Busted!

I haven't had the desire to blog lately. Not sure why exactly. I really think have came down and crashed hard from Mohican. I have no energy, irritable beyond belief. (Yes, I am a man who can admit things like that). I also have this feeling that nothing is going my way. Is it all psychological. or is it something else? You decide.

Besides the slump in blogging (who cares really), I went to CrossFit a few times last week, and had no energy each time I went. Apparently, I didn't have the energy to blog about it either.

This weekend started off like any other. Worked Friday night, stayed up all day to celebrate my wife's birthday, then we ended up not doing anything because the places she wanted to go was close because of Independence Day. - Yes, it's Independence Day not "The Fourth". We didn't achieve "The Fourth" from the English. Our Forefathers achieved Independence, for us.

Irks me like when people say Xmas. Who the hell was Xmas? It's Christmas!

So Saturday afternoon, I start working on my Wort Chiller (Big Copper Coil -Google it). This device is used to cool down beer that has been brewed, from about 170 degrees to 70 degrees. I could have bought one, but for some reason, I have it in my mind that I can make one cheaper and better than one off the Internet. This thinking will change.

I've never soldered copper before. Always a chance to do something new. Everything was going good, I was having no problems, and the soldering job looked good. This all changed when I started burning my fingers, hands, legs, dropping molten solder all over my shoes, bare skin, CrossFit equipment, clothes....you get the idea.

The flux was not working properly, I wasted so much solder. When I was done...the damn think leaked in a few spots. Okay, I'll fix those. Done, tried again, leaks, more leaks, WTF? Tried again, burned the hell out of my leg, done, more leaks. I told my wife one more time and it's going in the trash. More burns, adjustments made.....leaks. In the trash it goes where it is still there. I'll order one from the net and never look back at this experience.

After that, it was time for bed, 'cause the next day has got to be better. It's Brew Day!

Brew Day at my friend Bret's house (pictured above) and we planned to brew a Honey Kolsch. I loaded up my gear, and then heaved my 105 lb Black Lab into my cramped, hooptie of a Jeep and off to some old stopping grounds.

The brew day was going great. We had mild temps, and actually dropped down to a chilly temp. The brew was going along nice. We sat around stirring the kettle of Wort (Google it). The aromas that were given off were unreal. The smell of the Crushed Grain was almost euphoric. This is why I brew people. Good times, with good friends. My weekend was looking better and the previous day was patched up and almost laughed about because of Brew Day.

When we were done brewing, we tasted the Wort (I told you to Google it). Oh man. I could sense the excitement in Bret as he tasted it. At this point the Wort doesn't really taste like the final product. That all comes with aging the beer and carbonation.

The Wort was sweet and you could really taste the 1 lb of Clover Honey. The initial Gravity was high (1.060) and we knew we had a winner.

I put the Wort and 2.5 gallons of water into a Glass Carboy like I've done in the past. We chilled it down in Bret's kitchen. I couldn't get the temp below 80 degrees, so I decided to not pitch the yeast until I got home.

Busted!

When I went to move the Carboy, we noticed a leak and subsequently a crack on the edge. I quickly got my secondary bucket, and proceeded to siphon off the Wort in there. The thing with my siphon is that you have to pressurize the Carboy with filtered air from your mouth. As soon as I blew air into the filter, the Carboy exploded, and like Niagara Falls, the wort went gushing EVERYWHERE! It was a slow motion surreal experience. One I hope I will never encounter ever again.

I was so furious and extremely embarrassed. I just flooded my friends kitchen with 5 gallons of a fermentable liquid. Thank goodness there wasn't any yeast in the wort.

We cleaned and cleaned until there was no trace of our tasty beer left. My wife had already left and gone to the movies by herself. I didn't care really. All I cared about was cleaning up the mess. Literally, $30.00 down the drain.

The last time I brewed, I was moving the same Carboy and dropped it onto the concrete floor in my garage. This stress from this coupled with the temp changes is probably why it cracked and then the pressure finished it off.

Bret and I agreed that I am lucky that I didn't end up in the hospital with major lacerations.

So, what is the cure for these disastrous events? I'm going here: