Beer brewing lack-of-focus mistakes
We must have been a little rusty, due to our lack of brewing during the winter. We messed up two batches of beer in the same night. It's always a learning process.
On Mon evening, Mar 30, 2015, we tried to brew two two-gallon batches at staggered times. Both were the exact same Belgian blonde recipe that was created somewhat from scratch, using the BeerSmith app.
The recipe was based upon the Belgian blondes that we brewed previously but tweaked due to additional info. We bought ingredients this afternoon at Titgemiers.
But we botched both batches.
While the first batch was at the boil stage, the second batch was in the mash stage. We check the temp of the mash at 15-min intervals to ensure the temp is between 144 and 152 degrees.
At one check, the temp was a little under the minimum, so we turned the heat on to warm it briefly. But the heat was turned on high, and neither one of us paid attention.
The lid was on the pot, so it warmed quickly. I heard a sound and checked under the lid and saw the mash boiling. That was toast. Too high of a temp during mash kills off fermentable sugars in the grains. Something like that.
I dumped the mash onto our garden.
While the first batch was chilling, we checked some math and realized that the amount of hops that we added was meant for a five-gallon batch. Oops. A Belgian blonde IPA. Not for us.
We dumped this one down the drain.
This four-gallon total brew would have produced 40 to 42 bottles of beer. Approx 28 of these bottles would have been used in a swap that's scheduled for late April. That was the main purpose for brewing this much beer this evening. I guess that we will be bowing out of that event.