beer gone...all gone...sob

[hakuna matata]

I had a fantastic smoked scotch ale that I was transferring today from a 6 gallon glass car boy to a 5 gallon glass car boy. Looked great, had a taste, tasted great, things were looking good for this beer for our NYE party.

Picked up the 5 gallon carboy with the new beer in it and placed it on the table where it was to sit for the next 7-10 days...and boom. It exploded, beer flowing everywhere on my kitchen floor. For a panicked moment I thought of the 3 second rule but my shop vac was all the way out in the garage!

Me standing there with a dazed look on my face () as my wood floor and walls get soaked in 5 gallons of fantastic beer. All gone...gone

I felt like the father in A Christmas Story when the dogs ate his turkey. ****--this was a good beer too damn it. It took my wife and I about an hour to clean up the floor and walls, damn 5 gallons of beer can spread fast let me tell you. My friend who owns the brew supply store is dropping of the ingredients tonight after he gets off work so I can try again in the morning. But I am probably pushing it to have the beer ready by NYE but it will be what it will be.

I am off to drown my sorrows in a commercial beer, one I am afraid will be far inferior to the scotch ale. Braveheart, I hardly knew you and now you are gone...gone...gone. sob

[brewer12345]

I hate to say it, but this is why I stopped using glass carboys. Very dangerous if they shatter, as well. Sorry for your loss.

[NW-Bound]

I am not a home brewer, but as a drinker, I have the empathy to imagine this tragedy.

It certainly can make a grown man cry, and in his glass of commercial beer. Arghh...

And the saline in one's tear will not make that commercial beer any tastier. I can hear your sob from here.

[hakuna matata]

Thanks for the condolences!

So you use plastic carboys then? I haven't used them but I have heard some people badmouth them as leaving a plastic taste to the beer. So I have never went that way. Glass seemed cleaner and easier to clean, ie. no nooks or crannies to hide bad stuff in. Or am I just not understanding the benefits of plastic?

Or are you using something else beside plastic? Just curious at this point as I have a good friend who has owns a brew supply store and he dropped by the replacement ingredients so I can make this tomorrow. We are having a NYE party and I was trying to make the beer for that party--it will be close now but I think it will be ready, or ready enough. But I had him bring me a new glass carboy.

Just curious for the future! Thanks

[brewer12345]

Actually, I use buckets with grommeted lids and holes predrilled for airlocks. They have a relatively short life (a year or so), but after I retire them I clean them real well, but a gamma seal lid, and use them for storage. I am not entirely thrilled, but the risk from glass is unacceptable to me and I am not willing to plunk down the serious ducats for something in stainless steel.

[meekie]

Sorry for your loss, it sounded like a great beer.

Glad you weren't hurt, I've heard about some horror stories from broken carboys too.

When I do brew (rarely), I still use the plastic buckets. I've heard good stuff (and a little bit of bad) about the plastic carboys called better bottles. Most concerns are about scratches and infections, not plastic tastes.

[Keim]

I use a combination of Better Bottles and glass carboys. Use the BB for primary fermentation, glass for longer aging of bigger beers. That has me moving the glass as little as possible, and helps me get over any residual fears I have of plastic taste.

[Ronstar]

Sorry for your loss!

Take a look at a brew hauler. I broke a carboy and have used these harnesses since with no problems.

[zedd]

Scotch ale! Yummo. Care to share your recipe?

[braumeister]

Sincere condolences.
I quit using the glass carboys years ago for the same reasons as brewer12345. Convenient, but just too dangerous.

Most of the time, I brew session ales that can sit in the primary fermenter for a couple of weeks, then go straight into a Cornelius keg for carbonation, conditioning, and serving.

For those that need longer fermenting/lagering times, I have enough extra corny kegs that I can go from fermenter to storage keg for as long as necessary before transfer to serving keg. It's also much easier to fit corny kegs in a spare frig for lagering.

Tip: If you do this, it's simple to drill a hole in the corny keg's hatch cover for a rubber stopper with an airlock.

[okapi]

Sorry for your loss.If you must purchase from a store,Rougue brewery is good.I think it is located in Seattle.

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by okapi Sorry for your loss.If you must purchase from a store,Rougue brewery is good.I think it is located in Seattle.

Rogue is located in Newport OR. Toured it last year.

