2 Fermenters Destroyed Today

[mossyrocks]

What can I say...

I've got to tell someone. Especially the now mellow state I'm in.

I had 3 fermenters :- 1 Coopers, 1 Brigalow and 1 I don't know.

A month or so ago I notice during my bottling of my 1st Partial mash (you might remember my question in the - AG and Partial section - 1st partial - appears yeast not working) - the Coopers fermenter's lid had a crack in it (by the way that brew turned out quite ordinary).

I figure I'll super glue the lid at the crack and she'll be right.

Today I decided to test this lid before I went to all the trouble of brewing my beer, put the on the lid and it fails. Immediately I screwed the lid on it shatters.

What a good move I thought, I've saved myself wasting hopefully a good beer.

No worries, I figure I've have 2 more fermenters to choice from - I used the Brigalow.
I used this one for my 2nd partial (much better than the 1st).

I go about the business of hopefully producing a good beer, have all 23 litres in my Brigalow fermenter, ask my son to move it into my upright esky so I can control the temperature - "Dad this fermenter has a leak up near the handles".

Holy s**t - battlestations - clean the last fermenter in preparation to move - the nectar of the gods - to the new fermenter as soon as possible.

Right, I've cleaned everthing that is going to come in contact with my brew - I lift the fermeter up and....

It COLLAPSES in my arms. 23 litres of brew all over the pergola area. Bits and pieces of fermenter are strewn everywhere. I'm covered in brew.

I now have a no name fermenter, a Coopers with no lid and brew everwhere.

What can a man do.

I clean up the mess - speak to the kids - "'Dad' would love a new fermenter for Xmas" - "Sorry Dad, we've already bought you your Xmas present" comes the response.

I open the beer fridge door - all I can do is have a few/lot of beers to drown my sorrows.

Looks like I'll be buying myself a new home brew kit for Xmas - hopefully tomorrow.

At the moment I'll have a few more beers to try and erase the shock, horror of seeing all my work flow down the drain hole.

I had to share this with someone and I know you guys will understand.

 

[joecast]

dang, rough day man. sorry to hear about losing the brew. when you said you had to speak to the kids, i thought it was going to be to apologise for using words they hadn't heard before :unsure:

anyway, im sure there is only so much bad luck any brewer can have, and today you used up a whole lot of it. cheers
joe

 

[Whistlingjack]

What a tragedy, mossyrocks!

But hey, don't buy more kits. Head off to Bunnings or Plastics Plus and pick up plastic fermenters for less dollars.

How did they get to this stage though?

Had the plastic perished for some reason?

My fermenters are long-lived and have a few more brews left in them.

My condolences for your loss, many brewers on this board can give you stories of similar catastrophies. At least you have the right attitude...get back into brewing.

WJ

 

[Trent]

Mate, that really sucks. I have heard some bad luck home brew stories, but this one has to go close to taking the Empty Glass (probably a bit more relative than cake).
Head to your local home brew shop and just buy yourself a fermenter, it will be cheaper than buying a whole kit, probably somewhere around the $30 mark.
Look on the bright side, at least they werent glass (and ya didnt wait through a week of fermentation before losing it!).
What the hell do you do to your fermenters anyway, to have 2 just fall apart? In a pinch, put some alfoil over the top of the coopers one and use that. You could even just use a clean tea towel - you dont NEED a lid to brew, they are just helpful at keeping bugs out, and are most helpful after the primary fermentation has finished - during fermentation, the output of CO2 usually keeps the wild yeasts etc.. at bay.
HTH
Trent

 

[Stuster]

Damn, you've had a bad day. Losing beer is never easy. Sorry I can't offer you one. I think I'd have been saying what joecast thought you were saying to your kids.

If it's any help, I'd say you can still use the fermenter with no lid, just pop some cling film over the top, tied on with the o-ring if it was one of those kind which it sounds like it is. But that doesn't mean you can't get another one as well.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If your fermentors are exposed to sunlight or bleach for extended periods they will go brittle. I have a cube that has been left out side and when I went to pick it up the handle broke off.

Really sucks to have it break when full of beer...

 

[lokpikn]

Thanks for the good laugh

One mans problems are another mans (something or other)


Got one for you its got nothing to do with brewing but you will get a smile.

I just got back from squiding with a mate and his son. We kept trying to tell the son what to do he is only 5 or 6 and his respose is. I KNOW I KNOW.
Well what he thought he knew was when the squid come up dont bring the rod straight up like a fish or it will blow a huge chunk of ink at you and dont let it get its head back in the water or it will take in more water so it can blow at you again and so on and so on and so on.

Well the young bloke got a huge mother on and as we try and tell him what to do he goes I KNOW I KNOW and the squid just blows this huge load all over his face. He turn instant black and sticky. He lets the squid take some more water and it blows at him again all over the torso and again at his legs once more at his face again and more at his chaest all this happens in about 5 seconds or so. Well did we laugh and laugh and laugh.

We help him get it in and he looks at us with a black sticky goo face with two little eye balls sticking out and he says look at me im covered in bloddy squid ink. Its in my hair my face all over my clothes

And guess what we said to him

I KNOW I KNOW

Hope this cheers you up

 

[pint of lager]

Light is the enemy of fermenters. Plastic will age and crack.

The coopers fermenter that had the lid crack is now suspect and should be removed from brewing duty. If the no names fermenter is around the same age, it also is very suspect.

I had a lid shatter last year while fitting the grommet. My hand went straight through the lid and there were some minor cuts from the sharp bits of plastic.

Console yourself that it collapsed in the pergola area rather than in the house.

 

[recharge]

If it makes you feel any better i had this happen to two 60L fermenters full of Shiraz. Both had spent too much time in the sun when i first moved to my block and had nowhere for storage. (a ferw years ago now i'd forgotten all about it til now).

Rich

 

[kevnlis]

I am sure you do not want to know about this great new invention called cling wrap...

I haven't used a fermentor lid in ages... I could send you one if you like... e-mail me.

 

[mossyrocks]

Thanks guys..

Time to move on and start putting down more brews (I suppose these fermenters were getting long in the tooth - I should have seen it coming).

kevnlis - thanks for your offer, I think I'll go down the cling wrap path.

recharge - sorry to bring up the painful memories of the past.

 

[petesbrew]

My condolences for your loss, Mossy.
Hope the brewing starts again soon.

Go have a read of the "balls up" thread. Think of it as a support group. hahaha

 

[recharge]

Thanks guys..

Time to move on and start putting down more brews (I suppose these fermenters were getting long in the tooth - I should have seen it coming).

kevnlis - thanks for your offer, I think I'll go down the cling wrap path.

recharge - sorry to bring up the painful memories of the past.

Not so painful anymore but i was rather peeved at the time was a 2 1/2 hour round trip + time to pick the grapes.
Thankfully the grower replaced them for free when i explained what had happened.


Rich

 

[floppinab]

If the no names fermenter is around the same age, it also is very suspect.

I don't know if I'd totally subscribe to that view. I've got my original brewing fermenter from 15 years back still going strong albeit with a new lid recently fitted coz the old one had two holes in it for an airlock and submerged fish tank heater which I no longer needed now I live in Sydney not Adelaide!!!!

If it ain't broke.............................

 

[Finite]

Ouch, sorry to read that mate.

On the up size your now a real brewer, we have all made those mistakes.

I have a coopers one two and the plastic gets very brittle over time. Eventually I plan on switching to carboys.

 

[user 1153]

a new lid recently fitted coz the old one had two holes in it for an airlock and submerged fish tank heater which I no longer needed

I just put a wad of bluetac on my fermenter that used to have the fish tank heater in it. Works well.