What are some of the mistakes you made...where your beer still turned out great!

CornyKegs 728
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Yeah, I got some too....

My biggest....

I had a friend who just got into brewing (I had ZERO knowledge of home brewing at the time). We decided to brew a batch the day before my wedding while he was house sitting for his sister. Every thing went smoothly until it was time to put the airlock on the carboy. Such a simple task....I put the first stopper in but I pushed it in the carboy. "No worries" the brew master said, I have another one...(who doesn't drink ALOT the day before his wedding?) So he put the other one in but we had a little bit of trouble. It kept popping out....so I tried....I got it to stay...
I got back from my honeymoon with about a dozen messages on my cell phone...something about a carboy that exploded and how giant shards of glass had went through some dry wall and how I had to go help patch and paint a wall???? not sure what that was about...

Some nominal...

Did the arm in the primary.... Decent beer (first solo brew)

Missed several mash temps....Decent to GREAT beer

forgot to sanitize a carboy....great beer

Weed whacked some Stirlings that I planted this year (last weekend)

My last brew was a catastrophe...
1. Made a 3gal batch from a 5gal recipe
2. stuck sparge...Messed with the sparge for over 2 hours until I pulled all strainers from my cooler and used a hop bag to filter
3. only had enough hops for my bittering addition (LHBS closed due to the 4th)
4. during fermentation, my carboy reached a max temp of 76 deg (currently at 70)

I'm going to bottle tomorrow. I'm sure something will go wrong with that. Last time I capped, my caper would not crimp the caps all the way.

RDWHAHB

It will be beer...
 
Revvy,

Cheers for this story. Brewed my first beer. Was going to bottle today, but of grieve occurrences a loved one died. Traveling to a funeral instead, but had to take a sip anyways. It was skunky, I'm freaking out, then found your thread. Doesn't sound like contamination, but made a rookie mistake of leaving my gyle exposed to sunlight for a couple of days. I know the funk will probably never leave, but this is still a great insight. TY. I'm brewing an IIPA next weekend (got everything read for this most excellent style of beers). I will always put the effort, respect, and TIME into the beer that it deserves.
 
My 3 year old son threw his sweaty baseball hat into my boiling hefeweizen with about 15 min left. Beer turned out great, and it was named "homerun hefeweizen".
 
Left the carboy cleaning brush in my stainless conical and fermented with it in the entire time. Was wondering where I had put that damn brush. Quite decent beer.

Klaus
 
Beer turned out great after bottling. My first batch, ya know, I was making sure it had 5 fingers and toes. Not quite as smooth of an after taste as I was wanting, but kicks the crap out of Newcastle for depth and sensory enjoyment.

Will be bottling my IIPA I had a go at. Looking forward to it's try, and going to take a run at Dogfish's 60-min IPA this Sunday. Exciting stuff.
 
GNBrews said:
My fermenter bucket has a drum tap on the bottom. I poured the cooled wort into the bucket, pitched the yeast, and then discovered 10 mins later that I had a trickling leak. Unfortunately I didn't have another fermenter empty, so not knowing that the nut was *too* tight, I tried spinning the tap slightly to tighten the seal. Oops. The nut popped off the threads inside and dislocated the whole assembly. So, with one hand holding the tap against the bucket and keeping the beer from pouring all over the floor, I had to put my entire unsanitized arm inside the unfermented wort to reattach the nut.

The beer, an Irish Red, fermented out with no problems and was one of the tastiest beers I've ever brewed. :D
Click to expand...

First post here folks...I'm a total noob and just put my first coopers kit in the fermenting bucket last night. I was relieved to see that I should still be ok after reading the above post. I hadn't put any of my cold water in yet, so it was just my 130degree concentrated wort that I was putting my hand into several times to get the nut tightened up on that spiggot.
Australian Pale Ale is the brew, and I hope it turns out ok for my first attempt. Lots of great info here...looks like I found a home!!
 
