete Brain fart day. I know, RDWAHAHB but I just needed to vent. As long as I get drinkable beer.......

 

[Greyhound]

I don't think you'll have a problem. Most of us have made bigger mistakes.

 

[firestem4]

Doesn't sound so bad Don't know what to say about the yeast cake though.. Thats for someone smarter than I in the brewing-ways.

I have not used a hopback/muslin bag or anything like that so far. I just strain the hops as I pour it in to my fermenter. Not an issue. I had a big oops on that day though. The stretchy nylon paint strainer I wrapped around my bucket, slipped in because the hops clogged up the strainer and the weight of the wort was too heavy. I had to reach in and grab the bag. I racked everything to a new bucket. (I use binder clips now lol)

My biggest oops to date. I was trying to aerate a 1 gallon jug of mead that I was fermenting. I couldn't shake the bottle that vigorously with the airlock on it since I didn't want any mead to get in to the airlock. I used a solid rubber stopper and started shaking.. Hooollly crap! I could not believe how much carbonation was trapped inside 1 little gallon. It started to geyser. I tried stopping it with the rubber stopper and that just turned it into a jet. Hit a few walls in the process. Lesson learned

 

[car421]

This will also be my first time dry hopping, I wonder what stupidity will happen then.

 

[car421]

Thank goodness I put on the large blowoff tube, krausen up into it about 12 inches. It is chugging away.

 

[tnsen]

ummm did you say you racked onto a yeast cake....and then you said "after I pitched my yeast"....if I am reading this right, and unless I am mistaken, I think you should do one or the other...not sure of the outcome of that will be...

 

[troy2000]

Doesn't sound so bad Don't know what to say about the yeast cake though.. Thats for someone smarter than I in the brewing-ways.

I have not used a hopback/muslin bag or anything like that so far. I just strain the hops as I pour it in to my fermenter. Not an issue. I had a big oops on that day though. The stretchy nylon paint strainer I wrapped around my bucket, slipped in because the hops clogged up the strainer and the weight of the wort was too heavy. I had to reach in and grab the bag. I racked everything to a new bucket. (I use binder clips now lol)

My biggest oops to date. I was trying to aerate a 1 gallon jug of mead that I was fermenting. I couldn't shake the bottle that vigorously with the airlock on it since I didn't want any mead to get in to the airlock. I used a solid rubber stopper and started shaking.. Hooollly crap! I could not believe how much carbonation was trapped inside 1 little gallon. It started to geyser. I tried stopping it with the rubber stopper and that just turned it into a jet. Hit a few walls in the process. Lesson learned

Reminds me of the old joke about a farmer who plugged his pig, so it would weigh more at the County fair. Punchline: "but the funniest thing I ever seen in my life was that monkey, tryin' to put the cork back in..."D

 

[car421]

ummm did you say you racked onto a yeast cake....and then you said "after I pitched my yeast"....if I am reading this right, and unless I am mistaken, I think you should do one or the other...not sure of the outcome of that will be...

It was a high gravity beer so I utilized a yeast cake from my last batch along with pitching yeast. I did this to help hit my FG. There are plenty of threads about doing this.