[Wheat_Brewer]

I had a big brew day yesterday, unfortunately I also had a very absent minded day...I started the day off by bottling a batch, very proud of my work I glanced around only to see my priming sugar sitting on the counter.  Swearing myself off while uncapping 48 bottles and recapping I decided that was my one and only big oversight, until later.  I also brewed a beautiful looking honey brown, moved it to the fermenter and patted myself on the back for a day well done.  As I'm brushing teeth four hours later and wondering why there was no airlock activity on my honey brown, I once again looked up at the counter to see my yeast in the smack pack sitting there....

I thought at least you guys would like a good laugh but it got me wondering what other simple oversights have been done by my fellow homebrewers?!

[dtblank]

Was trying to crash cool a yeast starter in the freezer real quick to get the yeast to settle out.  A few hrs later remembered, looked in the freezer and had a nice yeast slushy.  Yeast did survive and did make a good beer.

[beerocd]

Had a friend boil the yeast and pitch the hops on his first solo brew session.

[jbar]

On my first batch i hadn't thought about a  way to measure the amount of water i was using. somehow it turned out well and i was only down maybe a half gallon into the carboy. also forgot to put my IC in the boiling wort to sanitize so i had to extend a boil once.

[euge]

Drained 12 gallons out of the mash into the 80qt that was sitting on the kitchen floor. Then I realized that I'd never be able to dead-lift the thing up onto the stove without serious injury.

[cpatak]

I got 10 minutes into my boil and ran out of propane...ran into get my wallet and car keys and looked at the in-line guage I just bought 2 weeks before and had not installed...luckily the propane exchange is only 2 minutes away so all was good!

[blatz]

back when I used glass carboys, I accidentally forgot to turn the hose on for the water side of my plate chiller. opened up the spigot to allow 212df wort to come rolling out.  luckily I caught it before losing more than a quart or 2, but the bottom of the carboy shattered out.

[mikeypedersen]

I was siphoning sanitizer out of a 6.5 gallon carboy and into a corney keg on brew day.  My plan was to fill the keg, then put the additional into a bucket.  It was taking a while and I had a lot on my mind, so I walked away thinking I'd be right back.  20 minutes later, I froze and cringed.  Came back to a gallon and a half of sanitizer on the kitchen floor!  D'OH!   

[bish3013]

I got 10 minutes into my boil and ran out of propane...ran into get my wallet and car keys and looked at the in-line guage I just bought 2 weeks before and had not installed...luckily the propane exchange is only 2 minutes away so all was good!

I did the same thing after my fist decoction mash...Thank God for neighbors!  It would have took me 45 min round trip to exchange if it wasn't for my neighbor.

[euge]

Also left a fermenter tap open as I filled it from the brew kettle.   

Hey- what's that splattering noise?!!

Lost at least a gallon on that one.

[weazletoe]

  Think my dumbest yet was at the LHBS, shortly after I began AG. My first few recipes were totally off. OG, SRM, all that. Turned out, I was reading the scale wrong. I was reading it as 1.5#, or, 1 1/2#, etc....when actually 1.5 on the scale meant 1 pound 5 oz. Man did I feel like I douch-weasle when I figured that one out!!! 

[dzlater]

Sanitized a keg with starsan hooked up a cobra
tap to run the starsan out of the keg and to sanitize the tap and lne
I put a rubberband around the tap to hold it open
ran out the starsan filled and pressurized the keg
hooked the tap back up with out taking the rubber band
off.  Didn't lose too much beer but felt like a complete moron.

[majorvices]

As I'm brushing teeth four hours later and wondering why there was no airlock activity on my honey brown, I once again looked up at the counter to see my yeast in the smack pack sitting there....

Actually, the fact that you didn't make a starter is a much bigger mistake than this. During the summer (and even sometimes during the winter) I regularly let the wort cool over night to pitching temps. Not making a starter can make the difference between good (or more likely, so-so) and great beer - and, if you are regularly not making a starter and getting activity over night there's a pretty darn good chance you are pitching too warm too. (yeah, I know, you weren't looking for a critique but I can't help myself). 

[novabrew]

Speaking of starters, I once pitched my yeast into starter wort, before I cooled the wort.  That's why I now keep packs of US05 on hand.

[makemehoppy]

I've been using foam control boiling inside with good luck. One day I was making a starter and figured I didn't really need to watch the boil closely as I had plenty of room in the pot. I was a 2 qt starter in a 6 qt pot. Well I suddenly heard a noise and it was a massive boil over and the stove my wife cleaned that afternoon. It took hours to get all that sticky burnt on wort up and made a long day out of a simple starter.