I had a some wort overflow through my taped-off lid causing a big mess in my keezer. I'd like to clean out the freezer bottom now, but I can't move the brew-pot/fermenter out without first removing the attached temperature-controller probe. Removing the probe could dislodge some of the overflow crud into the beer, risking infection. I had a little more wort than usual, maybe 6 gallons in my 8.75 gallon brew pot instead of the usual 5.5 gallons. I had never seen a single bubble out of the air lock before. I'll have to drill another hole in the brew pot lid for the temperature probe in the future.
Now the spilled wort is starting to smell, so I am leaving the keezer top open during the day since the house is heated to 68 degrees anyway and active fermentation is over. It'll be harder to clean once overflowed liquid dries but I want that bad smell away from the beer.
12/17/2011 Update
Well this beer was really bad, and I threw out the last gallon or so to make room for my next batch. It was barely drinkable. Normally, I'd rather drink my home brew than any commercial beer. The beer had a sherry-like, rotten crab apple off-flavor indicating oxidation. Serving it really cold helped a little. Among my mistakes: too much wort (I had over 6 gallons and it got all over), a loose seal, no airlock, and a starter that was too old. The starter went for a little over 40 hours. The brewing gods say 24 to 36 hours.
I bought a 7.9 gallon fermenter, and my son bought one as well. We brewed two 5 gallon batches. Mine was the same recipe, and my son's was a Brrrr Winter Ale clone. I'm happy to report they taste really good, but they haven't fully carbonated in the corny kegs yet. The only snafu was that I got a little airlock water ( a tablespoon maybe) in the beer when I crash cooled it. Next time I'll use cheap vodka. I also had a little trouble hitting my mash temperature. I finally just dumped the mash into my brew pot, got it to temp for about 15 minutes more and then dumped it back into the cooler mash tun to sparge. Hey, it worked! Maybe I'll just use my brew pot as the mash tun to begin with next time. I also used Maris Otter grain instead of American 2-row. I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but that's what the recipe for Sierra Nevada Torpedo actually calls for. I didn't do any fermentation temp control, I will have to think about it before I start cutting holes into the lid of my new fermenter.
Now the spilled wort is starting to smell, so I am leaving the keezer top open during the day since the house is heated to 68 degrees anyway and active fermentation is over. It'll be harder to clean once overflowed liquid dries but I want that bad smell away from the beer.
12/17/2011 Update
Well this beer was really bad, and I threw out the last gallon or so to make room for my next batch. It was barely drinkable. Normally, I'd rather drink my home brew than any commercial beer. The beer had a sherry-like, rotten crab apple off-flavor indicating oxidation. Serving it really cold helped a little. Among my mistakes: too much wort (I had over 6 gallons and it got all over), a loose seal, no airlock, and a starter that was too old. The starter went for a little over 40 hours. The brewing gods say 24 to 36 hours.
I bought a 7.9 gallon fermenter, and my son bought one as well. We brewed two 5 gallon batches. Mine was the same recipe, and my son's was a Brrrr Winter Ale clone. I'm happy to report they taste really good, but they haven't fully carbonated in the corny kegs yet. The only snafu was that I got a little airlock water ( a tablespoon maybe) in the beer when I crash cooled it. Next time I'll use cheap vodka. I also had a little trouble hitting my mash temperature. I finally just dumped the mash into my brew pot, got it to temp for about 15 minutes more and then dumped it back into the cooler mash tun to sparge. Hey, it worked! Maybe I'll just use my brew pot as the mash tun to begin with next time. I also used Maris Otter grain instead of American 2-row. I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but that's what the recipe for Sierra Nevada Torpedo actually calls for. I didn't do any fermentation temp control, I will have to think about it before I start cutting holes into the lid of my new fermenter.
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