Stupid Things You've Done While Brewing

[big78sam]

When I bought my first kit I had no idea how a hydrometer was meant to work. I didn't realise what I got in the kit was a hydrometer and tube for holding the wort, I thought the whole things was a hydrometer. So I measured SG by pouring wort into a tall glass then placing the hydrometer and tube in the glass! I got some strange readings.

I thought about this the other day and wondered what other stupid things people had done. It's time to own up, even if it's just to give people a bit of a giggle...

 

[Frag_Dog]

About as stupid as I go is leaving the tap on while filling the fermenter. Lost a whole batch the first time, and about 7L the second time.

Other then that its just been a few hop additions at the wrong time, no show stoppers but...

 

[raven19]

1. Boiling hot sparge water dripped thru sneakers, burning top of my toes... only a splash - but enough to hurt. Never got my sneakers off that quickly in my life!

2. Tap on MT left open... Trying to do more than one thing at once - mill grain and fill MT...

3. Not checked Alpha % of hops - resulting beer way too low in bitterness...

Number 1 above is my worst effort... thus far.

 

[petesbrew]

Link to The Balls up thread... a great laugh indeed.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=10398

 

[Muggus]

I wasn't paying attention and burnt my lunch whilst brewing today, does that count?

 

[j1gsaw]

Probably drinking a carton while brewing... fortunately the brew turned out ok..

 

[newguy]

1. Succumbing to temptation and getting pissed with the neighbours whilst brewing.
2. This one needs explanation. Used to have a closed deck (couldn't get in from the side) with some weeds growing beneath it and the occasional mouse family. I boil my CFC prior to and directly after use to sanitise and clean it respectively. I would dump the boiling water from the pot on the deck so it could kill the weeds and mice beneath. Did so in stocking feet one day. Probably because of #1 above. When boiling water soaks into a sock it's nasty. Had huge blisters on the entire soft portion of the sole of my right foot. Not fun.

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

rewired a crown urn while it was full of 25L of boiling wort, balanced on the side of a table.

I'm an idiot.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...35456&st=60

 

[geoffi]

Did a night-time brew after an ocean swim. Fell asleep about 45 mins into the boil. Woke up several hours later to find half the wort boiled off. The resulting beer was drinkable...just unusually 'rich'.

 

[Mantis]

Hopped a brew with flowers without using a hop bag and not having a hop screen on my pickup tube.
Of course it blocked straight away and I had to get the wort out with a jug and pour into a funnel stuck in the drain hose :huh:

 

[manticle]

There's a big list and a lot of it has been detailed before. Recently my stupidest was miscalculating the dilution ratio of sanitiser to water and getting 4 infected brews.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

There's a big list and a lot of it has been detailed before. Recently my stupidest was miscalculating thedilution ratio of sanitiser to water and getting 4 infected brews.

bit like the joke of the man who committed suicide by drinking a bottle of french polishing wax. Terrible death but a lovely finish!


I rarely do anything good while brewing (hit and miss philosophy) so I'd rather a " Have you finally done everything right while brewing !" thread .. to which I will say "no". But then, what happens on brew day, stays on brew days!

 

[Barry]

Eating peanuts from a small bowl. Looking at the boil, reached around behind me grabbed some peanuts and bit into the mouthful. A mouthful of EKG hops is extremely bitter, I can still taste them.

 

[davelovesbeer]

I recently made a starter in a 2L Schott (Lab grade glassware) bottle.

Gave it a shake before bed, then at midnight it BOOM- forgot to loosen the cap. Beer and glass everywhere in the kitchen

Im still picking glass out of my feet and the wall. Lucky no one was around!!

 

[petesbrew]

rewired a crown urn while it was full of 25L of boiling wort, balanced on the side of a table.

I'm an idiot.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...35456&st=60

Recipe for disaster dude. Glad nothing happened.

Transporting 2L hot sparge water in a glass jug. Jug fell, leaving me holding a handle. Glad it didn't drop into the mash.

 

[Wardhog]

When I first started, it never occurred to me that filling and using the tube the hydrometer came in was a better idea than dropping the hydrometer in the fermenting wort.

The forehead slap + "DOH" echoed around the suburb when I first saw someone fill the tube and drop the hydrometer in.

 

[Fents]

just the other day i filled the mash tun with 75+c strike water. started stirring it to knock some heat out of it as i only needed 72c and then it hit me...realised i'd left the beerbelly false bottom off the esky. no worries i said to old mate i'll just go get the missus's rubber dishwashing gloves.

whack them on and submerge my hand in and get the falsie on and do up three turns of the wing.butterfly nut...ohhh thats a bit hot i said, take my hand out and try again...one more turn ohhhhh **** me thats really hot.....one more turn just for good measure.....AHHHHHHHHH F%CK SH%%T bloody hell im dancing round like a broken idiot...

old mate races over and rips the glove off my hand and my index finger is scorched red raw. got some frozen peas onto it and upon inspection of the glove there was a tiny split in the index finger! swelled up and i had this massive blister/welt for two weeks. the skin is still peeling now.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

The dumbest thing I have ever done while brewing was having Fents and a couple dozen other guys around to my house for the day/night...

 

[marksfish]

the most recent dumb thing was to boil 2 litres of starter in a flask then notice the stir-bar on the bench i then tried to slide the bar down the side of the flask which resulted in boiling wort escaping like a volcano luckily the tea-towel took most of it.

 

[Quintrex]

just the other day i filled the mash tun with 75+c strike water. started stirring it to knock some heat out of it as i only needed 72c and then it hit me...realised i'd left the beerbelly false bottom off the esky. no worries i said to old mate i'll just go get the missus's rubber dishwashing gloves.

whack them on and submerge my hand in and get the falsie on and do up three turns of the wing.butterfly nut...ohhh thats a bit hot i said, take my hand out and try again...one more turn ohhhhh **** me thats really hot.....one more turn just for good measure.....AHHHHHHHHH F%CK SH%%T bloody hell im dancing round like a broken idiot...

old mate races over and rips the glove off my hand and my index finger is scorched red raw. got some frozen peas onto it and upon inspection of the glove there was a tiny split in the index finger! swelled up and i had this massive blister/welt for two weeks. the skin is still peeling now.

You dopey ******* ... hope you didn't get hurt badly.