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

[alpo]

1st all grain i mashed unmilled grain

Oh, man. lol

 

[bsay]

I have left a wheat beer in primary, on the yeast for two months before bottling, it's excellent. (Usually I hear the stereotype that wheat beer is to be enjoyed young, and not to leave any beer on the yeast for much beyond primary fermentation).

I have left a fermenter overnight to cool before pitching. Mmmm, yummy!

Almost every time I bottle, I've had to stir in the priming sugar, rather than racking on top of it. Never had a problem at all!

 

[Oligarchy]

had a nightmare of a first partial mash, clogged my braid, tried to stir the grain off it and broke my braid stuck my arms in it. so i tea bagged 10 pounds of grain the remained of my wort. was so frustrated i put down all my equipment on the garage floor, stirring spoons, grain bags everything, not even on a towel, dirty cold cement. stupid electric turkey pot couldnt hardly boil the wort, i had it uncovered exposed to outside air for nearly an hour.

then, when i cooled it witha wort chiller (home made its super easy and works!) left it exposed for anther 20min while it got to room temp. forgot to aerate it well, but the pouring action into my carboy was probably enough.

the temp stayed at a good 60 degrees in fermentation, but it got really cold one night so i put an electric blanket near it, the next morining it was up to 78, this is my hybrid stout i posted a bit back btw.

used a butt load of black patent and left the grain bag in for nearly an hour, forgot about it, its pitch black, pretty awesome though. dry hopped in primary lol. my one way valve leaked water down into the beer during fermentation

after all that i just racked it to secondary after 15 days. Tasted AMAZING, glorious chocolate and coffee well balanced up front, hops in the background, black like jet fuel, thick as swamp mud, was 10.5% abv going into secondary. This thing is a mouthful.

going to have a hard time leaving it in secondary for any long stretch or bottle wise.

 

[zac]

I guess my mix up of ordering milled All Grain my first time buying ingredients was prolly a bad idea. Forced me to go AG tho. 1 PM batch that came with the kit, rest have all been AG.

All my insignificant screw-ups have come from the need to drink copious amounts of booze during brew days. My brews days include up to 5 batches, I dont get to brew that often, so I have up to three batches going at one time. 1 mashing, 1 heating mash water & 1 on the boil. Makes for some interesting juggling on brew days. Brew days sometimes start at 0600 and have been known to last till after 2200 at night.

I guess not a mess up, but funny.. My best favorite hound dog "marked" my banjo burner the first time I had it on the deck. He wasn't hurt, but the steam bath on his dog parts got made me laugh. To this day, he watches the banjo burner like its a shocking stick.

Great thread Revvy.

 

[hamilt22]

Fumbled a hydrometer into the primary. Batch got infected. Oops.

 

[Madman]

Well, I'm just on my first brew, so I don't know how it turned out. However, when the specialty grains were done steeping, I was talking to a couple friends who were over and had a couple of Dogfish Heads in me. Without thinking, I reached into the hot mash to grab the bag of grains out. Probably left a few scalded skin cells in there! :cross:

 

[OneShoeBrew]

After racking on top of fruit puree, I had a Cherry Wheat gush out of my (5) gallon secondary for a few days. I use an airlock instead of a blowoff tube, so just cleaned things up every few hours, refreshed the airlock with water, and waited until it finished doing its thing.

It turned out great. (12) months later and the last bottle is chilling in the fridge.

 

[FlyGuy]

Just spotted this thread. I have done my share of bonehead things, too.

1. When I started brewing I used to ferment my beer in plastic buckets in a cubby-hole behind the furnace in my basement. It worked well to begin with (summer), and then I couldn't figure out why suddenly all my beer started tasting awful (winter when furnace was cycling in and out).

2. Racked my wort into the carboy before I had drained 2 - 3 quarts of Star San (beer turned out fine).

3. Bottled an entire 5 gal batch before I realized the priming sugar was still cooling on the counter. (I have actually done this *three* times, and once everything was even capped!) Thank god for priming tabs.