[Keim]

I'll 2nd a vote for these. I also use milk crates. Like them even more-they provide a sturdy frame so the plastic carboys don't sag, and make it difficult for the glass carboys to come into contact with anything that might break them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Sorry for your loss! Take a look at a brew hauler. I broke a carboy and have used these harnesses since with no problems.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hakuna matata I had a fantastic smoked scotch ale that I was transferring today from a 6 gallon glass car boy to a 5 gallon glass car boy. Looked great, had a taste, tasted great, things were looking good for this beer for our NYE party. Picked up the 5 gallon carboy with the new beer in it and placed it on the table where it was to sit for the next 7-10 days...and boom. It exploded, beer flowing everywhere on my kitchen floor. For a panicked moment I thought of the 3 second rule but my shop vac was all the way out in the garage! Me standing there with a dazed look on my face () as my wood floor and walls get soaked in 5 gallons of fantastic beer. All gone...gone I felt like the father in A Christmas Story when the dogs ate his turkey. ****--this was a good beer too damn it. It took my wife and I about an hour to clean up the floor and walls, damn 5 gallons of beer can spread fast let me tell you. My friend who owns the brew supply store is dropping of the ingredients tonight after he gets off work so I can try again in the morning. But I am probably pushing it to have the beer ready by NYE but it will be what it will be. I am off to drown my sorrows in a commercial beer, one I am afraid will be far inferior to the scotch ale. Braveheart, I hardly knew you and now you are gone...gone...gone. sob

Sorry for your pain, and good luck finding a replacement, albeit temporary and commercial. Nature has a way of finding balance, though. On the same day you suffered a painful loss, I had a pleasant surprise. My favorite ale, missing from store shelves for over a year, is back.

[hakuna matata]

Thanks for all the condolences--I figured beer drinkers out there will be able to commiserate with the loss of a good 5 gallons of beer

Well Braveheart 2 is on its way! I got up early this morning to redo the beer. My buddy stopped by last night with all the ingredients as I need to get moving on this beer as I want it for a party I am having on NYE. I think it will just make it--4 weeks from today. If I was bottling no way would I make it, but kegging I have a shot at it!

I did improve the stool I place it on. It was just a wooden stool but I added a big piece of styrofoam that I had on the top and it fits perfecting with the box I place over it to keep the beer in the dark. But now when I place the bottle on the stool it is onto a soft surface that won't crack it and make my beer go bye-bye. I will have to look at the other options people have suggested here as I am very paranoid now about the glass breaking. I like the idea of going from primary ferementer into a the keg, that is one I may have to look into.

Hmm..maybe I need to change the name from Braveheart to MacGyver.

[hakuna matata]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedd Scotch ale! Yummo. Care to share your recipe?

No problem

7 lbs Light Malt Extract
1 lb Light Dry Malt Extract
1 lb Wheat Dry Malt Extract
1/2 lb Munich Malt
1/2 lb Crystal Malt 40L
1/4 lb Belgian Caramunich Malt
1/4 lb Peated (smoked) Malt
1 oz Northern Brewer Hops 8 HBU (Boiling) 60 minutes
1/2 oz Kent Golding Hops (Flavor) 15 minutes
Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale

Add cracked Munich, Crystal, Caramunich and Peated Malts to 2 gallons of cold water and bring to a boil When the boiling starts, remove the grain. Add the Light Malt Extract, Dry Light Malt Extract and Wheat Dry Malt Extract then bring to a boil again. Add 1 oz of Northern Brewing Hops and continue to boil for 45 minutes. Add 1/2 oz of Kent Golding Hops and continue to boil for 15 minutes. Sparge the hops with cold water into the fermenter. Add the wart to the ferementer with cold water to make 5 gallons. Add yeast when temperature reaches 70 degrees. Ferment at 65 degrees for 7 days or until fermentation slows. Rack to a secondary ferementer and let it age for 2 weeks in secondary then bottle or keg.

I keg but the recipe says if you bottle to use 1 1/4 cup fo dry malt extract boiled with 2 cups of water adding in the bottling bucket.

Not my recipe but I think it makes a nice smoked scottish ale. Good luck and let me know if you try it and how it turned out.

[audreyh1]

Wow - what a disaster! My condolences - for the beer as well as the cleanup.

Best of luck on your next batch. You earned it (and I love the name!!!)

[NW-Bound]

Forgot to ask if your entire home smells like ale. Come to think of it, 5 gallons is A LOT, and it would get into all the nooks and crannies of your kitchen floor.

I drink beer too, but most of my med in is in wine and the concentrated 80-proof form. Smaller containers are easier to handle and to store, and that's my story.

[hakuna matata]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Forgot to ask if your entire home smells like ale. Come to think of it, 5 gallons is A LOT, and it would get into all the nooks and crannies of your kitchen floor. I drink beer too, but most of my med in is in wine and the concentrated 80-proof form. Smaller containers are easier to handle and to store, and that's my story.

I was worried it would smell like beer but it doesn't We got the beer up pretty fast and washed all the rags we used immediately. I also the mopped the floor 4 times with hot water,hand drying it after each wash to make sure it wasn't sticky. I was more worried about the floor being sticky from the sugars in the beer as it was only a 1 week old batch, but I was able to avoid that. My wife actually commented that the floor looked better than it did before, so maybe beer is a good floor cleaner, so I asked her if got sloshed and spill it in the living room am I off the hook? She was not amused, but I think she was happy we were able to get it all off the floor with no damage other than the loss of the beer.

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hakuna matata ...Well Braveheart 2 is on its way!...

My vote for the 2nd brews name is Beerheart.