Beer Forum

I couldn't sleep I was so excited. I had it all planned out the best I could. The new system I had been thinking about and building over the last year was finally ready and able to be used.

It was still dark as I set it all up. I had tested everything, all the gas lines, the burners, the valves, the pumps. I attached my propane, it felt a little light, no problem, got a back-up...oh shit, that one was light too! Oh well, should be enough to get'r done.

Fill HLT...um..the weldless fitting is now leaking, no problem, just a small drip, it will go away as the gasket expands with the heat. Nope. But not to worry, it IS only a drip.

Oh shit, why is my burner sputtering? Out of gas, no problem...oh the other bottle doesn't have enough either. Lets go to the gas station, no big deal, I haven't doughed in yet. Get back in a half hour, 2 bottles filled. Water has cooled only 10 deg.

Okay, time to grind the grain, fill the hopper, the mill is going along as usual, take my hand of the drill to check my grind, oops...there goes about 10 lbs of grain onto the concrete. FUCK!!! My dog ran away from me shouting, my neighbors are wondering who I am calling "SON OF A FUCKING WHORES CUNT!!" Okay, no problem, calm down, scoop it up, grind it, it will get boiled anyway, and I have a whole other 25 lbs of 2-row if I come up short, although no extra specialty grains or extra Rye malt...whatever.

Water is at strike temp according to Beersmith, I dough-in. Mash Temp is a little low...well 16 deg F below the scheduled rest temp. Uh, duh. I forgot to take a grain temp and it sure as fuck isn't the default 72 in the middle of October in Yakima. No problem, got the HERMS coil in the HLT...oh wait. I used all that water to dough-in! Why didn't I just heat strike water in the MT and save the HLT for the recirc through the HERMS coil? Cuz I am an idiot. But I over plan for every occasion, I have a burner under the MT so I can direct fire my MT, and it heats up perfectly, the HERMS coil in the HLT seems to be holding at steady 156 deg. Alright, giggity.

Okay, gonna get my second pump running and ready to sparge. Oh shit. it isn't pumping. What the hell. I can hear the motor trying to run but it is not moving. Fuck. Looks like the motor housing is mashed and bent. Must have gotten messed up in the move somehow. Fuck.

Okay, time to run-off, I will use the pump that IS working to run off and sparge by hand with a pitcher...old school.

Finally got sparged, run off, boil Kettle full, I think it is a full 13.5 gal. but I don't know, I haven't measured what that looks like in this new kettle! No problem, the pre-boil gravity is dead-on 1.067. Fuck it, lets boil.

Recipe calls for 2 oz Magnum FWH, done. Okay, now we're boiling, lets throw in the 60 min Columbus addition and the 60 min Mt Hood addition...oh wait. Fuck, that was a 30 min Mt Hood addition! My recipe got rained on and blurred the number! Oh well, we love hoppy beers right?

Okay so now I am short some Mt Hood for the 30 min addition...um go to the freezer. Yay Yakima Chief tour!!! a sample .5 lb pack of Mt Hood, a little old but a higher alpha than what I am using! And my wife complains that I have too many hops laying around. Get your own beer fridge/freezer Hon.

Okay, immersion chiller with Jamil recirc set-up, done, sanitized 10 min in boiling wort, whirlfloc, yeast nutrient. Post boil gravity 1.081, perfect. Lets chill. And she does wonderfully. I'll bet my ground water is in the 40's, love a deep well. From boiling to pitching temp, 65 deg F, in 20 min. Love it!

Okay, into the carboys....oh shit. That isn't 11 gal. That is like 9 Gal. Oh well. 2 minutes in heaven is better than 1 minute in heaven right? Pitch the rehydrated yeast and done.

Clean up is easy with CIP and the free 5 gal bucket of PBW I scored. Skip ahead 48 hours, at work, thinking about beer, listening to an archive of the session, Tasty mentions aerating your wort before pitching....did I do that? No. Shit.

Now I know what it feels like to be Justin.

All in all is was a great day, a little stressful, but now I know what to focus on, what screws need tightening, and where to put my attention next time. I hope the beer comes out decent though, I am out!

I would imagine that the extra bittering hops and lack of aeration will help balance each other out a bit? Maybe you will not get the attenuation you were looking for, but the balance would remain? Also, LOVE you signature! Be forwarned, that I will be using it here in NY...

skerrydude wrote:I would imagine that the extra bittering hops and lack of aeration will help balance each other out a bit? Maybe you will not get the attenuation you were looking for, but the balance would remain? Also, LOVE you signature! Be forwarned, that I will be using it here in NY...

Not to worry, I stole it my damn self!

After each line, I was imagining the laugh track from Sunday's show...

Good stuff - we have all been there. Burned out elements, out of gas, temps off...........Still the best hobby in the world!

I just had a day like that earlier this week. Maybe not as crazy as yours, but still crazy enough for me.

Funny thing is, I can't wait until I brew again! When I have brew days like that I always think how far in terms of brewing we have come since the ancient times when they tried to make a fermented beverage. Kind of humbles you a bit.....

brewinhard wrote:I just had a day like that earlier this week. Maybe not as crazy as yours, but still crazy enough for me.

Funny thing is, I can't wait until I brew again! When I have brew days like that I always think how far in terms of brewing we have come since the ancient times when they tried to make a fermented beverage. Kind of humbles you a bit.....

Right? The beer I made that day will probably be better than 90% of the "microbrew" in the mid 90's based solely on quality of ingredients and general knowledge. I am brewing again tomorrow and can't wait. I ended up fixing the pump that wasn't working, I already have all the propane and am pretty much ready to brew properly. I am hoping to have learned from my previous day and have a much smoother brew day. Then after that I get to head to one of the best beer bars in the South Sound. Gonna be a good day.

Just be sure to keep your schwilling under control so you don't forget anything crucial!