Wisdom: Mistakes made and lessons learnt

[brewinski]

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

 

[brewinski]

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

 

[klangers]

After a hard day's brewing in midsummer, I thought I'd save cleaning the mash tun and flushing the hoses etc for another day.

I've never seen so much fungus in my life..... :icon_vomit:

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Was in a rush and used some slurry lager yeast for a Bock. Ended up losing 250 litres to infection because the yeast didnt take while I was away.

Doughed in the brau with both filter screens on the bottom. Had to scoop out the whole mash at 3am.

Kegged flanders red for aging in cellar. Keg out post leaked when pressurized and lost a heap of beer.
Made a mead drunk. Kept for 2 years but ended up tipping it.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

Didn't use reading glasses,,,, turns out Ginger Beer doesn't need 11kgs of sugar per 20L

To ensure you never make the same mistake twice - say it out loud at least four times.

Apparently doing it whilst closing your eyes and clicking your ruby slippers helps too.

 

[Forever Wort]

I've been comparatively lucky with my procedure ... I think the stupidest shit I've done is accidentally dropping the BIAB bag full of grains back into the now-boiling wort, brewing on an unstable table (no spill but gave me a heart attack when the leg bent) and snapping a mash paddle back in my plastic days because I was going too hard. These mistakes were all easy to prevent repeating.

But in terms of mistakes made in recipe formulation - hahaha! The sky is the limit for me on that one. Tragic.

 

[Dave70]

Attaching a small lanyard to your digital thermometer is a good idea.
Its better than dropping it into the mash then worrying if you'll suffer lithium poisoning somewhere down the track.

Boiling wort is possible with heat beads in a pinch. Better still check the gas. Then check your next door neighbors gas.

Do I really need to do a decoction mash?

Make sure - and this is serious - your chiller coil is EMPTY of water before you plunge it into 25L of ferociously boiling wort. I came perilously close to getting my genitalia broiled on one occasion due to being in a rush. The arc of instantly super heated water shot halfway across the garage. Shudder to think what would have happened if the young bloke got in the way of it.

Will teeing off with a nice bottle of that 8% Belgian strong ale at 11.30 am be conducive to handling hot liquids later in the day?

Organize the day around your brewing, not the other way around.

Plastic softens the hotter it gets (yes..really). Be mindful of this if you no chill into a cube fitted with a tap..

 

[philmud]

Understand that the AA% of your hops might not be the same as the AA% in your recipe & quantities may need to be adjusted to achieve the same IBU. My second ever extract brew was undrinkable as a result!

 

[brewinski]

To ensure you never make the same mistake twice - say it out loud at least four times.

Apparently doing it whilst closing your eyes and clicking your ruby slippers helps too.

Sorry, the app and motion sickness made me do it ... but chanting mantras is good, yes

 

[going down a hill]

Taking the urn to work to make 40l of hot chocolate as a fundraising activity to help the students. Then realising that the fat in the milk burns to the element and also gets in the sight glass and into the tap where you can't see it. I bought a 3 piece ball valve tap after this so I could pull it apart, the old two piece got relegated.

Brewing gear is brewing gear. That's all it does, it brews stuff, not hot chocolates