[DrewG]

...that seems to fight you every step of the way?

Brewed my standard over hopped 4.5% abv pale a couple 3 weeks back. Here are a few highlights:

Mashing in: Ball valve open. Unaware brewer in sock feet.

Boil: Out of propane at 30 minutes

End of boil hop additions: Fancy new El Dorado hops come out of bag in one cow pie-like brick. Brewer attempts to separate said brick with thumbs. Brick explodes. Fancy El Dorado hops all over kitchen floor.

Dry hop: Repeat above, only hops are all over bottom of ferment fridge.

Cold crash: Brewer forgets that a fridge outside behaves differently in winter than a fridge outside in the summer. Beer freezes.

Fining: Gelatin turns into gelatin before making it into beer.

Kegging: Normal routine, except lid gasket decides things look better at the bottom of 5 gallons of beer.

In spite of all that, the hydrometer sample tasted pretty good.

[joe_feist]

I did leave the valve open once and ran out of propane. Can't remember if it was the same brew session. Haven't had the hop explosion, but I broke a thermometer in the kettle when I was new and using the glass thermometer that came in the kit. That guy should have been shot.

Glad the beer tastes good, though. It's a journey...sometimes the road is bumpy, but if you get there, then you get there.

[gsandel]

Simple answer: Yes....more often than I'd like.

Add: boilover the second you round the corner to do something else (after all a watched pot never boils, but an unwatched one explodes), stuck mash, and hops block transfer to fermenter.

Usually there is one injury as well....burn, cut, bump, bruise....

Thankfully the beer usually turns out ok.

[bluesman]

Sounds like a PITA batch of beer.

I feel your frustration, as I have a Belgian Tripel using WLP530 that stalled out due to be too cold. My cellar is sitting at 59F right now and the yeast almost completely flocced out after two weeks(S.G.=1.024).

I installed a fermwrap to get the temp up to 72F in an effort to get the yeast going again. After another week of active fermentation, the beer dropped to 1.016. It'll be a four weeks of fermentation tomorrow. Hope it's down to at least 1.010.

[erockrph]

Did the ball valve thing (again) on my last brew. Seems to be a bad habit of mine. Every time I give myself a hot foot I remember to shut it for the next few batches, then I invariably forget the pain and leave it open again. It's almost enough to make me want to wear something on my feet when I brew. Almost.

It seems that most beers where there are bumps in the road tend to come out pretty good. Maybe it's because you can taste the extra effort/pain/cursing you put into the brew.

[DrewG]

The hot foot, and sometimes the hot arm. Dropped my thermometer in the mash a couple brews ago.

[euge]

All a sacrifice to the beer gods. And it's a good reason to lay off the sauce while brewing. 

[gymrat]

Yeah...that pretty much describes a typical brew day for me

[hopfenundmalz]

Beers like that sometimes win awards. I have had that happen for me.

[DrewG]

That's the thing, Euge.  I never have a beer until I've pitched yeast.

[ajk]

I had the ball valve thing happen once, and ever since, I neurotically check the valve while filling the kettle. I'd like to change my processes so that I'm always filling the kettle *through* the ball valve to eliminate the possibility of disaster. Well, that particular disaster. I already do it that way with my mash tun.

[brewsumore]

Kegging: Normal routine, except lid gasket decides things look better at the bottom of 5 gallons of beer.

This happened to me last week when removing keg dry hops.  Another good reason for good sanitizing practices!  I didn't bother to fish it out.