11 replies to this topic

[TheOtherNate]

Last weekend I brewed what is probably something like a Helles and made more mistakes in one session that I've ever made in one brewing.I mashed at somewhere around 145,I forgot to add the pH stabilizer until 30 minutes later...I tried to make up for the inefficiency by adding a pound of DMEand a myriad of little stupid stuff throughout...I'm totally suprised that it tastes like beer at 1.020 (kinda sweet) but the fermentation is still going strong...maybe my efficiency wasn't as bad, or the low mash temps yielded more simple sugars.I'll probably come out with something totally awesome and never be able to reproduce it. Nate

[Greatfookin]

I'll probably come out with something totally awesome and never be able to reproduce it. Nate

This

[Dave]

I've had disasters turn out to be great beers...( I've also had some that weren't so great).As long as your beer ferments all the way out it sounds like it'll be pretty good.

[davelew]

Nothing wrong with mashing at 145. I sometime do that on purpose for big Belgian brews where I want extra attenuation.

Last weekend I brewed what is probably something like a Helles and made more mistakes in one session that I've ever made in one brewing.I mashed at somewhere around 145,I forgot to add the pH stabilizer until 30 minutes later...I tried to make up for the inefficiency by adding a pound of DMEand a myriad of little stupid stuff throughout...I'm totally suprised that it tastes like beer at 1.020 (kinda sweet) but the fermentation is still going strong...maybe my efficiency wasn't as bad, or the low mash temps yielded more simple sugars.I'll probably come out with something totally awesome and never be able to reproduce it. Nate

[Gumbo Leviathan]

I think I only ever made one bad beer. I *have* made many errors. Missing mash temps, missing sparge temps, under pitching, overpitching, etc...None of those errors ever yielded a bad beer. The beers didnt always come out as intended, but it was still quite good enough to say "This is good beer".The bad one was (I think) my 2nd batch ever. I think I had stale extracts and old hops/yeast (It was from a kit)...

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I think I only ever made one bad beer. I *have* made many errors. Missing mash temps, missing sparge temps, under pitching, overpitching, etc...None of those errors ever yielded a bad beer. The beers didnt always come out as intended, but it was still quite good enough to say "This is good beer".The bad one was (I think) my 2nd batch ever. I think I had stale extracts and old hops/yeast (It was from a kit)...

overpitching? how'd you manage this?I think my 2nd batch was my worst as well - I'm not sure what I did to that batch of beer. It wasn't awful but not that great either...

[Gumbo Leviathan]

overpitching? how'd you manage this?I think my 2nd batch was my worst as well - I'm not sure what I did to that batch of beer. It wasn't awful but not that great either...

I brewed a beer that went from 1.065 to 1.01 or so. Then dumped a much smaller beer on top of the yeast cake. Right on top, no carboy cleaning or anything. So ALL the yeast from a fully fermented 1.065 beer went to work on a 1.048 beer.I mopped the ceiling...And it finished fermenting in approximatly 15 hours...The beer came out great though

Edited by noofus, 27 April 2009 - 09:14 AM.

[DuncanDad]

My worst was my second batch as well.I thought I had the whole "brewing thing" down. Came up with my own recipe.I think I used 4 oz of Columbus for a 5 gallon batch.That stuff was bad on so many levels.

[Gumbo Leviathan]

I think I used 4 oz of Columbus for a 5 gallon batch.

I just did 1oz of Columbus in my last IPA and its about the limit of acceptable bitterness

[BikeBrewer]

My worst was my second batch as well.I thought I had the whole "brewing thing" down. Came up with my own recipe.I think I used 4 oz of Columbus for a 5 gallon batch.That stuff was bad on so many levels.

I've got 5 oz of Columbus in my IPA, but they were a year old, so I took that into consideration. Tasted just like I was hoping it would out of the kettle.

[ANUSTART]

I think I used 4 oz of Columbus for a 5 gallon batch.

Sounds good to me!The only award I've ever won (and the only contest I ever entered for brewing) was for an all columbus IPA. It had 5 or 6 oz of columbus at various times. This was when hops were cheap. I won a $25 gift cert to the LHBS in Gainesville.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I have to give a good nod to Columbus. I really like the hop. I did an IPA two weekends ago and used about 3 4 ounces. They were current year crop and smelled awesome right in the bag. As of now the beer tastes great too. Dry hop and carbonation yet to occur.