First All Grain brew cock up!!!

[liddley]

Attempted my very first all grain brew at the weekend after collecting/making all the equipment needed.
I purchaced a ready measured out kit off the net to make 40 pints of Timothy Taylors landlord special.
All was going well untill I began to draw off some of the liquer from the mash tun and disaster struck!
The copper frame I made for the strainer in the bottom of the mash tun came loose from the tap and the grain blocked up my tap solid DoH!
Not having any experience in all grain brewing I was not sure what to do? I had no option to tip the mash tun up to one side, clean out the tap and re attach the strainer back on. I left the mash tun for another twenty mins or so covered up to try and get the grain to settle. When I returned and tried again it drew off like a treat. first few jugs full were very cloudy but after that nice and clear. So I carried on and sparged and then got the boil on. No hassels after that.
First lesson learned ( make sure everything is fixed and secured before starting).
The end result looked and smelt ok , but just wondered If I wasted my time carring on after the mash tun mishap or will I be able to salvage somthing drinkable from the first brew?
All in all though I think with practice Im going to enjoy the all grain brewing lark !

[far9410]

It should be fine mate

[wilsoa11111]

ahh it will be fine, might have lost a bit of temp so be a bit more boozy and drier but should still be miles better than most stuff

[liddley]

that's great ! wasn't sure if it would ruin it messing the mash stage up, but will be pleased if I can get something drinkable from my first attempt !

[Eric]

I'll bet it'll be more than drinkable. Those are the sort of problems you will get and can get around without concern.

[scuppeteer]

All fine. Should it happen again a hose pipe up the mash tun outlet usually does the trick with no adverse effect.

[setmash]

Im sure it will be good. Im a new AGer as well, only done two brews and both were a disaster but the beer turned out to be fantastic !

Good luck for brew 2...its addictive

Rich

[Dave S]

The fact is, the cock up happened at the end of the mash, so your extract should be OK. Brew on!

[orlando]

Agh, cock ups! I used to think it was only me (and I still keep my end up in this department) and then I discovered Jim's and to the eternal credit of all concerned I discovered that not only was it a common occurrence but often a part of every brew day and one many were prepared to share. Made me feel a lot better, even if it didn't prevent my regular contribution. Obviously there is a scale here and there are some, if not most, you can get away with, your example being one of them.

So keep calm and carry on brewing, actually it is all part of the fun.

[neil smith]

even the big boys have problems, i have just got back from one of the local micros and they had pump problems last brew day so had to rig something up in a hurry so everything took much longer but the brewer said it will all work out well
cheers Neil

[seymour]

Yeah, a prolonged mash isn't a problem at all. Some of us even intentionally mash overnight sometimes. You probably won't even notice a difference.

[orlando]

Yeah, a prolonged mash isn't a problem at all. Some of us even intentionally mash overnight sometimes. You probably won't even notice a difference.

Begs the question....! I usually go for 60 minutes these days, particularly when mashing low. I still flirt with 90 for Porters etc as I still want as much conversion of Beta Amylase as possible as I have had a few finish too high (low attenuation).

[critch]

even the big boys have problems

and on a regular basis too its only a problem if its continual, if you learn by it, its a lesson

ive just sussed our new fv temp controllers read 2.c too cold,(all of em!) ive been scratching my head wondering why the ferments have been slow with less yeast produced and slightly higher fv's. now i know

i should have picked up on it weeks ago

[orlando]

even the big boys have problems

and on a regular basis too its only a problem if its continual, if you learn by it, its a lesson

ive just sussed our new fv temp controllers read 2.c too cold,(all of em!) ive been scratching my head wondering why the ferments have been slow with less yeast produced and slightly higher fv's. now i know

i should have picked up on it weeks ago

Completely different scale but I have only just got round to a calibrated thermometer, on the up side my old one was only .3 out and the calibrated one has a margin of .4, what surprises me is that your temp controllers, in a commercial setting, could be so far out, is it not possible to get them calibration certificated?

I do like the, "it's only a problem if continual, if you learn by it, it's a lesson"

[Dave S]

even the big boys have problems

and on a regular basis too its only a problem if its continual, if you learn by it, its a lesson

ive just sussed our new fv temp controllers read 2.c too cold,(all of em!) ive been scratching my head wondering why the ferments have been slow with less yeast produced and slightly higher fv's. now i know

i should have picked up on it weeks ago

Completely different scale but I have only just got round to a calibrated thermometer, on the up side my old one was only .3 out and the calibrated one has a margin of .4, what surprises me is that your temp controllers, in a commercial setting, could be so far out, is it not possible to get them calibration certificated?

I do like the, "it's only a problem if continual, if you learn by it, it's a lesson"

Thing is, they might be perfectly well calibrated. Calibrated is not the same as accurate. As long as they have a measured error margin compared to standard used for the calibration. But I agree, 2C does seem a lot for industry standard equipment