Well THAT was a total disaster...

[JGowls]

I like your ideas for the adding the smaller second runnings into to 3.1 beer. Its also great that even with the monster you created youre going to do something with it instead of tossing it. good luck to you and hopefully it turns out ok

 

[elkshadow]

Would read again.

I don't think I've ever had a day that bad but one of my funny things was hooking up my immersion chiller for the first time.

From the sink to the pot sitting on the toilet and the outlet in the tub. I was holding the outlet end in my hand when I turned the water on. I didn't realize the water coming out was going to be very hot and I kind of tried to throw the hose into the tub. Well of course the hose just started flailing around and basically covered me and my entire bathroom in very hot water. I was so stunned and shocked by it that it took a second to realize that I had to turn the water off. LOL

My brother tells a story about blowing into the hose for a stuck mash and getting a face full of hot wort because he just held the hose pointed at his face instead of into the kettle.

 

[RyeGuy]

This story is awesome. If it all went to plan what fun would that be. Consider it your AG rite of passage. Don't feel bad though, my first AG I scorched my BIAB, ran out of propane, forgot to add any hops, and set my keggle insulation on fire. Live and learn man.

 

[MindenMan]

I have been brewing a little over a year and went to AG after batch three or so. I knew there was a lot to learn, and should have used better thermometers, better propane burner, less ignorance, etc. Of the twelve or thirteen batches I have made, I am really only proud of two. The rest of course were drank, but not really enjoyed. So, I get it.

I have a coffee stout that is a couple of months old, that I may have mentioned previously, ( the one I was worried about ). Anyway, after sitting in the fridge for another week, wow, I may have to do this again. First pour (probably too cold) the head settled down and sort of resembled a proper nitrogen head as seen on a Guinness. No, I am not comparing my stout to a Guinness. BTW, I went to a TGIF a few days ago, and ordered a Guinness. What a disaster! The new keg was under carbed, but the head was pure Nitro, and pretty. Needless to say, I drank something else... Oh, yes, this batch I am rather proud of.

 

[924RACR]

Update from this end - hope springs eternal!

We added 1lb of corn sugar to the batch (now down to 5gal), and also threw in 2oz of Cascade to dry hop 'er up... tasted again yesterday.

SG is still hovering at 1.030, not making any further inroads to that apparently... but at least the added sugar went bye-bye - though you can indeed taste that dryness, at least it helps this beer. I wouldn't go so far as to call it balanced, but it's more palatable, less sickly-sweet now. But the sugar does seem to have added a bit of a wicked alcohol zing/burn to it I don't care for (but better than the alternative).

The hops are at least as significant an improvement too - though we could've even gone further. But they definitely bring it back in line. Not sure if we're gonna do another shot, might want to, throw some Warrior at it.

HOWEVER... meantime, over a few strong beers, we've figured out our next great idea for torturing this miserable beer...

Bourbon and wood. Keep in mind, it has an odd smoky undertone, thanks to a bit of scorching of the mash. So... we'll work with that now, with a small addition of bourbon (1cup) and 1 oz of hickory. Yes, not oak - we feel that the sharper hickory will probably do a better job of taming this beasty!

We were nearly in fact tempted to use mesquite, but talked ourselves down off of that ledge. LOL

Weird beers call for weird treatment, after all...

 

[924RACR]

PS - this is almost turning into something I'd be willing to try again, with a proper recipe... if we do end up in the right time zone with it, I will be scheming up a normal recipe to go in a similar direction.

Main question will be to see if we keep some smokiness (though through adding smoked malt this time! LOL)...

 

[924RACR]

Time (seriously!) for another update...

We hit this with the 1oz lightly-toasted hickory in 1 cup of bourbon, 2 weeks.

It's actually not bad. Not something you'd want to drink a lot of, but it'd probably be a pretty good winter fireside beer!

Accordingly, we'll be bottling in 12oz, and hiding it until the winter. There's a bit of stuff in there (with respect to flavors) which will probably benefit from sitting for 6mos. Not much of a summer beer, but pretty suitable for a funky winter/Xmas libation...

Never give up!!!

 

[JonM]

Ain't it great how those mistakes work out sometimes? I'm down to the last couple pints of a batch I call my "mistake beer" because I shorted the grain bill by about 30%, resulting in 3.1 ABV session pale ale. I was ticked when i first realized the mistake, but it's turned into a pretty darn good beer, and one I will make again.

 

[passedpawn]

It's not too late to take a shot at adding enzymes. Alpha amylase is probably available at your LHBS. A couple of teaspoons of AA, then pitch a packet of S-05 in there at the same time. I'm not sure it will help with this, but I've used them when I mashed poorly and I got 15 more points in the fermentor.

 

[DrDirt]

Just found this thread, love it.

OP, I think you might be developing Stockholm Syndrome with respect to this brew. Cheers!

 

[924RACR]

LOL!

Well, it's probably our most expensive brew now, to date... might as well get something drinkable out of it!