Today I'm pretty sure I bottled a beer that had been sitting in the primary for 3.5 weeks and hadn't fermented at all. We'll see what happens.
 
Took first sample for hydro reading this morning out of the bucket...didn't take the lid off. I ended up pulling 8oz of blowoff water into 3/4 fermented beer. Fingers crossed it turns out well!!
 
I was trying to take a sample out of my fermenter for a O.G. reading. I was using a wine glass for some reason (have since started using a turkey baster). I ended up dropping the wine glass in the fermenter. When I bottled I found the wine glass sitting right side up on the bottom of the fermenter (convenient F.G. sample and plenty of yeast in glass). I was convinced that I had contaminated the batch but it ended up tasting pretty good.
 
Well this is a kegging story and not a brewing story, and I' pretty sure it's been metioned somewhere else but I'll add my story here.

My temperature guage came out of my keezer in the hot summer. The thermostat read 85, so the power didn't shut off from the external unit. My new keg of a robust porter frozer, along with a citrus weizen and apfelwein. I slowly thawed all the kegs and shook them up after thawing, le tthe yeast settle back down and everything tasts just as good as before.
 
I think on my 2nd or 3rd all grain batch sparge batch I was making a dfh indian brown clone.

Managed to dough in and leave the grain for about 30 minutes for its sacc rest until I eyed the braided hose manifold sitting on top of my brewing equipment, and not in the mashtun.

Ended up pouring all the mash into the kettle, attatching the braid, then pouring back in the mash. Sparge was fine, aside from a really chunky initial vorlauf.

Beer turned out fantastic.
 
I've had a few too.

1. IC hose water into the kettle. Didn't make any real difference.

2. I was adding hops to a wit right at the start of the boil. I threw them in and turned around for a second to grab a spoon. Whoosh, the boilover threw pretty much all of the hops back out of the kettle. I didn't have any more in the house so I stole the dry hops out of an APA and used those. It wasn't the best wit i've had, but it was drinkable.

3. Had a fermenter blow up because I was using weizen yeast and only left like 1/2 gallon of headspace. I won't make that mistake again and the wife was not pleased with me. Fortunately, it was in a shower so the cleanup wasn't too bad.

4. I was bottling 10 gallons of pale ale and I forgot the priming sugar in the second 5 gallon batch. By the time I realized what I'd done (everything capped and put into the storage room) I couldn't tell which cases came from which batch. I had to wait 2 weeks and then open 1 bottle from each case to figure it out. When I did figure it out, I had to open and dump 2 cases back into the bottling bucket to re-prime.

5. I've had run away fermentation temps lately. I'm sure it won't be the best I've ever made, but it should be drinkable.

Aaron
 
Just last week I pulled the top off my primary before transferring to keg and without thinking, I put my face over the rim to smell the beer. I sniffed and got a sinus full of CO2 which made me cough directly into the beer. Probably should have sprayed the surface with vodka. But I didn't think about it until after I had already started to siphon. Hopefully it turns out ok.
 
I decided to make a brew tree:rolleyes:
Didn't brew enough to get me through, determined that my next brew is going to be on said tree:rockin:
I now drink store bought (very good, expensive store bought, because now I can't deal with crap beer):(
Now I am spending too much money on beer, and can't brew:mad:
BUT! I will have the tree done next weekend, maybe do a brew during the week (I work 12 on 2 off) and my beer dagnamit will survive!:ban:
 
I was all set to bottle my pale ale. The bottles were cleand and sanitized and alll grouped together on the counter. I decided needed a little more light so I reached up to adjust the flourecsent spot light and before I knew it it came crashing down and busted right on top of the bottles. .....back to the wash/sanitize phase!:mad:
 
I was so excited to bottle my first batch I forgot to add the priming sugar. I actually capped the first one, got all excited and showed my wife and then it hit me to which I exclaimed "oh crap". I had already boiled my sugar in water and let it cool, but didn't want to transfer out of my bottling bucket only to transfer back into it for fear of oxidizing my beer. I poured the priming sugar on top of the wort and tried to cycle some wort into the pot and gently pour it back into the bottling bucket.

