Dulux Chutney Pilsner AG#6

[andymacintyre]

Where to start? Possibly the most disastrous days brewing ever. Moral of the story - poor preparation and a garage cluttered with kiddies toys makes for a stressful brew!

I have today brewed a pilsner. Recipe here http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2203317/pitrevie pilsner.pdf

This was to be my first attempt at going from a 23l brelength to a 2 corny 42l brewlength.
After a bit of faffing about yesterday wondering if my Hop and Grain coolbox tun would hold the grains, Dunfie very kindly lent me his 50l thermobox tun. Just as well - as trying to fly sparge an overflowing mash tun in the middle of this shambles would have been an even bigger headache.

First hiccup - while the mash was on, I set about trying to beef up the support for the MDF shelf in my new fermenting fridge. Not having time to do a proper job of it I tried to look around for something tall enough to prop the shelf up a bit. Aha - a tin of Dulux lilac white paint. That looks about right.

So I carried the tin over the the fridge and tripped over one of the kids plastic tricycles:

Falling head over heels with a tin of Dulux in my hands. I hit the deck hard and the tin of course burst open sending Dulux lilac white paint everywhere - mostly over me and the floor but splatters of it got everywhere. I had to strip completely out of my clothes as I looked like I had fallen in a vat of the stuff (yes even my Calvin Kleins got covered in the stuff):

As I didnt have a fermenter big enough for the new brew I used a food grade mango chutney barrel and stuck a tap on it. The barrel got fairly well splattered too:

As did the floor:

And my toolbox:

And SWMBOS dining room chair

Pretty much the only thing to escape without looking like it had been paintballed was Dunfie's mashtun:

So I managed to get cleaned up but there was paint everyhere and I kept picking bits of it up. Never mind - onwards and downwards and time to start running off the mash. On topping up the tun for the first batch sparge I noted that my new HLT had sprung a leak around where I fitted the new sight tube. ****!!!

I got the top up in and left the mash and set about getting my old 30l Burco out of service and tipped the liquor in.

The sparges went smoothly - no stuck mash for a change. Thank The Lord as I might have given up by now.
55 litres of wort into the boiler.

60 min boil - no hiccups here - piece of cake.

Chilling started fine and I took me a sample - 1057OG - bang on the money.

I glanced up from the laptop to check the chilling was going OK and noticed the large puddle on the floor. F&^!!! I had forgot to shut the fermenter tap:

Only a bit over half a litre lost:

Still got my 40l into the fermenter so pretty much bang on target:

Sprinkled on 2 packets of Saflager W-34/70 at 22 degrees wort.
Left half an hour and it seemed to be liking it:

Now to aerate with my new paint mixer drill attachment. Oh, how very appropriate...

60 seconds or so on full tilt with the paint mixer and plenty of air mixed into the wort:

And then into the fridge to drop down to a controlled 12c for the ferment:

I think the Dulux Chutney Pilsner is going to be a cracker...! It was certainly hard work so it is bound to taste good. Hopefully no more disasters in store for this brew.....!

Now, I need a pint to get over the stress of this morning.

 

[Sean_Mc]

Glad it not just me that has days like that , a very apt brew name :grin:

Seems like it all came good though in the end :thumb:

 

[corby_brewer]

Nice looking brew you have there Andy. And a great set of pics.

 

[snail59]

Could have done with you against the USA with saves like that :rofl: .

 

[Muddydisco]

:lol: I'm sorry I shouldn't laugh But it does sound like a comedy sketch from only fools and horses or something.

Glad you managed to save the brew and at least you now can say you have done the painting as well! :thumb:

 

[rickthebrew]

:lol:

great post - after a brewday like that when you finish and have a couple of your hard made brews its all worth it :drink: :thumb:

even though at the time you want to smash things :lol:

 

[andymacintyre]

It was more like Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
This should probably be renamed Frank Spencer Pilsner
:-)

 

[corby_brewer]

It was more like Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
This should probably be renamed Frank Spencer Pilsner
:-)

nice to see that Calum saved the day with the tun.

 

[andymacintyre]

Yes - big thanks to Calum for the loan of the tun. If I'd attempted this with my old h&g one, this would have gone even more Pete Tong.

I nearly considered giving up on the brew when I stood there covered from head to toe in paint, slightly dazed by what just happened!

 

[Aleman]

Could have been worse . . . .
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. . . . . . You could have tried to set fire to your left testicle like I did

 

[andymacintyre]

Hehe. This homebrewing should be classed as an extreme sport.
"Extreme Brewing" with a bucket of paint on your head and your gonads on fire. Yeah!!

 

[snail59]

Hehe bucket of paint on your head and your gonads on fire. Yeah!!

Didn't Clve James Show that on ENDURANCE :rofl:

Hehe. This homebrewing should be classed as an extreme sport.

Dont get onto Extreme sports with my mates after a few beer's. Last weekend we came up with Exterme JENGA useing Railway sleepers and JCB's :shock:

 

[Dunfie]

Fekkin' brilliant mate...I've not laughed as much at a brewing story for a long time. :lol:

However if my tun smells like turps when I get it back I'll be a bit suspicious. :hmm:

 

[andymacintyre]

I have no idea how it escaped the tsunami of lilac paint. Sods Law would normally have dictated that it would have got the worst of it. Despite the chaos I had to have a laugh.
I am looking forward to getting my brewery better organised to try and avoid such "mishaps" in future!