Worst brew day in a long time

[eulipion2]

Today I decided to brew a Great Lakes Nosferatu clone attempt. I ended up with 7 gallons instead of 6, and 67% (at 7 gallons) efficiency instead of 73% (at 6 gallons), meaning my gravity was 15 points below where it should have been. 7 gallons of 1.060 wort instead of 6 gallons of 1.075 wort.

I used the same mash calculator settings I always use, BrewTarget for my recipe numbers, and still things didn't work out. Admittedly it's the first time I've ever tried such a large grain bill for BIAB (18.25 lb; the highest I've gone before this was 16 lb) and the first time I used my drill on my grain mill instead of hand cranking it, but that shouldn't have screwed me that much, right?

Anyone else have issues with their Labor Day brew?

 

[butterpants]

I had to work today. Worst Brew Day Ever

 

[eulipion2]

Ha! Agreed.

 

[dbrewski]

Well technically it was yesterday but I was draining the mash tun into the kettle. I stepped inside to do something and when I came back out the wort was pouring out the open kettle valve. Oops. I lost at least a gallon, ending up with 6.5 gallons of 1.034 wort. Yuck. Some quick additions with DME and some honey I had sitting around means this hoppy pale ale is now an experiment. I hate it when my brews devolve into experiments.

 

[eulipion2]

I hate it when my brews devolve into experiments.

Most of my beers are experiements...

 

[The542]

Wasn't a Labor Day brew, but had an experience a month ago...
We set out to have a double brew day. First up was an American Barleywine, which we got a late start on because my brew homie was late from helping a friend move.
We mashed in just before the thunder started to roll. We received a Philly record of 8.25" of rainfall in 3.5 hours!!! The boil was conducted outside with the lid on the entire boil, which kept us from condensing up to the gravity we were after, and we feared massive infection.
Took a refracto reading aiming for 1.111 and got 1.070 and a lot more wort than 5.0 gallons.
I made the command decision to treat it as a double ipa and pitched a washed and built wlp090, aerated with o2, and dry hopped with four oz of Amarillo.
Final was 1.008, no infection and the best IIPA I've ever made.
It's all about how you roll with the punches...

Pics

 

[eulipion2]

Took a refracto reading aiming for 1.111 and got 1.070 and a lot more wort than 5.0 gallons.

Wow! Guess I don't feel as bad since I was only 15 points under, but glad it still worked out for you.

On a side note, would a poor crush affect my absorption so drastically that I'd have almost a whole gallon more than intended? Sorry, it's been bugging me - I usually come in slightly under volume, never over, and certainly not a gallon over! Must troubleshoot.

Keep your horror stories coming. These are fun!

 

[daksin]

My last brewday took 11 hours and I got home at 6AM. Then I had to go to work. That was my worst brewday for sure.

 

[eulipion2]

My last brewday took 11 hours and I got home at 6AM. Then I had to go to work. That was my worst brewday for sure.

Were you at least doing something interesting, like a turbid mash, sour mash, or maybe a triple decoction?