Blonde roots!

[Anna]

hahahahahahahaha! Couldn't find my long handled spoon anywhere last night - searched and searched. Gave up and decided to investigate why the fermenter wasn't going "bloop-bloop". Took the lid off and guess what? Yep - the spoon was still in the wort! Hope it's not infected.... (Nearly as good as my first brew, when I left the tap open while filling and lost half on the kitchen floor...) Anna

[drsmurto]

If you sanitised it before hand then it wont be a problem.

I've had stirring bars in my brews. Pitching the yeast starter and oops, in goes the little stirring bar.

[Anna]

Yes Doc, it was sanitized. And I'm pleased to hear that even you go blonde at times! (Although at least you noticed when it dropped in - I was totally amazed when I found it. Think I must be getting "Oldtimers" disease.) ((Or maybe I'm getting a little too fond of my own brew.....))

[drsmurto]

Tsk, tsk. Sanitised, not sanitized.

And I have a few grey hairs so that's my excuse.......

Nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of your labour although combining drinking and brewing does lead to trouble!

[beerslut]

HEY DID THE EXACT SAME THING FIRST BREW,
I WAS ALL NERVOUS ABOUT SANITISING AND RE SANITISING AND SPEND AGES DOING IT,
GOT WAY TOO EXCITED AND LEFT THE TAP OPEN ON THE FERMENTER AS I STARTED TO FILL IT.
MISSUS WAS NOT IMPRESSED BUT WE LAUGH ABOUT IT NOW

[warra48]

You're not a real brewer until you have either:
1. Left a tap open when you shouldn't have.
2. Dropped stuff into your fermenter that shouldn't be in there.
3. Finished a brew and you wonder why you have spare ingredients weighed out and ready to go, but they're not in your brew, or
4. Taught yourself a lesson by drinking all of the worst batch you've ever brewed, so as to never repeat the mistakes which led to it.

[drsmurto]

and for the AG crowd.

5. Started drinking at mash in and made all of the above mistakes due to being too pissed!

[warra48]

and for the AG crowd.

5. Started drinking at mash in and made all of the above mistakes due to being too pissed!

Yeah, been there and done that too.
I'll be mashing in at 6:00 am tomorrow.
Hefeweizen planned, and WY3068 starter nicely built up and ready to go.

I've just thought of 6.

6. Dry hopping with plugs just thrown into the fermenter, and thinking they'll not clog your tap at bottling time.

Just finished a rather frustrating bottling session for my latest Bitter. Didn't have a drink until it was all done and dusted. I must say, my latest APA is rather tasty.

[svyturys]

Warra,
I have done Number 1, number 2 and number 4 on your list.

ALL WHEN STONE COLD SOBER!

Numbers 2 and 4 are related. Doing two batches, I dropped the "dry hop" Saaz hops for a wheat beer into an APA.

Underhopped wheat beer as a result.

The wheat beer was awful. I solved the problem by buying a bottle of lemon juice and giving a squirt into each glass that I drank. Made it bearable, but I managed to accelerate the process by serving the lemon adjusted stuff to my daughter and her friends...they thought it was great..."better than Corona."

The other win from this mistake was that the APA was great. Did a couple more after that.

Cheers

[Anna]

Warra! I thought you were the great advocate for just throwing plugs into the fermenter!! Haven't I read some posts from you re that?

But thanks all you guys for letting me start my working day with a good laugh! (And glad to know I'm mixing it with the best!) Anna

[warra48]

Warra! I thought you were the great advocate for just throwing plugs into the fermenter!! Haven't I read some posts from you re that?

But thanks all you guys for letting me start my working day with a good laugh! (And glad to know I'm mixing it with the best!) Anna

I have always thrown pellets into the fermenter when dry hopping, and it's never a problem. This was the first time I used plugs.

It's all part of my learning curve. I'll know to put the plugs into some sort of hop sock in future. Will have to get mrs warra busy on the Bernina. One of her hobbies is patchwork, so she's much better at sewing than I would ever be.

[drsmurto]

Dry hopping with plugs is sooooo good.

Where is that drool emoticon?

What i do is tilt the fermenter back before racking the beer out using a door stop/wedge.

Or you could get yourself a tea ball - they hold 1 plug perfectly.

Or a piece of stocking.....

[Anna]

Oh-oh - here goes my learning curve again! Plugs are different to pellets??

[drsmurto]

Hop forms

Flowers

Plugs

Pellets

We can only get flowers in Australia that are either grown in Australia or New Zealand due to importation restrictions.

Hop plugs and pellets can come from anywhere.

Pellets are the most processed, hop flowers pulverised into dust and then pelletised using a heating process..

Plugs are hop flowers that are dried and then hydraulically compacted and cut into, well, plugs, each weighing 1/2 an ounce (~14 g).

Flowers aren't processed. They are dried and that's it!

[Anna]

Aha! Thanks once again Doc!

[svyturys]

I'll know to put the plugs into some sort of hop sock in future.

Warra,

I just bought some 8cm diameter tea balls from my local "$2.00" shop for $2.90 a piece. Well worth taking a cruise through these places every time you get the chance.

I tried doing the hop sock thing but found that the cleaning was bugger....hard to get every bit of gunk out ...tried boiling followed a run through the washing machine...(these were hop socks bought from an LHBS.)

The tea balls are so easy to clean, I can do a boil for my first brew of the day and have the ball ready for the next brew within minutes. I have smaller tea balls for steeping.

Cheers

[warra48]

Mrs warra and I are not into coffee, but we love our tea.

I do have a couple of the tea balls, and have used them occasionally with pellets. Will definitely use them next time I dry hop with plugs

[Anna]

... I only turned my back for a minute!!

(and wort and hops all over the stovetop....)

[jello]

... I only turned my back for a minute!!

(and wort and hops all over the stovetop....)

A watched pot never boils.

[Anna]

yeah, yeah, yeah....