Worst mistakes & Feck ups (Merged)

[IanG]

What's the worst mistake you've made? I know this isn't a brewing thread but please keep it brewing specific. I know everyone here is a total screw up

examples which certainly didn't happen to me:

that time you saw everything pouring on the ground only to notice that white washer on the windowsill you'd forgotten to add to the seal

that time you didn't tidy your work surfaces and knocked over a bucket of unmentionable then had to replace every carbon monoxide sensor


Please start each reply with "I certainly did not ...."

 

[RGeats]

Posted in error

 

[RGeats]

I certainly did not post a non brewing mistake in a thread that clearly says to keep it brewing specific!

 

[Saisonator]

I tried step mashing a wheat beer and it burnt to hell on the element. My
whole 24L batch went straight down the drain due to tasting burnt.
Never step mashed again.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

please keep it brewing specific

I have moved this from the Snug to General Beer Discussion as it might stay on topic here! (it wouldn't have there)

 

[Galena]

Brewing my first Smash, somehow I ended up with a very high OG with about 10 mins of boil remaining so did a quick calculation and added 2.5 litres water to bring it back on target. I didn't consider that of course this then reduced the bitterness and aroma to the point where I have a very bland beer. I am still drinking it though but it needs to be quite cold to be drinkable

 

[RichardM]

See Brew day fail stories?

 

[MickDundee]

I nearly boiled my cat alive 2 brews ago.

I brew in the utility room, thought I was doing the right thing by closing the door. Didn’t give the wide open window a thought, because it’s never been an issue.

I was alerted by the sound of my Starsan bottle being knocked into the sink and I opened the door to find he had climbed in the open window and was about to try to climb over the boiler instead of going around it (boiler sits on the floor in the corner - he had about 5ft of worktop at one side and about a foot at the other he could have jumped down from, but no he wanted to jump the boiler)

I think it would have been the end of my brewing career if I’d killed my cat making beer!

 

[IanG]

I am sorry, my bad. I posted in the wrong forum. Also I should have searched more carefully as the suggested thread is what I was looking for

See Brew day fail stories?

 

[jayk34]

I had a bit of a mare last night. I had a coopers ruby porter that had
Finished fermenting on Thursday. I was intending to leave it until Sunday to bottle so I started to do my new coopers irish stout in the new fv with a tap that arrived. I tested that the tap was not leaking by adding a few litres of water (first mistake) and started adding all of the ingredients. 15litres in the tap developed a leak !!! Panicked and sanitised my arm in an attempt to tighten the nut on the tap but that didn't work. I had to bottle my ruby porter a few days early to free up the non leaky fv and when trying to put the cap on the first bottle it smashed.

In the end everything worked out. The irish stout is bubbling away today and I just hope I have not spoiled it putting my arm in several times to try and tighten nut. Put some plumbers tape around the threads today and tightened it up with a pipe wrench and there is no leaks.

 

[Henders]

I certainly did not leave the flipping transfer tube in the fermenter after remembering oxygenating the pour into it is more sensible, and then today come to keg and realise I've got no god damn transfer tube! Flipping foaming starsan, who knows what else I left in there, probably my prize Transformers figurines!

 

[Saisonator]

I had a bit of a mare last night. I had a coopers ruby porter that had
Finished fermenting on Thursday. I was intending to leave it until Sunday to bottle so I started to do my new coopers irish stout in the new fv with a tap that arrived. I tested that the tap was not leaking by adding a few litres of water (first mistake) and started adding all of the ingredients. 15litres in the tap developed a leak !!! Panicked and sanitised my arm in an attempt to tighten the nut on the tap but that didn't work. I had to bottle my ruby porter a few days early to free up the non leaky fv and when trying to put the cap on the first bottle it smashed.

In the end everything worked out. The irish stout is bubbling away today and I just hope I have not spoiled it putting my arm in several times to try and tighten nut. Put some plumbers tape around the threads today and tightened it up with a pipe wrench and there is no leaks.

I had my arm in a brew like that before and got away with it too.
Just washed with soap before sticking arm in.

 

[jayk34]

Rolling my sleeve up and cleaning my arm was like a scene from All Creatures Great and Small

Fingers crossed that I have got away with it. Its currently bubbling away at the minute.

 

[DocAnna]

Wasting a whole year's harvest of grapes from our one vine in the greenhouse by trying to ferment a one gallon batch in an old 6 gallon fermenting bin with a leaky lid ..... I really should have kept what came out to use as red wine vinegar.

Anna

 

[IanG]

I certainly did not just pour half a kilo of carbon on the floor because I didn't put the mesh in the filter

 

[Drunkula]

Persisting with pressure barrels.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Trying bottling again recently after 40 plus years of using pressure barrels

 

[ericmark]

Trying to Lager a kit, I had read all about low temperature used to lager, so had a lager kit, so thought OK 10°C should work, in some ways not a total failure as it taught me a lot, mainly that when making beer with tap water which has not been boiled then you can't possibly stop all infection how ever clean to make everything, you need to produce alcohol fast, this is only way to stop infection, so start temperature is important, at 20°C alcohol is produced before infection can set in, we hope, but even at 18°C taking a risk.

Also pointed out to me, there is no point going OTT on cleaning, when your using non boiled tap water, every so often it will fail, nothing you can really do to stop it, it's tap water, what does one expect.

That lager brew went down the drain, never tried to lager a kit again, and also realised taking a couple of months to brew is not really any benefit. Yes I will make a light ale, but not lagered.

 

[itry]

listed in the order it happend

1. I met a girl

2. married

3. Kids

4. Forced to grow up

 

[Gerryjo]

I certainly did not just pour half a kilo of carbon on the floor because I didn't put the mesh in the filter

Hmmmm wonder what the carbon was to filter