4. Totally forgot that I had a stout in the secondary. Found it 6 months later. Was my first ever good stout!

5. Biggest bonehead move was thinking that I would start homebrewing to save money. :cross: My beers have turned out great, though -- not sure that counts.

 

[Revvy]

I just remembered another one...I bottled a beer with Lactose instead of priming sugar. I learned that I have to make sure all the different white powders in the brewer (lactose, maltodextrine, corn sugar, brewing salts, pbw, old onestep,) are all in properly labeled containers.




It carbed slightly on it's own...but tasted a little sweeter than it should have. But it was drinkable.

At least I hope it was lactose.

That was a few months back and I'm still alive, so I don't think it was pbw or anything like that.

 

[MNBugeater]

I've had several batches that at the time I thought I had really screwed up but I have never made a beer that I didnt drink or dump...but the big one of note is a Pumpkin Ale I made almost 3 years ago.

Instead of using brewers syrup I used real Canadian Maple syrup (its easily accessible here) but I didnt take a refract reading or anything to tell me the sugar content of the syrup. It ended up having a significantly higher sugar content that I had planned. Additionally, I miscalculated how much spices to add...I added some ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc for this pumpkin ale. But WAAAAAY too much. Note to noobs..a little goes a long way.

Well when first tasting came around about 4-5 weeks in the bottles it had never carbonated AND I swore I brewed some nasty spiced hooch. It reminded me of nasty moonshine I had in Alabama one time. The spices dominated, no pumpkin at all, it burned my nose, and no carbonation.

Well I sorta left it and dismissed it as a noble effort but likely a bad attempt. Months went by and a friend asked how that pumpkin ale turned out and I said "$hitty". Its like uncarbonated spiced moonshine I said....of course he wanted to try it. So he did and he liked it..in fact he loved the flavor and I will admit the ethyl flavors had subsided considerably and the pumpkin started to emerge amongst the spice.

Soooo...I had 2 cases of this stuff uncarbonated in bottles. I carefully poured them all out into a bottling bucket, drained into a keg, pushed it through a plate filter into a 2nd keg, force carbed it and served it at a Halloween party over a year later and it was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved it.

And the best part...I have all my notes from brewday and I can likely reproduce this beer. It took 14-15 months but I had an amazing beer that I had all but written off. I am not sure why it didnt carbonate in the bottles but i suspect the residual spices may have had something to do with the yeast not being happy, no idea. But it all worked out.

 

[conpewter]

When I was mashing in my kitchen last year I started the run-off into my brand new keggle I'd built. Started eating lunch to turn around to a floor covered in wort, I didn't close the valve on my keg so 1-2 gallons of my first runnings were on the floor! Thus was born my oatmeal floor stout (No I didn't put the runnings back into the pot). Turned out great.

On the other hand my first batch I aerated with a pump from a blow up mattress, with all sorts of dust and crap in it. That batch got infected and spread that to some of my later batches, but I replaced all my plastic so doing better now.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

The biggest mistake I ever made was getting into brewing to begin with. It's been a love hate experience. I love it, wife hates it, despite her actions.

Fortunately, the only infections I have suffered have been a debilitating bacterium that seems to favor metabolizing greenbacks and lives within the digital confines of my bank account.

 

[Revvy]

I have a non brewing related bit of stupidity this morning.

Evidently yesterday morning before I left for work, rather than putting my dirty coffee mug in the sink...I put it in the fridge. Didn't notice it at all last night, even though I was going in and out repeatedly for beer...

It might be homebrew related in a sense, because my usual routine in the morning after I drop off my cup, and before I head into the shower, is to go into my brew closet and oogle my carboys, and since the night before I had brought the bucket that I am fermenting a lager in up from the garage storage I have, to do a diacytle rest, I was all excited to peak at it yesterday morning.

My mom used to do silly stuff like that...put things in the wrong place on occasion....sheesh I'm getting old.

 

[johnnyc]

When I was mashing in my kitchen last year I started the run-off into my brand new keggle I'd built. Started eating lunch to turn around to a floor covered in wort, I didn't close the valve on my keg so 1-2 gallons of my first runnings were on the floor! Thus was born my oatmeal floor stout (No I didn't put the runnings back into the pot). Turned out great.

