Oh gosh...biggest noob mistake ever.

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dbsmith

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So...after all of my hard work and diligence put into brewing my first dunkelweizen, I made a horrible noob mistake. I was slightly intoxicated :drunk: while bottling, and I forgot to boil the priming sugar in water. Instead I just put it into the bottling bucket and stirred it around with a spoon. I'm aware that the oxidation isn't ideal, but since it's a dunkelweizen, it will taste good young anyway. I'm more concerned about bottle bombs. How likely do you think this is to happen? I aimed for 3.3 volumes of carbonation.
 
Sugar is sugar. Boiling just makes sure it is sterile and puts it in liquid form. As long as it is mixed well and didn't contain any nasty bugs you will be fine. Volume of carbonation will depend on amount of sugar.
 
I'm just worried about how well it is mixed. A couple infected beers is no big deal to me, I just don't want glass shrapnel and a pissed of gf, lol! :mug:
 
My main concern would be that you didn't get a completely even distribution of sugars. I've found that these sugars like to clump together until you mix them well enough with adequate water and or heat. I think you'll be okay. I don't think this qualifies as the, "biggest noob mistake ever..." Maybe dropping rat poison into your brew might, but not this...
 
P.S...........watch out for bottle bombs..............

Long legs means more room for beer!

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I think that the chance of bottle bombs is pretty low, as a penance for being intoxicated while doing the bottling, I think you should put all the bottles into a plastic container with a tight fitting lid so just in case one of the bottles blows, it won't injure anyone and the cleanup will be easier. It might help you to remember to keep the imbibing to a minimum until all the critical actions are done.

I never take a drink while brewing. I want my beer to turn out the best I can make it and if I have an alcoholic beverage, my mind will not be as sharp and mistakes are very easy to do then.
 
Yeah...I agree about just putting the bottles in a rubbermaid container or something and tucking them away for a while. That's about the extent of what my concern would be.
 
I think that the chance of bottle bombs is pretty low, as a penance for being intoxicated while doing the bottling, I think you should put all the bottles into a plastic container with a tight fitting lid so just in case one of the bottles blows, it won't injure anyone and the cleanup will be easier. It might help you to remember to keep the imbibing to a minimum until all the critical actions are done.

I never take a drink while brewing. I want my beer to turn out the best I can make it and if I have an alcoholic beverage, my mind will not be as sharp and mistakes are very easy to do then.

I really hope you are kidding here. It ain't brain surgery or landing a 747. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND DRINKING HOMEBREW DURING BREWING. You may want to keep it to 1 or 2 though.
 
I never take a drink while brewing. I want my beer to turn out the best I can make it and if I have an alcoholic beverage, my mind will not be as sharp and mistakes are very easy to do then.

I'd say that would work the first 4-5 brews of a newer brewer. Just to make sure they don't miss a step. But once it becomes second nature, Drink up!
 
Once the fire is off, it's all fair game :mug:

p.s. I made the same mistake on one of my first batches, though I had inexperience to blame (I think it's an experience rather than intoxication thing). The beer turned out just fine.
 
I really hope you are kidding here. It ain't brain surgery or landing a 747. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND DRINKING HOMEBREW DURING BREWING. You may want to keep it to 1 or 2 though.

depends on what kind of outcome you're aiming for.

If you want consistent, repeatable, competition winning results....then maybe you don't drink while you brew. If you just want to make beer, then sure..have a few, just don't burn your garage down.
 
I'm just worried about how well it is mixed. A couple infected beers is no big deal to me, I just don't want glass shrapnel and a pissed of gf, lol! :mug:

Rest assured that if your pursuing of the hobby goes like most members on here it will only be a matter of time until you do something that seems perfectly logical and reasonable at which she will end up pissed off about.

I think of it as a rite of passage.
 
While we are talking about bottle bombs. How long do you think it would take if one were to blow?
I've been putting bottled brew into rubber maid containers w/a few 1/2 gallon blocks of Ice to start conditionoing. But I have a small fridge that can hold 2 cases at about 68* and another to chill to drinking temp. Wouldn't want one to blow in the fridge.
 
I'm meant to boil the sugar before adding for bottling??!!??

Heh... yeah, haven't ever done that 6 batches and no bottle bombs. =) Don't worry!
 
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