Silly mistake thread. List yours here.

[Brotherton Lad]

Thought it might be useful for forumites to list their cock-ups for the amusement and general enlightenment of other brewers.

Mine:

Having had a really good ferment of 8 gallons of ESB in 2 separate FVs, I went to check the specific gravity prior to kegging. I carefully sanitised the hydrometer, rinsed it in cold water and then absent-mindedly dried it with the used tea-towel hanging in front of me. I dropped this now infected hydrometer in FV1 and then into FV2. Had a nice wild growth in both by the next day.

Moral: don't use a tea-towel and always use a trial jar. Cook with or drink the contents of the trial jar.

[pokerswazi]

I've bottled a whole batch of beer without rinsing the sterilizer out of the bottles. Just slipped my mind while using a bottling tree to sterilize and (should have been) rinse. I won't be making that mistake again, was awful.

[WishboneBrewery]

Why would you need to dry it? oops!

[DrewBrews]

I had a full mash tun fall on me once.

I had precariously balanced it on a very small stool and while messing about at ground level getting the boiler in position I managed to knock it off the stool. I got covered in sticky malty stuff and lost about a third of the mash.

Some how I still managed to finish the brew.

[adm]

My normal one is to forget to close the taps on mash tun or kettle.

72C clean water on the worktop isn't so bad, but hot sticky wort on your feet is always annoying....

[speedtripledan]

Getting married to my now x wife

[chris_reboot]

+1 on the tap open thing.
virtually every brew I can manage that - it all depends how much liquor I lose before I remember

[Roger]

After rinsing my hydrometer I shook it..... holdong the thin end, who'd've thought it would snap... what a c*ck!!!

Roger.

[adm]

After rinsing my hydrometer I shook it..... holdong the thin end, who'd've thought it would snap... what a c*ck!!!

Roger.

Ahhh.....hydrometers! I'm sure they could make them less fragile if they really tried....

I let one drop the last couple of inches into an empty trial jar once. Smashed the hydro and broke the bottom off the jar

[mysterio]

Forgetting to attach the hop strainer to the kettle before boiling is the classic one, do it once and it's silly, do it for the sixth or seventh time and it's practically Alzheimer's.

[Spikesdad]

+2 on the mash tun tap thing...

Had first proper boil over on sat, that was scary

[trucker5774]

+1 more for leaving taps open My worst is probably when I was stirring an FV before pitching the yeast. I had left a glass thermometer in which broke and emptied its contents into 5 hours work

[JabbA]

I had a full mash tun fall on me once.

Sorry Drew, but that had me properly LOL here at work I'm glad the brew turned out OK and no damage was done

As for me, I can place a big tick next to; leaving mash tun tap open, smashing hydrometer & thermometer, forgetting the hop strainer in the boiler... But touch wood, I've only totally ruined one batch to date. Well two- one is still in bottles waiting to go down the sink, not a job I'm relishing

Cheers,
Jamie

[Deebee]

Forgetting to put the hose clamps on the borrowed IC. starting the water and realising after 20 minutes that there really should not be beer running over the side of the boiler during cooling... hmmm



Second mistake is asking her in doors if i am allowed to brew when she has a due date in a week......

never a good idea to fight hormonally driven women:(

[pantsmachine]

Not using strong enough fixings to hold my overback 6 foot up on a wall. Realised mistake when 60 ltrs of cold water hit the back of my jeans from bum down and the overback bounced off my back. Luckily the water was cold.

Oh yeah, and i threw a grain filter out when i emptied the tun of grain into a bag. Didn't even notice till next time i went to brew. is this early onset Alzheimers or just being a biff?