School Boy Error of the Day Award...

[morethanworts]

...goes to me today, for carefully dissolving some gelatin finings in a pan, before removing the cap from the barrel, turning back, and mistaking the (unsanitised) pan of cold water that had been used to cool the gelatin pan, for the gelatin itself...which I promptly added to the barrel.

Feel free to nominate yourselves for an award, and make me feel slightly better...
:whistle:

 

[PD]

I sat for 10 mins with chiller in the beer after the boil....


Elements were still on...

 

[bunkerbrewer]

I've syphoned beer into the bottling bucket, with the tap on the bucket left open... :whistle:

 

[sam.k]

I attached my tap to the cornie and turned around to get my glass, when I turned back I realised I had knocked the tap forward. The sink was running so I didn't here the 2-3 pints that went on the floor.

 

[tommidolcetto]

I just thought I'd topped up the FV by 2 litres too much 'cos I was looking at scale whilst I aerated by whisking hard - liquid spinning round went up the edges....

 

[rich27500]

I've done the bottling bucket thing.

I also forgot to fit the hop filter to the boiler before mashing (BIAB remember,) and had to empty it all into a FV before starting the boil.

 

[Darcey]

Filling 50l of wort getting to the boil adding first hops then finding the hop filter on the side..

or

Getting 50l of wort to the boil and wondering how hot the side of the copper feels to the touch.

or....

Electrocuting myself on a 25 year old electrim-bin.... THREE times in ONE day....

or...

adding 'neat' peripatetic acid to diluted caustic soda....

 

[cutnrun]

I have managed to drop the boiler when moving it closer to the tap for the cooler. clipped one of the elements breaking the seal. had to transfer 25l of boiling wort into a FV. while it was gushing out near the power! I think i nearly got a darwin award for that one!

 

[PD]

dropped a tea towel in the boiler at start of brew ! did not make for a dry beer

 

[morethanworts]

I'm feeling slightly better now...

 

[TRXnMe]

So far, in the little AG brewing I've done here's the Doh!! list

Hit strike temperature on the HLT, let the water into the mash tun and found out the MT tap was open.... 15 litres of warm water all over the kitchen floor.

Opened tap on mash tun to put the first runnings into the boiler, tap open on bolier Sticcky wort is harder to mop up than warm water :)

Sat waiting for the HLT to heat the water up, only to realise that the elements aren't turned on....

Got the wort down to temperature and into a fermenting bucket to find out I had no yeast to hand, so had to get some yeast out another FV that was ready for racking off (happily it worked).

Removed one of the elements from my boiler because it leaked, didn't remember why it was out, put it back in and filled it with wort..... Back to the mop up, wort is a begger to get out the mop, the utility room stank of booze for weeks.

I'm not entirely incompetent, but working hard on getting there

 

[oz11]

Most of the common ones: taps open, hopstrainer sitting next to boiler where I left it so I'd see it and remember to put it in, an ever increasing number of broken glass thermometers (one went on saturday, I think that was my last one).

But the major one was getting complacent/lazy, not checking gravity, bottling before FG reached leading to bottle-bombs (they are not a myth, kids!).

 

[calumscott]

Last one was watching the timer on Beersmith Lite, getting all prepped and ready for the 10 minute additions and chucking them in when the timer said 10...

...the timer counts down to the next step, not the end of the boil so 10 minute hops became 20 minute hops and more had to be chucked in on the fly.

First AG - went some way to nearly boiling the mash... Full burners under a BIAB potful without stirring... Produced a decent pint in the end though...

I'm sure there are more but I've burned them from my memory!

 

[elslow]

Think I posted this one before, but... First brew I did, I was sterilising bottles in the oven after reading Palmer's "how to brew" online. Had a few swing top grolsch in there too, but being clever I took the rubber seal off the top. Turns out the top is plastic not ceramic. Melted smoking plastic all over the bottom of the oven. She was not one bit pleased...

 

[critch]

trusting the maltster when he described a sack of grain "pale", trusting a 3 year old thermometer and a cheap assed new one to be accurate, wrong hops in the beer, wondering why the beer wasnt coming to the boil and then realising i hadnt switched the sodding elements on

plus many, many, more, too numerous to mention.........

theyre only mistakes if you do 'em twice, the first go gets labeled "learning curve" :whistle:

 

[RobWalker]

added 2L sodium metabisulphate to the boil once...seemed to go okay :wha:

 

[alanywiseman.]

Trying to be a cheap *** and reusing a febreze bottle for my sanatiser then releasing as I was capping that all my beer smelt like febreze

 

[andyakameatloaf]

Not my error, but I think it deserves a mention.
When it's empty I use my FV as a laptop stand in my bedroom, as it's fairly small and there isn't enough floor space to hold much furniture in there, and also I'm cheap.
Came in from a night out and went to the toilet. Came out and couldn't find the GF anywhere. Went upstairs to find her battered, leaning over my FV vomiting in it.
Immediately replaced it with the washing up bowl from the kitchen sink (which i threw away and replaced afterwards) and took it downstairs. In the shower, swilled round, half a tub of VWP to soak for over a week.

The response when i mentioned it the next day?
"Well you were in the toilet, what else was i meant to do"

 

[mattrickl06]

Poured a boiling hot hop tea into my plastic FV which promptly melted and then leaked out over the floor :sulk: