My Best Story - Skin in the Game
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:28 am
I know this isn't going to win anything, nor do I really want it to, but since you asked for brew stories, here's mine.
I was about three batches in on my home-made mash tun. It's a good mash tun, but as with almost any DIY project, there are glitches and SNAFUs that no amount of troubleshooting can foresee. In fact, the only glitch/SNAFU is what necessitates this entry.
This is a fairly ordinary mash tun. After all, when you think about it, the design of a mash tun really can't vary all that much. It's like designing a better spoon -- you can't improve too much on the basic design. So I had an insulated cooler, a brass spigot, and a CPVC manifold. Like a million other homemade tuns.
My difficulty came in the connection from the manifold to the spigot. It didn't sit quite right; slightly loose. Could become detached if disturbed.
Which happened one brewday. I think it was over-enthusiastic stirring while mashing in. I must have bumped the manifold with the spoon and detached it from the spigot. Of course, there was no way of knowing this until after the rest. I opened the spigot to collect the first runnings and ..... nothing.
So I figured it out, and decided I needed to re-attach the manifold to the spigot.
I also decided to do this with my bare hand, plunging it repeatedly into grain/liquid that was around 155 degrees. I couldn't stand the scalding temperatures long enough to actually re-attach the manifold, and after about four or five attempts (and many very bad words screamed at maximum volume) I decided the best alternative course of action would be to scoop the stuff out until I could actually access the manifold, reattach it, then return everything to the tun and drain it.
Which is what I did, and the batch didn't suffer at all. I can't say the same for my hand, though. I removed a couple layers of skin from an area about 1" square at the base of my thumb, and had to wear a bandage for a couple of weeks until it healed over. Even now, many months later, it's still slightly discolored there.
I was about three batches in on my home-made mash tun. It's a good mash tun, but as with almost any DIY project, there are glitches and SNAFUs that no amount of troubleshooting can foresee. In fact, the only glitch/SNAFU is what necessitates this entry.
This is a fairly ordinary mash tun. After all, when you think about it, the design of a mash tun really can't vary all that much. It's like designing a better spoon -- you can't improve too much on the basic design. So I had an insulated cooler, a brass spigot, and a CPVC manifold. Like a million other homemade tuns.
My difficulty came in the connection from the manifold to the spigot. It didn't sit quite right; slightly loose. Could become detached if disturbed.
Which happened one brewday. I think it was over-enthusiastic stirring while mashing in. I must have bumped the manifold with the spoon and detached it from the spigot. Of course, there was no way of knowing this until after the rest. I opened the spigot to collect the first runnings and ..... nothing.
So I figured it out, and decided I needed to re-attach the manifold to the spigot.
I also decided to do this with my bare hand, plunging it repeatedly into grain/liquid that was around 155 degrees. I couldn't stand the scalding temperatures long enough to actually re-attach the manifold, and after about four or five attempts (and many very bad words screamed at maximum volume) I decided the best alternative course of action would be to scoop the stuff out until I could actually access the manifold, reattach it, then return everything to the tun and drain it.
Which is what I did, and the batch didn't suffer at all. I can't say the same for my hand, though. I removed a couple layers of skin from an area about 1" square at the base of my thumb, and had to wear a bandage for a couple of weeks until it healed over. Even now, many months later, it's still slightly discolored there.
