Perfect brew day until...

[rancidcrabtree]

I realized as I was pouring the cooled wort into the primary that the spigot was open! I think I lost at least a quart of my Oatmeal Stout partial mash wort, plus now there is some in the spigot. I sprayed some filtered water up it and got as much wort out as possible, hopefully it wont ruin the batch. I'm really pissed about this, everything was going perfectly right until then!

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

RDWHAHB you might miss a little bit of OG unless you added less H2O to correct for it, but your beer should be fine

 

[Golddiggie]

Good reason to NOT use a primary with a spigot in it... :rockin:

 

[camus]

I know a guy that lost half of his sparge water leaving the spigot open, I think racked to a bottling bucket with the spigot open too.

One time that ******* started filling his kettle with hot wort while the spigot open, nice sensation on the belly crotch and thigh.

Finally there was a proclamation to check all spigots before transferring anything. By the end of the day there was another proclamation, always really make sure the damn things are closed.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

Good reason to NOT use a primary with a spigot in it... :rockin:

I think it's about time I upgrade to that 6.5 gallon carboy I've been looking at!

 

[beerloaf]

Sounds familiar. On my first batch I didn't check the tightness of the seal of the spigot and when I poured the wort into it, it leaked pretty bad. I ended up switching to another container and fixed it and then back into it again. It was a PITA and was very concerned about contamination however the beer turned our awesome!

 

[MrMeans]

these things happen, it will be fine. You just made an offering to the beer gods.

 

[Runyanka]

Just tip the spigot upright and keep it filled with sanitizer solution, this should fight off any wild yeasty beasties that come around.

 

[petey_c]

That happened to me twice. I colored one side of the spigot handle red and the other green so I'd know. Like the safety on a shotgun I used to have. You could also re-spray the spigot and then wrap a small plastic baggie, secured with a rubber band around it. You'll be okay though.

 

[ARittner]

My brew day last night went really well too. I had just put the carboy in the chest freezer (so the beer is safe), went back upstairs to get my bucket of Star-San and the tubing I needed for the blow-off. On the way down, I slipped on the wet cellar stairs (basement had been recently flooded) and ended up on my back, in about two inches of yucky flooded basement water. Of course, the 2.5 gallon bucket of Star-San solution landed on top of me and soaked me pretty thoroughly.

I'm none the worse for wear. Bumped, bruised, sore, and sanitized.... but glad I fell that time, rather than 5 minutes before carrying the glass carboy down the steps.

-A

 

[Shooter]

I love the name rancid!

 

[mrduna01]

This got me on the last brew day too... Didn't close the mash tun valve and got a good grain soak all over the front of me. It was a good laugh though.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

On the way down, I slipped on the wet cellar stairs (basement had been recently flooded) and ended up on my back, in about two inches of yucky flooded basement water. Of course, the 2.5 gallon bucket of Star-San solution landed on top of me and soaked me pretty thoroughly.

LOL! I don't feel so bad about my brew day at all anymore! Glad you're alright

 

[rancidcrabtree]

Well I'm thinking that since I missed my desired gravity by a few points (about 10 actually because I topped off with enough water to bring total volume to 5.5 gallons), I might add a couple pounds of lite brown sugar. The batch has been fermenting for almost a day now, I'm getting some sweet airlock action. If I add the brown sugar should I just toss it in raw or should I boil it in some water, let it cool, and then pour the water in? Will brown sugar throw the taste of an oatmeal stout off?

 

[Golddiggie]

You talking about that nasty brown sugar that you bake with, or turbinado/dememera sugar?? I would go with either turbinado or dememera sugar... You can make a simple syrup out of it (small amount of water, to get it dissolved), cool it down and pour it in... If you don't want to thin out the brew, though, you probably want to mix in some DME... For 10 gravity points, 10oz of extra light DME and 8oz of dememera sugar will get you there (for a 5 gallon batch)... You shouldn't have too much thinning of the brew's body that way, but still get a gravity boost.

As for throwing the taste off, it really depends on what you're after... Mixing DME and sugar together would probably be the safer bet... Or just adding a pound of extra light DME...

Look up the characteristics of both and decide.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

All I have on hand is that brown sugar for baking, I guess I'll just let it be.

 

[Golddiggie]

Most grocery stores carry the other stuff... Dememera/turbinado sugar could be ok... I would avoid the baking 'brown sugar' since that's just F'd up white sugar...

 

[rjwhite41]

I had a similar situation as the OP on Sunday. Brewing all day (double decoction, 2+ hour mash schedule, 3.5 hour boil) and everything was going just as planned. After cooling I am transferring my wort to my carboy (I siphon) and my wife comes around the corner saying hey look at the new hat I got for your son. So I turn to see my kid running in circles while wearing his new snow camo hat (he's only 15 months so it was pretty cute) and when I turn back to what I was doing I see that I am spilling wort all over the floor. Luckily I only spilled about a quart and I had a little extra wort to begin with. No harm no foul except for the mess I had to clean up.

 

[boo boo]

but glad I fell that time, rather than 5 minutes before carrying the glass carboy down the steps.

-A

I bet you won't be carrying anymore glass carboys downstairs... or at least i wouldn't.

I use a plastic carboy with cover to get my wort from my kettle outside into my conical inside. Pouring it in the conical also aerates the wort more, although I do use O2 with a stone.

 

[HexKrak]

I was collecting my first runnings and ran inside to check on my sparge water, When I came out I found rich dark first runnings in a puddle around my keggle where the valve had been knicked open by my pantleg. I was down by about 0.010 from my expected gravity at the end of the boil, but I also lost much less water to boil off this time for some reason so the excess water definitely affected that a bit. Oh well.. It will still be beer and will probably taste pretty good anyway.