[Al Equihua]

Brewing it suppossed to be fun right?
Well, y went yesterday to San Diego to get my things to brew a Oatmeal Stout and i started at 5 30 pm..then i realized i was out of gas for my flammer (daaamn), i was planning doing a protein rest 122F but i ran leaving i little bit higher in temp for 30 minutes becouse the store closed at 6 pm...i ran... miss the temperature i put some cold water but it wasnt enough...then with to much water in the mash tun i think, now what?  decotion? yeah! go for it, i drained about 3 gal and boil it, add it to the mash and it wasnt enough fot 154 F,, finallly i add boiled water and finally 154!!
My boy ask me if i can play with him a few times,  noise, the television... aaghhhhh

at the end, end at 4.7 ( OG1.072) gal instead of 5, i use northern brewer (1.25 oz) and it was a little bit over bitter for me,.. add 3 more quarter of water, i use  a single Saf-04 and after pitching the yeast i realized that according to BeerSmith need 2 packages not 1!... ohhhh, im tired right now and i learn the lesson

Planning ahead and privacy is very important in brewing
im a little bit concerned of adding those 3 qts of water after pitching the yeast, today at morning it was happily bubbling!

cheers!

[Pinski]

Oh that made me smile. We've all been there (and some still visit) at some point man. Way to work through it!  Next batch will go better and you'll experience new 'learning moments'.  I wonder what mine will be before every batch.

[rjharper]

We've all had that brew day.  Just on Sunday, while brewing an imperial rye IPA, I experienced my worst brew day yet.
a)  I ran out of propane mid mash.  I had a spare but didn't notice until I'd dropped 4F
b)  I had a boilover, first time in the keggle
c)  I forgot to reset the timer after the second hop addition
d)  I missed my final volume by 1/2 gallon, so its a little weaker than planned
e)  The whole leaf hops at flameout plugged the pickup line in the kettle, so no whirlpool, and no pump out to fermenter
f)  I couldnt siphon out the kettle because I the hops kept plugging that too
g)  In the end I had to scoop out 6 gallons with a 1 quart glass jug, hoping it stayed sanitized, hops and all, then filtered it from one carboy to the next

But just you wait, this will be the best batch yet, and I'll never be able to repeat it...  Oh and next time I use whole leaf, I'm putting the boil screen back in, or using a hop bag...

[denny]

You were being punished for doing a protein rest for a stout...

[Al Equihua]

yeah! youre right, once a time we have these days
Denny, yeah maybe that's my punished

i forgot to mentioned, i did not use the "RDWHAHB" before and after the session, maybe next time

[Kit B]

These kinds of things made me start doing the following, before ever starting a brew day:

1) Make sure Mrs. B is willing to watch 'The Boy'.
2) Make sure there are 3 full propane tanks, on my patio.
3) Make sure Mrs. B is willing to watch 'The Boy'.
4) Make sure there are 3 full propane tanks, on my patio.

I always double-check.

[denny]

i drained about 3 gal and boil it, add it to the mash

I just noticed this.  How long had the mash been going before you did the decoction?  Keep in mind that the enzymes are in the liquid, so if you drain 3 gal. of liquid and boil it you're denaturing the enzymes.  That might lead to less than perfect conversion.

[davidgzach]

i drained about 3 gal and boil it, add it to the mash

I just noticed this.  How long had the mash been going before you did the decoction?  Keep in mind that the enzymes are in the liquid, so if you drain 3 gal. of liquid and boil it you're denaturing the enzymes.  That might lead to less than perfect conversion.

+1.  Was thinking the same as I was reading through.  Same for the protein rest for a Stout too.  For shame!  

It will probably end up being your best brew ever........

[Kit B]

Yes...From what I understand, 3 gallons is a lot more than you should use for a decoction (in a batch that size).
You also want to use the thickest part of your mash for a decoction, so you're boiling a lot of grain...
By doing this, you are ensuring that you have enough active enzymes still in the tun, to convert the starches to fermentable sugars.

[Al Equihua]

i end up the day at work and the time i opened the door, mmmmm smells like beer!...oh crap, there you again
vigorous fermentation blow the lid of the bucket!

maybe it was less than 2 gal, it was resting about 35 minutes at 126°F mostly then boil but maybe youre right, and the result will be good
for my luck!

[snowtiger87]

The decoction (1st decoction) part should be 1 qt thick mash for every lb of grain in the recipe. Of course, if all you really want to do is raise the temp a few degrees (instead of 120 to 152 or something) then that formula can be modified.

Denny's point about the enzymes is 100% correct. That is why "THICK PART" is emphasized.

Don't worry, will end up with beer though.

[micsager]

Oh that made me smile. We've all been there (and some still visit) at some point man. Way to work through it!  Next batch will go better and you'll experience new 'learning moments'.  I wonder what mine will be before every batch.

I'm with ya there.  I always figure if nothing went wrong, well, then SOMETHING went wrong.....   LOL

[Al Equihua]

The decoction (1st decoction) part should be 1 qt thick mash for every lb of grain in the recipe. Of course, if all you really want to do is raise the temp a few degrees (instead of 120 to 152 or something) then that formula can be modified.

Denny's point about the enzymes is 100% correct. That is why "THICK PART" is emphasized.

Don't worry, will end up with beer though.

all i do is a single decotion to raise the temperature becouse i miss the target. The efficiency was very good actually
you're right is beer finally, i let you know the result

also, gallery of wall and cealing painted with krausen...kind  of surrealism

cheers everyone

[tomsawyer]

Reading this, it is immediately obvious that your problem was not stirring with a charismatic spoon.

It does get easier with practice.

[bluesman]

One thing to keep in mind when doing a decoction is to do a brief saccharification rest for 20-30min prior to boiling the decoction in an effort to avoid denaturing the enzymes and converting the decoction.

I'm glad it has seemed to work out for you. Let us know how it tastes.