Some came out over carbed and others came out under carbed, but nothing too extreme. I now have 7 bottles left from that batch and actually just had a beer tasting party on 9/11/10. People were asking to drink my beer over beer they brought themselves.

Also with that same batch my steeping bag ripped while pulling the oatmeal out after a 30 minute steeping session. Some of this made it's way into my bottling bucket and I clogged my wand. I also thought it would be a good idea to use what was at the very bottom of the bottling bucket and got a few floaters into the last two bottles.

Also, when I was siphoning into my bottling bucket I started the process and then went to do something else (sanitize bottles or wash something). I look over and realize my spigot is open and there's about a six pack of beer all over my dining room floor. I had to mop about 4 times.

That batch taught me a lot, lol.
 
The more we do with less knowledge and experience, the more experience and knowledge we gain....assuming it doesn't kill us along the way... :)
 
My previous brew taught me to respect the yeastie beasties. I got home and stuck the White Labs vial in the freezer by accident. Didn't realize what I had done until the next day. I moved it to the fridge. Made a starter for it and gave it some time and the yeast started reproducing. Well I then made the wort and added the yeast. Well I thought fermentation had stuck. My gravity was too high and I took measurements 3 days in a row. I racked to secondary just to see what would happen and to wait until I could get more yeast to pitch and low and behold it started up again.
 
No matter how many years you've been brewing **** still happens. :D

Stirbar.jpg
 
my temp probe got loose in my keezer and froze my beer. didn't realize it until i took the disconnect off a keg and the poppet was frozen open. grabbed a propane torch and lit up the post until it seated.

then had to find another o-ring....lol.
 
I've dropped my stirbar into the fermenter at least once if not 2-3 times this year alone. I have a tendency to think I pulled it before setting the flask in the fridge. However when I pour the yeast I am quickly and too late reminded that it was in fact sitting in the yeast layer.
 
smokinghole said:
I've dropped my stirbar into the fermenter at least once if not 2-3 times this year alone. I have a tendency to think I pulled it before setting the flask in the fridge. However when I pour the yeast I am quickly and too late reminded that it was in fact sitting in the yeast layer.
Click to expand...

I've done it twice in my brewing history.
 
The last batch I bottled was a hacked Brew House kit which I hoped would be similar to Anchor Steam Beer. I threw everything into a brewing bucket and left it in a closet for about a month. At that time, I took out a hydrometer sample, and it tasted pretty good. A few days later, I opened it for another sample and noticed that there was a significant buildup of blue mold along the top of the krauesen line, and some floating on top of the beer as well. I figured it was ruined, but eventually decided that bottling is free (other than my time), so I carefully put in the racking cane and racked from under the mold.

That was about a month ago, and I can now say that the beer turned out exactly as I hoped. Initial taste of malt, with a hoppy finish - delicious!
 
I added the hops pellets to the grain bag and steeped them with the grains instead of throwing them in at the last 2 mins of the boil. It was a Nut Brown Ale. Turned out fine. I just did another batch the "right" way. We'll see in 6 weeks if I see any difference ;)
 
My first brew went pretty smoothly until I spilled a little wort while dumping it into the primary, not a big deal, so I go and get a towel and come back to find my dog licking the hell out of the spout of my carboy, his tongue getting on the inside of it. For a second there I thought it was contaminated and I'd have to dump the whole thing (re:noob).

I got some isopropyl and cleaned it up, turned out fine of course
 
lol i accidently dropped my fermenting bucket into the ice bath right before pouring wort into fermenter. i re sprayed with star san. then when i went to top off worth with water the little blue ring that comes on water and milk jugs fell into the fermenter and i picked it out with my hands. here's hoping my beer isn't infected.
 
Ewwwww!


