Bad brew day

Started to brew an APA yesterday and found 0.5 lbs of crystal 55 sitting on the scales.
NOW I know last weeks best bitter looked so light.

The grain bill is 9.25 : 2lbs Munich , 7 lbs 2-row , .25 lbs crystal.
Measured 9 lbs of two row instead of seven.

Didn’t realize what I’d done 'til I saw that the mash looked awful thick.
I use two coolers, a five gallon round , and a big square. Round for smallish beers.

Was using the round.

Ever try to mash 11 lbs in a 5 gallon cooler ?
It ain’t made for it.

Tough day.

Yeah we all run into this at times. Sometimes we need to take a step back and take our time on our next brew day. Recently, I was in a hurry, and had 3gal of RIS and 5gal of cream ale leak from keg and fill the kegerator.

I’ve mashed 13 pounds in a 5 gallon round cooler at 1.25 qt/lb. It fit, but my efficiency suffered just a little bit. You can always use the the Green Bay Rackers Can I Mash It? calculator to find out ahead of time:

Been there.
Sent a 1.064 IPA to the bucket when it was all done.

The lesson we take from this is measure twice, brew once…Tank :cheers:

On my last brew day, I added all the grains I had ground, but forget the flaked oats from the grocery. Not a disaster, but not what I had planned.

I know that this is obvious, but iv’e done it more than once. Starting a brew day, when I was pressed for time. My best days are when I take my time and drink a few beers while brewing.

My first BIAB batch I got so excited that I dumped all the grains in to mash before I put the bag in!! Only wish I had a video of the whole episode. Lucille Ball would’ve been proud. Still made good beer.

:cheers:

Ron

Well, sippin on that best bitter that didn’t get the crystal (see first post).
Best damn beer I ever made. Not gonna brew anything else EVER again.
Next years inventory :

2 sacks Crisp MO.
2 lbs Challenger hops.
1 sachet Notty.

Oh, some gypsum and calcium chloride.

[quote=“simple”]Well, sippin on that best bitter that didn’t get the crystal (see first post).
Best damn beer I ever made. Not gonna brew anything else EVER again.
Next years inventory :

2 sacks Crisp MO.
2 lbs Challenger hops.
1 sachet Notty.

Oh, some gypsum and calcium chloride.[/quote]

That good huh? Have a full recipe?

just gave it to you.

IMO more people would be better brewers if they would back off the crystal malts.

Is this the “recipe” you’re referring to?

[quote=“simple”]2 sacks Crisp MO.
2 lbs Challenger hops.
1 sachet Notty.[/quote]

Is this the “recipe” you’re referring to?

[quote=“simple”]2 sacks Crisp MO.
2 lbs Challenger hops.
1 sachet Notty.[/quote][/quote]

I haven’t checked the yeast calculator, but you might need more than one pack of Notty for that.
:cheers:

No, it takes that much grain for me to hit 1.045.

Hop ratios? Timings? Or is this a guarded family secret?

100 percent MO. (I’ve used Muntons and Crisp) .
OG 1.045
35 IBU Challenger or Northdown hops.
About 4-5 AAU @ 1 minute
Chill rapidly to 170 degrees and let it stand for a while.
Continue chilling to 60 degrees an pitch nottingham ale yeast.
Ferment.
Store.
Dispense.
Drink.

Be sure to run it throught a spreadsheet.

Awww man…how did that happen?

I have those brew days every once in a while too…you really do need to just take your time on brew day. It’s not worth rushing anything. I love those days when you just relax and don’t mind overshooting your strike water temp and just let it cool a little in the cooler. Just take your time and relax…

Beers on one I didn’t seat the quick connect all the way down… down enough to compress the poppet but not seal. The other was because the quick connect wasn’t tightened to the swivel nut… rushing around doesn’t pay. Cleaning up took much longer than checking those two things.