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

[HillbillyDeluxe]

2 brews in a row, got f'd up and passes out with my immerion chiller running for 12 hours. great beer.
Got hammered on brew day, before i had an imersion chiller, and put the entire brew kettle in the deep freeze to cool. Passed out, left it for 12 hours. Was a block of ice when i removed, let it thaw and pitched at 50deg. Was the best wit i ever made.

I gotta quit drinkin so much, but why would i brew then? Its a canundrum!

 

[OMJ]

on one of my first batches my friend and I were doing he was trying to open the plastic bag the grains were in and ripped it completely open. They landed all over my driveway(which was very nasty at the time) We didnt see an option other than sweeping up the grains and using them and whatever else we got with them.

The beer turned out amazing so we called it driveway. We would always wait until after people tried it to tell them how we got the name though.

 

[woollybugger2]

this brew was going along great and then I broke the tip off of the thermometer, after several phone calls and post on HBT I discovered that the little balls that weigh the thermometer are made out of steel and that a food grade was is used to hold them in place.

I think that most of the debris was left in the pot but I poured it into another fermentor and left quite a bit in the first bucket to ensure that all the junk would be left behind.

The fermentation was normal and after 4 weeks i racked it to the bottling bucket, here comes mistake #2 I went with a full 5 oz of sugar but ended up with a little less that 4 gallons, so it might have been a little over primed. I also used a racking cane with a clip to keep it off of the bottom eliminating any chance of sucking up anything unwanted.

one week later I'm happy to be drinking a very tasty and exceptionally clear Fat Tire Clone ( what I call Belgian Amber!)

Can hardly wait 2 more weeks before I really get to reap the rewards ...

RDWHAHB!!

 

[SmugMug]

Last brew (partial mash) I completely forgot to prep the sparge water and sanitize the strainer. I was certain I was going to leach tannins and unfermentables into the wort since I had to leave the grains in the brew pot while I prepped the water and sanitized the strainer. I just shrugged it off, put the grain bag in the strainer and cracked open a homebrew while I waited for the water to come to temp. I had to remind myself that time heals everything and to continue on with the rest of the session. Everything else was spot on, so I'm not worried about it. I did miss the mark on the OG, but I very rarely hit the mark accurately anyway. Live and learn.

 

[MarshyTheKid]

This past batch I was aerating and my carefully cleaned and sanitized whisk suddenly came apart and sank. I was left holding the handle, which I saw was rusted on the inside, so I freaked and shoved my arm into it to grab the other piece of the whisk. We'll see how it turns out. When I racked it to secondary it tasted damn good.
Also with that batch, it was my first boil over batch.

My chocolate stout I screwed up majorly on. Kept forgetting things, or adding them at wrong times. It was my first time brewing in my apartment and I was freaking out over everything. Not to mention my gf kept wanting to fool around while I was supposed to be watching. I ended up also watering it down. 6.75 gallons instead of 5. Whoops. Its still a green beer, I'm hoping its going to be good.

My dad used to brew about 15 years ago and then took a break for about 10, until I made him start up again. So we made a batch again using the same stuff he used to had. Well it went belly up and was terrible. We had to get all new equipment. I do say, opening 50+ bottles of beer in a row is quite fun.

 

[Priemus]

Embarrasing and discusting.

I take a little off the top of the bucket for gravity every few days and usually drink it just to see what its like. Well this one time I took some quickly out, stuck it in the tube to check it and then without so much as a hesitation swigged it back. My god it was the most foul yeasty mucky stuff id every tasted, I couldnt swallow it so I turned my head and spat it quicky out.

...of course it landed square in the middle of the still open fermenting bucket...

I was a little scared of the beer after that point so I didnt drink it after bottling for literally months, but when I eventually did it was quite resonable.

 

[Shooter]

On my last brew I forgot to add any fermentables...

However, I've learned that I need to RDWHAHB. So, I'm letting this sucker ferment for three weeks and bottling.

It will probably be a little light, but might make a real thirst quenching end of summer brew. I can't wait!!!

(claps hands with excited anticipation)

 

[slomo]

I have to add again to this thread. After not brewing anything for three months due to lack of funds I decided to brew an esb. Everything went well just like riding a bike until it was time to cool everything down with the IC. One hour and ten minutes into the cool down time I was at 130 deg. Why is this going so slowly it use to only take 20 to 25 min max to cool I thought to myself. Then I realised that I hadnt turned the water on, but we are happily fermenting away now.

 

[dontman]

Ok. I got a good laugh at that one. I was expecting you to say you had hooked it up to the hot water feed.

 

[BrewinJay]

I haven't brewed to many batches yet but i made a stout once that I did not have enough extract for didn't turn out to bad I still have some that I am waiting to see if it improves. On my most recent batch that I made, it is an old ale, I recently discovered that I had let it over-carbonate, poured a glass last night out of the last few bottles that I have and the glass was half foam, very disappointing but doesn't taste too bad, but hey you live and learn.

 

[Cheaton]

It seems to me, that the moral of this story is.... Don't drink while brewing? Or at least.... don't drink too much while brewing!

 

[coryforsenate]

Me and my roommate were drinking and brewing and when it was time to cool the wort, one of the tubes popped off and being drunk, the best thing we could think of was to recollect it in the brew kettle. It was spewing a stream like a fountain and was splashing all around the kettle. It got oxidized to hell.

