On a Bad Streak!!

[TopherM]

Anyone ever gone through a bad brewing streak?

I made three batches in a row that were not good. To break out of my streak, I brewed a batch of my proven house brew recipe. When carbing, the seal on my beer out post was somehow broken and I leaked the whole 5 gallon batch onto the floor (fun cleanup, BTW). I then brewed a Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde that didn't turn out quite right.

So that's five batches in a row of bad beer. REALLY BAD STREAK!! I hadn't brewed a particularly bad beer in years prior to this bad streak.

I've decided that I'm going to spend all next weekend just cleaning the everliving crap out of everything I own, then starting all over with another proven recipe.

Anyone ever been through a bad streak? Mine has been almost 3 months worth of wasted brewing!!

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

I had my first bad batch in 6 some years this last batch. I knew it was a lost cause when it came out of the carboy, but I went through the process and kegged it anyways and it hasn't recovered. I know it was a cleaning issue - I had crud hidding in my plate chiller that I didn't notice until I went to recirculate the hot wort for sanitation. *sigh* I'm going to re-brew it this weekend and hope that I can dig out of the start of this hole - hopefully avoiding a 3 month down swing. That's rough, and I definitely feel your pain. A good cleaning is probably what you need - on one hand, it'll get all the crud out. It'll also show you anything that may be broken or worn out. And lastly, it'll be so miserable that next time you brew you'll be focused on getting everything right for fear of doing it again!

Good luck man...

-Kevin

 

[sa1126]

I'm on a bad streak too. One skunked batch, one low OG that tasted awful and one that tastes bad from a funky used keg.

I'm brewing this weekend and hoping to hit a home run with a new IPA. I took about 6 weeks off of brewing and am starting to feel better about getting back into it.

 

[tre9er]

I tried to brew a few different holiday beers and fruit/spice beers last winter. All turned out like hot garbage (or hot belgian apple bubblegum, to be specific). I decided to stay away from those for the most part. I haven't made anything spectacular lately, but the pale ales have been nice daily drinkers.

 

[fosgate]

I didn't have a bad batch but the brewing time was a nightmare. The batch itself turned out but nearly didn't. Lines popping off during transfer, lines not sealing creating suction problems, Hydrometer fell and broke, Backup scope was too cold to get a proper brix reading when needed etc. I was amazed no one got burned and that it turned out. Never had it happen before but it seemed like everything that could go wrong with equipment did go wrong.

 

[glugglug]

I've been through it recently. 4 or 5 batches. Kind of put me on a hiatus for a couple of years. Back at it this year with a vengeance. All beers this year have been good. Was looking forward to a couple pints of my latest pale ale tonight, but last night I ran out of co2. Gotta get it filled tomorrow.

You'll get back on track.

 

[kh54s10]

I hope I don't jinx myself, but the worst I have done in 36 batches and just under 2 years is missing temperatures etc. and probably missing the style a little. All have been good. The worst was a 3 gallon batch experiment running a second batch from extra sparge. I made a weak IPA that was harsh until the hop flavor faded, then they were not too bad.

My bad things have been frustrating glitches in my procedures but I guess I have been lucky and it hasn't ruined any beer.

 

[Yooper]

I didn't really have bad streak, as the beer has been really good.

But the second to the last time I brewed, nothing went wrong.

The reason it was remarkable was because that was the first time in ages. I didn't even realize that I was always expecting something to happen- cavitation in the pumps, a leak in the chiller, etc.

The last brew day was far more typical. I burned myself (only once, a small second degree burn), the pump clogged up more than once (more than twice, actually), the CFC leaked, etc. I felt much more comfortable.

 

[cluckk]

The last three mashes, for some unknown reason my extract has been five to ten points below my usual.

 

[JDFlow]

I somehow measured and marked my kettle wrong. Meaning, what I thought was 6 gallons was actually 7, and what I thought was 5 was actually 6. Don't ask me how. If I knew I wouldn't have done it. When my efficiency dropped to the upper 50's/lower 60's I had a hell of a time figuring it out. Yesterday I gave up and decided to remark my water levels... Doh!

 

[DrunkleJon]

I somehow measured and marked my kettle wrong. Meaning, what I thought was 6 gallons was actually 7, and what I thought was 5 was actually 6. Don't ask me how. If I knew I wouldn't have done it. When my efficiency dropped to the upper 50's/lower 60's I had a hell of a time figuring it out. Yesterday I gave up and decided to remark my water levels... Doh!

Oooh.. Thanks for the reminder. I was 1 gal over on friday and forgot about it. I really am not looking forward to cleaning out my ferm chamber tonight. Though I must say that is still more fun thanthe intelligence drop from that same day when I grabbed the IC that was in the boil for 15 minutes barehanded with no water running through it. Not a good idea as you can probably guess.

 

[TrubHead]

Actually have been on a really good streak. Hope it continues but since I'm into experimenting then have to expect less than stellar outcomes.

 

[TopherM]

Halleluiah!!!

STREAK BROKEN!

I made a Flanders Brown in August 2012 that I just sampled Saturday. There's a local BJCP Sour/Lambic event coming up in mid June that it will be entered into. A couple pro brewers that are always BLUNT with constructive criticism had glowing remarks and stated that they would be surprised if it didn't place in the upcoming event.

TopherM's back! :rockin: