Screw-Up Confession

Friday, June 17th, 7:08 AM, I was adjusting mash PH with Lactic Acid, or so I thought, when I looked down and saw I was drawing from the PH Storage Solution Bottle.  AArgh! 
Bummed me out for awhile, but after looking it up, storage solution is mostly Potassium Chloride (KCL), a salt.  Lethal in sufficient quantities.  Used for executions, and Kervorkian used it too.  But, I only put about 10 ml in 9 gal of water, so I think I’ll live.  Didn’t seem to affect efficiency, taste, or enzymatic activity.  Whew!!

By the way, I changed my hammer back to my real name, and posted my real mug for all to see.  Cheers!

A while back, after I finished malt conditioning I realized I was using the starsan spray bottle rather than the water spray bottle. Beer turned out just fine. Cheers!!!

I just did that this weekend.  Luckily, I noticed what I was doing after the first couple squirts and switched back to water.

What is your water like that you need 10mls of lactic acid?  Is it the usual 88% stuff?

10 ml was just a WAG, so Tom, thank you!  You got me to recreate it with a measurement.  It was L88, and I use these pippet things that I thought held more than they do.  Turns out that a full squirt is only about 2 ml.  So, I probably put no more than 3 ml in there before I freaked.  Anyway, my water usually doesn’t need much, but the last couple of batches I’ve been putting CaCO3 in the build, and I think I’m going to knock that off.  I was sitting at about 5.6 at the time, at about 100 degrees.

Ah, that’s cool.  Glad it worked out Kirk.  :slight_smile:

I’ve done this too.  You’re not alone.  8^)

Paul

I’ve transferred a full batch of schwarzbier on top of about a pint of StarSan that I left in a carboy to sanitize it…

Starsan = RED spray bottle
Water    = BLUE spray bottle

That’s funny. They are exactly that, and labeled to. I think I was still half a sleep that morning.  Cheers!!!

I did my first AG last weekend and made several screw ups but I also believe I recovered from three of those and won’t know about the fourth until I taste it.  First off, I meant to make a pale and it will be a dark red or brown (too much crystal in the pale).  Secondly, I couldn’t get my water temp for the mash right for at least an hour but prevailed there.  Thirdly, I ended up with three gallons of beer as I didn’t account for mash retention and lastly, I added way too much hops.  It has 6 ounces of cascade and mt hood instead of half that so the IBU is way off the chart.  Regardless, I am full steam ahead to see what it turns out to be because who knows, maybe i screwed up in just the right way.

I am also prepared for the worst so we will see.  The best and worst thing is, I can just do it over again and learn from my mistakes!!!

What was the SG of the wort when you were done? This will tell you if the mashtemp messed you up or not, and In theory, you could have added 2G of water at the end and come close to calculated OG…Color, schmolor, they’re all beautiful.

So, it’s hoppy? Lots of people like that…

RDWHAHB.  ;D

The OG was 1.055 and the FG was 1.010 (5.9%).  I had a quick taste as I bottled it and it was drinkable.  It was hoppy but nowhere near what I thought it would be.  It had a sweet taste and the Cascade and Mt Hood came out with a nice flavor.  I will open one in two weeks and one every week after that to see how it ages.  I think I may have pulled it off as it tasted more like beer than anything else.

I look to do the correct the things I feel went wrong but who knows, maybe it will be my first recipe to make my beer book.

Tim

KCl is often used as a salt substitute by those with high blood pressure who need to limit their sodium intake. No worries.

Water is fatal in sufficient quantities too.  9 gals will do it.

In regards to my screw up, it looks like it may turn out as something decent to drink.  I opened three bottles after 2 weeks and although it needs more time to condition the taste was good and the hops is starting to mellow out.