However, the debittered black pretty much covered up the oxidized flavor and almost seems to "work". I can taste some wet paper, but that's because I know what to look for, but nobody else seems to notice and if the rate of opening bottles is any indication, it turned out pretty good.

 

[Cheaton]

Me and my roommate were drinking and brewing and when it was time to cool the wort, one of the tubes popped off and being drunk, the best thing we could think of was to recollect it in the brew kettle. It was spewing a stream like a fountain and was splashing all around the kettle. It got oxidized to hell.

However, the debittered black pretty much covered up the oxidized flavor and almost seems to "work". I can taste some wet paper, but that's because I know what to look for, but nobody else seems to notice and if the rate of opening bottles is any indication, it turned out pretty good.

Don't you want to aerate your wort before you pitch? I'm confused!

 

[coryforsenate]

-Cheaton

It hadn't been cooled yet.

 

[Khyber]

Fantastic thread guys. Very encouraging to the noobs.

 

[Homercidal]

First AG recipe I somehow didn't figure out the mash temp and residual sugars correlation. I ended up with a fairly sweet and pretty dark IPA. After it sat for a several months it was a pretty nice beer!

 

[Morydd]

Given the number of posts in this thread that end with something along the lines of "And it was one of the best beers I've ever brewed." I'm thinking that the secret to good beer is actually to use unsanitized equipment, add in lawn clippings, driveway sweepings, pet slobber, and maybe some used car parts. Then stir with your bare hands. Then bottle it and wait 3-5 years. I think I'm ready to give it a try.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

 

[Revvy]

Given the number of posts in this thread that end with something along the lines of "And it was one of the best beers I've ever brewed." I'm thinking that the secret to good beer is actually to use unsanitized equipment, add in lawn clippings, driveway sweepings, pet slobber, and maybe some used car parts. Then stir with your bare hands. Then bottle it and wait 3-5 years. I think I'm ready to give it a try.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

No, the moral of the story is that your beer is more resilient than most new brewers think it is...and that;

As long as you follow instructions, take reasonable precautions, and sanitize, then despite most of the boneheaded mistakes you (and the rest of us) make as a brewer, there is a great possibility that your beer will turn out great. SO you might as well relax, and remember that this is a hobby, something fun, not something to stress out about.

 

[Morydd]

I realized after posting that I probably should've thrown a at the end of the first paragraph. The last sentence was utterly sincere. I suspect it may have come across as the opposite.

 

[Revvy]

I realized after posting that I probably should've thrown a at the end of the first paragraph. The last sentence was utterly sincere. I suspect it may have come across as the opposite.

I wasn't quite sure......But then I am often mis-interpreted too....

 

[Ksosh]

-Cheaton

It hadn't been cooled yet.

How the hell have I brewed 6+ batches and not noticed the 'don't aerate hot wort' part in all of the instructions?!? No more vigorous whisking in DME during boiling for me

 

[dontman]

How the hell have I brewed 6+ batches and not noticed the 'don't aerate hot wort' part in all of the instructions?!? No more vigorous whisking in DME during boiling for me

Because Hot Side Aeration is yet another brewer's bogeyman that has little to no effect on finished beer?

Any oxygen that gets introduced prefermentation, despite the superstition that runs in certain circles, will either get consumed by the multiplying yeast or scrubbed by the resultant co2 as it off gasses.

EDIT: This is exactly why Revvy started this thread - to dispel such myths.

 

[Revvy]

Because Hot Side Aeration is yet another brewer's bogeyman that has little to no effect on finished beer?

Any oxygen that gets introduced prefermentation, despite the superstition that runs in certain circles, will either get consumed by the multiplying yeast or scrubbed by the resultant co2 as it off gasses.

+1 to Dontman!!!!! It's not something to worryabout...

 

[jds]

Yesterday, I helped bottle a batch of beer that had been in the primary fermenter for NINE MONTHS. (It was in a neighbor's basement). The beer was just fine.

 

[Joos]

Yesterday, I helped bottle a batch of beer that had been in the primary fermenter for NINE MONTHS. (It was in a neighbor's basement). The beer was just fine.

Have you tried a bottle yet?Sorry for the ,but I'd really like to know.

Edit:just saw the "yesterday" part.

 

[Vuarra]

Joos... I'd suggest that jds tries the beer, rather than the bottle... a lot easier to consume

 

[Cheeto]

I tried to brew via Internet

caught a brett infection and freaked out
I let it sit for several months to finish off

now it is one of my most favored beers and I will never be able to make it again....

 

[heiman5]

i realized now on my 4th batch that starting the siphon by sucking on it probably isnt very sanitary... no problems thus far??!!

 

[jds]

Yesterday, I helped bottle a batch of beer that had been in the primary fermenter for NINE MONTHS. (It was in a neighbor's basement). The beer was just fine.

Have you tried a bottle yet?Sorry for the ,but I'd really like to know.

Edit:just saw the "yesterday" part.

Joos... I'd suggest that jds tries the beer, rather than the bottle... a lot easier to consume

The bottle was a bit crunchy, but the beer was tasty.

Honestly, it tasted like an overaged IPA. It wasn't huge to start with, had been in the primary for nine months, and was never dry hopped. Not much nose, but a nicely balanced malt body with hops bitterness. That's from a flat, warm, sample from the fermenter. It may get a nose once it's carbonated and chilled. I brought back a few bottles to check later.

 

[bob1852]

I had a live earwig in my bottling spigot that I didn't notice until I was cleaning it, and somehow the little bugger held on for all five gallons!