Stupid Mistake Grief

[yard_bird]

Brewed up a batch of my English mild for entrance into local competition in 10 days. My friend sponsored my entry. Airlock was dry today when I went to bottle it, and the beer tastes as bad as you’d expect. I’ve never let this happen before, and this recipe is one of my favorites, so hopefully that paints a picture of the situation.

Next year.

 

[mongoose33]

Take heart: I'm sure that's the last brewing mistake you'll ever make.

 

[IslandLizard]

Ouch! So sorry.
Brew it again (or a Wee Heavy) and drink away the sorrow.

Now 10 days may not have been enough to carbonate that beer. 3 weeks at high room temps (70-75) is sort of average. Keep that in mind for next year.

How come the airlock dried up? Been in fermenter too long?

 

[yard_bird]

Ouch! So sorry.
Brew it again (or a Wee Heavy) and drink away the sorrow.

Now 10 days may not have been enough to carbonate that beer. 3 weeks at high room temps (70-75) is sort of average. Keep that in mind for next year.

How come the airlock dried up? Been in fermenter too long?

I agree with the 10 day carb time, however, that’s the deadline for submittal, tasting in the weeks to follow. Probably about a month of processing before beer was poured for comp.

In hindsight I should have used a blowoff tube and then slap an airlock in it. Went four weeks without me checking on it, and since I use the one piece airlocks, I’m sure some fluid bubbled out during peak ferm.

Thanks for the commiserating posts. Rebrewing this weekend.

Any good English mikes people have had recently?

 

[SEndorf]

I'm sorry you had a beer bust. I'm sure it will be better next time.
I know you didn't ask for advice, but I'm throwing in my two cents FWIW...
Not a fan of one piece air locks. You're not the first one with bad experience.
Either the three piece with the bottom ID barbs cut (dremelled) for free flow, or a blow off.

 

[day_trippr]

So 3-piece airlocks don't go dry?
Don't blame the tools for allowing a fermentor to run for well over a month unattended...

Cheers!

 

[SEndorf]

So 3-piece airlocks don't go dry?

Not normally. No..

 

[day_trippr]

Considering a 3-piece is exposed to the air just like an S-lock (it wouldn't work otherwise) one would think they're both equally prone to drying out giving a ridiculous amount of time.

I tossed my 3-piece locks years ago. They were suck-back machines, unlike the S-locks...

Cheers!

 

[ba-brewer]

A normal gravity mild should be done in week, brew it again. Shake carb in a keg and bottle from the keg.

If you planned to dump the first batch you could play around and see if you can salvage it. I recall reading someone saying breweries in England sometime added old beer to the brown ales. Porters were allowed to stale then mixed with fresh beer, brew a fresh batch and blend the forgotten batch.

 

[SEndorf]

Considering a 3-piece is exposed to the air just like an S-lock (it wouldn't work otherwise) one would think they're both equally prone to drying out giving a ridiculous amount of time.

Simply put, the three piece holds more fluid in a larger reservoir area and is not more prone to drying out. I used to go south in the winter with unattended primary fermentation of 4+ weeks and never had a problem. I found the S-locks would clog. When they clog, they dry.

I tossed my 3-piece locks years ago. They were suck-back machines, unlike the S-locks...

I started brewing with S-locks, and with the massive amounts of stuck crud in them that you can't disassemble, I found it easier to toss them after use. I remember they we're less than a buck at the time.
For cold crashing either one will potentially allow oxygen in once there is negative pressure. The only difference is the S lock won't put fluid in your beer.
There are better alternatives to handle negative pressure from cold crashing - from a simple balloon to a CO2 harvesting system.