I use my bottling bucket as my primary and when I clean it I drain the star san through the valve to clean it...well I didn't close it back before I poured my wort and lost about a gallon to the beer gods. Just made a smaller batch that time.

 

[dontman]

My mom used to do silly stuff like that...put things in the wrong place on occasion....sheesh I'm getting old.

I wasn't going to say but since you brought it up, sounds like a definite "Senior Moment"

On the subject of "Senior Moments" When I woke up this past Wednesday, I had a sore back and sides. Could not figure out why. Until I went to move my carboy from my brewday on Tuesday. Then it struck me. I am old enough that a full brewday makes me sore the next day. Holy carp!

 

[Revvy]

I wasn't going to say but since you brought it up, sounds like a definite "Senior Moment"

On the subject of "Senior Moments" When I woke up this past Wednesday, I had a sore back and sides. Could not figure out why. Until I went to move my carboy from my brewday on Tuesday. Then it struck me. I am old enough that a full brewday makes me sore the next day. Holy carp!

Yeah.....I mentioned a few weeks ago that I through my back out while on the floor using my grain mill...

And some times even lifting a 3 gallon fermenter does my back in...but I know that feeling about a long brew day on your feet...

(Gee I hope I remembered to turn off my coffee pot.)

 

[oinyo]

It is still to early to tell how this will turn out but in my no smell primary setup I accedently did not run my outdoor hose through a heating system yet so for a few days the nice freezing weather had a direct route from the outdoors to my beer

Now of course I have a nice long hose running along my heating duct so the air that reached the blowoff bucket is warm

 

[GloHoppa]

The first time I brewed I was using Mr. Beer and a West Coast Pale Ale kit. I really had no idea what I was doing (if you asked me what FG or a hydrometer was I would have been bewildered), and the kit told me to use table sugar to prime the bottles. Rather than calculate how much was needed, add it together, boil it, etc I just used a spoon and added the recommended amount to each bottle, filled it up with beer, and shook it vigorously to mix. To recap that means I risked contamination and ridiculous oxidation in one simple step! It came out as good as a beer using prehopped LME and table sugar could be and got me started on this site!

My next beer was a bass ale clone and I was at college stuck using one of those old school ranges with a coil of hot metal trying to heat my 2.5-3gal brewpot. I had NO problems (surprisingly) with my mini mash (since I had no idea wtf that was, lol) even though I squeezed the hell out of that bag. It took about 50 mins to go from 150F to boiling, and the second I took my eyes off the pot, I had a huge boilover...I then did not mix NEARLY enough and my OG was about .2 off of my target. I also had a stuck fermentation (wouldnt drop below 1.022) since I just pitched my dry yeast right from the freezer on top of the wort. The beer turned out great, and probably would have been better if I didn't drink almost all of it within 3 months of bottling!

My bavarian hefe which was my last brew (since I got a job almost 2 weeks after brewing it) took about 2.5 hours to get down to temp with intense stirring, obscenities, and all the ice in my freezer (~6 trays full). My impatience made me pitch my smack pak at a balmy 80F, but the beer turned out fine, got right down to gravity (maybe high by a few points) and won me 3rd place in the hefeweizen category (of which the winner got best of show with a berlinner weisse...wtf?!)

Therefore, RDWHAHB!

 

[dontman]

It is still to early to tell how this will turn out but in my no smell primary setup I accedently did not run my outdoor hose through a heating system yet so for a few days the nice freezing weather had a direct route from the outdoors to my beer

Now of course I have a nice long hose running along my heating duct so the air that reached the blowoff bucket is warm

I have never seen someone go to so much trouble just to vent ferment co2. How much smell are you getting? I keep six fermenters going pretty much at all times with no "no smell" system in place and I have no smell in my house.

 

[bull8042]

I have never seen someone go to so much trouble just to vent ferment co2. How much smell are you getting? I keep six fermenters going pretty much at all times with no "no smell" system in place and I have no smell in my house.

OMG! I just realized what he is implying.... That is a first for me, that is for sure.
Uhhhh, your blowoff bucket can be right beside the fermenter. No need to vent outside!

