What superstitions have snuck their way into your brewday?

[gunhaus]

First: I always consult the all knowing all powerful Oracle - If she deems that there are no pressing chores, then brew day can commence.

Second: I ALWAYS say three "hail Barley's" While making the sign of the cross with my church key, before opening my grain bins less i should be short a vital ingredient.

Third: I place a ceremonial bowl of milk and slice of bread on the back porch to discourage brownies and evil sprites from casting spells on my wort (AND to keep them from selling me the cookies that i don't really need)

Fourth: I ALWAYS stir everything clockwise. Nothing superstitious here. It is just the way i do it.

Last: I never EVER look at the weather forecast on brew day. It is a proven FACT that if you consult the weather service and they say "blue skies and sunshine" It WILL Immediately begin to rain on you right as you begin your mash in, or your boil. I do not care so much for myself on this one - but i hate to think I am ruining everyone else's Sunday!

 

[Nokt]

Third: I place a ceremonial bowl of milk and slice of bread on the back porch to discourage brownies and evil sprites from casting spells on my wort (AND to keep them from selling me the cookies that i don't really need)

I should have done this last weekend. Brew day did not go well.

 

[gunhaus]

It's ALL about the little details my friend!

 

[jcav]

My system has tri clover clamps all over and at every connection. It's a little OCD of me but I when I set up for brew day I like to make sure that I point all of the tri clover clamps in the same direction, usually with the wing nut part pointing down..... It makes for great beer!

John

 

[Sparkncode]

Drink one glass of a previous brew during the boil but no more untill its in the fermenter.

Of course an accidental blood offering is also appreciated by the beer gods.

 

[Nokt]

Of course an accidental blood offering is also appreciated by the beer gods.

Another one that I missed. Aegir was displeased with me.

 

[SEndorf]

Of course, I'm stating the obvious...
It's required that every brewer start the mash playing this song by Bobby Pickett

 

[snoman6115]

Boy now I feel like my sacrifice of a virgin chicken that's been blessed by the pope is a little overkill... they're kinda pricey but haven't made a bad beer since I started doing it!

 

[seatazzz]

My best brew days have been all due to the music I listen to. Gotta be Queen on Pandora. Belting out "Somebody to Love" at the top of my lungs makes my wort happy. OCD-wise, have to crush my campden tablets in my lucky Seahawks shot glass (only two, not one, three is overkill). One cup of coffee at the start, then it's slow sipping of whatever I have on tap. I also have to do everything in order; crush campden, fill HLT, start HLT, weigh grain, set up mash tun, etc. etc. etc. If one step is out of order I get flummoxed and am likely to forget something.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Anyone have any interesting/unusual things you do during brewdays to invoke the blessing of the beer gods, ward off the evil spirits of contamination and stuck fermentations, or just because you feel like it, even though science and logic tells you it won't make any difference to the final product?

One of mine: When I started brewing and trying to make various styles I would always buy a commercial example of the style I was brewing and sip it during the brew session for inspiration. At some point I started dumping a sip's worth of the commercial beer into my kettle at the beginning of the boil -- serving as a sort of inspiration for the wort-to-be, I guess.

Call it silly, call it a waste of perfectly good beer, but I've kept the tradition and pour a touch of beer into every kettle of beer I brew.

Hoping I'm not the only crazy one here...let's hear some of your brewday quirks!

Great post.

My brewing superstitions are similar:
- I never crack open my first beer before the hot break
- I always pour a little home-brew in the boil and say "Home-brew to home-brew: here's to a good batch."