OlReagan said:
My first brew went pretty smoothly until I spilled a little wort while dumping it into the primary, not a big deal, so I go and get a towel and come back to find my dog licking the hell out of the spout of my carboy, his tongue getting on the inside of it. For a second there I thought it was contaminated and I'd have to dump the whole thing (re:noob).

I got some isopropyl and cleaned it up, turned out fine of course
Click to expand...
 
I let my hop bag melt to the bottom of my boil pot. I drained it scraped off the black melted plastic and finished as usual. Great beer!
 
OlReagan said:
My first brew went pretty smoothly until I spilled a little wort while dumping it into the primary, not a big deal, so I go and get a towel and come back to find my dog licking the hell out of the spout of my carboy, his tongue getting on the inside of it. For a second there I thought it was contaminated and I'd have to dump the whole thing (re:noob).

I got some isopropyl and cleaned it up, turned out fine of course
Click to expand...

Should have called it "Doggie Drool Ale"!

On second thought, that might have prompted questions you'd rather not answer.
 
Several years ago I was brewing up an amber and had just transfered to the primary, which was a bucket back then. As I was putting the airlock into the lid, the small black rubber grommet got pushed into the fermenter. Fortunately, I was chewing some gum at the time. I had a cup of bleach and started sanitizing my gum. I was squeezing and stretching it in the bleach. When I thought I had done enough, I put it in the hole and gently pushed the airlock through it. Then I tried to 'form it' into a better seal.

I had all kinds of thoughts of bacteria and fungus and just expecting an absolute mess when I opened it. But as the thread goes, it turned out great.
 
A huge fly did a kamikaze dive into 5 gallons of hefeweizen in the bottling bucket. I fished the intoxicated fly out with the nearest thing - an unsanitized inoculating loop. Not only have the bottles not exploded, but the beer is delicious.
 
Ouroboros said:
A huge fly did a kamikaze dive into 5 gallons of hefeweizen in the bottling bucket. I fished the intoxicated fly out with the nearest thing - an unsanitized inoculating loop. Not only have the bottles not exploded, but the beer is delicious.
Click to expand...

you have inoculating loops laying around your house?
 
Mistakes that yielded no problems:

*one batch was bottled in unsanitzed bottles.
*I stuck my dirty hand in to unclog a strainer while pourng wort in the fermentor.
*walked away durng vorlof and lost wort to the patio (added extra sparge water).
*reused yeast that was put in an unsanitized jar.
*left a fresh fermentor sitting open for an hour before getting the lid & airlock on.
*took hydrometer sample without sanitizing.
*measured hops at half-strength.
*let a carboy get hot (around 80 degrees) for 12 hours
*a bunch other goof-ups
 
Bad Brew day memories from ONE batch:
I picked up the wrong gallon jug when topping off my fermenter. It was the one with the cloudy Starsan solution. I quickly stopped. I figure I only added about a cup or so.

I topped it off and checked OG. It was 1.020!!!! Saw the half full LME container. Added it and stirred for like 30 minutes to mix the room temp LME with the now cooled wort. The OG was then 1.046, but my arms were plum give out.

It took around 48 hours to show any signs of fermenting even with a full fresh vial of White Labs California Ale WL001 in the 2.5 gallon batch.

Dropping it down to 42* right after pitching might have contributed to the slow start. Not on purpose mind you, just too much ice in the cooler holding the carboys and too tired to drain it and start over. (This was a couple of hours after pitching, see next paragraph.)

Last but not least, the kitchen sink stopping up before I could do the cleanup. (Sure glad I have a habit of rinsing things off as I drop them in the sink.) Worked on it for a couple of hours then, of course, we ate out that night which helped SWMBO be more understanding. I called the plumber next morning.

BTW; the brew is doing fine. SG was at 1.012 a while ago so I added the 0.25 lb of honey and 4oz of Raspberry Spread. Also, SWMBO smiled after tasting the Hydrometer sample. So, there is hope.
 

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