 

[Revvy]

I was using a hair brush in the bathroom underneath my carboy to tilt it as I racked it into the bottling bucket...forgot to move the bucket away first, and when I picked up the carboy, the brush fell right in. No infection, but wouldn't recommend as standard practice.

I missed this one Moonshae, this is exactly how my bottling bucket diptube got invented.....Only it wasn't a hairbrush it was one of those big BBQ lighters that I was using, until it fell in.

 

[Beerthoven]

The biggest mistake I ever made was fatal for the beer. In fact, I had to dump it. I fermented an english ale yeast without temp control and the fermenter got to 82F or something. Tasted like paint thinner; just terrible.

I once mistakenly used S-04 instead of US-05, and the beer turned out fine.

I once mistakenly forgot to sanitize my bottling bucket, and the beer turned out fine.

Every time I brew I rehydrate my dry yeast in straight tap water (no boiling to sanitize first) and the beer always turns out fine. I don't call this a mistake, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

I once brewed a recipe that called for a half pound each of Amber, Crystal 60, and Munich. I didn't pay attention to the amount of grain that came in the little bags and mistakenly used 1 whole pound of each. Beer turned out great.

On my second all grain batch I way overshot my mash temp and mashed at 160F instead of 152F. It stopped fermenting at 62% attenuation, and so had a lot more body/sweetness than I wanted. It was OK, not great.

I often commit little sanitation sins on brew day, like putting my long kettle spoon down on the dirty sink, then using it later to stir cool wort; or not sanitizing my thermometer or air lock at all. Beer always turns out fine.

 

[mattyg]

I recently bottled a Marzen and instead of boiling the bottling sugar and water together I only heated up the water so the sugar was dissolved. Hopefully this doesn't create funk in the bottles.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I recently bottled a Marzen and instead of boiling the bottling sugar and water together I only heated up the water so the sugar was dissolved. Hopefully this doesn't create funk in the bottles.

I have NEVER boiled ANYTHING for priming. I have always just dumped the sugar in and racked onto it.

 

[mattyg]

I have NEVER boiled ANYTHING for priming. I have always just dumped the sugar in and racked onto it.

Well that makes me feel better. Every book I've looked at has you boil the sugar and water together, then cool it down before adding it to your beer.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Well that makes me feel better. Every book I've looked at has you boil the sugar and water together, then cool it down before adding it to your beer.

Yeah.

"When I read about the evils of drinking beer, I gave up reading" - Henny Youngman

 

[Brett3rThanU]

I neglected to use a blow off tube on a 91 point strong ale and the lid blew off my fermenter. It spent about half the day uncovered, wort everywhere, and it turned out just fine.

 

[sdhucks7]

On my first two AGs I bought a plastic braid for my mash tun instead of SS and for the life of me couldnt understand why I kept having stuck sparges. Got very drnuk both times and both beers turned out fine. Got so drnuk one brew day that I didnt remember pitching the yeast or cleaning up anything and was very surprised the next morning when I found everything put up and the airlock bubbling away. This was one of my best beers so far!


SD

 

[jds]

Way back in my early brewing days, I would regularly cool wort, put it in a carboy overnight, then rack off the settled trub and pitch yeast. Never had a problem, and made some okay beers that way. Lots of homebrewers were working that way in the early 90's.

When I started brewing again after a long hiatus, I began brewing outdoors with a burner, and neglected to account for boiloff. My 1.060 IPA became a 1.078 IPA with no hops adjustment. I direct-pitched a vial of WL liquid yeast, racked too soon, and still ended up with a tasty, but filling, ale.

When I started kegging, I didn't have a fridge, so I stored kegs in my basement and carbonated at 35-40 PSI. The beer came out just fine, but I went through a lot of CO2 blowing down kegs for serving.

My first AG brewday was a little crazy, because I was impatient, overshot my mash-in, over corrected, and ended up having to direct-heat the whole mash to temperature before throwing it back in the mash tun. The beer turned out great.

 

[sdhucks7]

were you drnuk when you wrote this lol

Why yes i was a little on the tipsy side



SD