Toggle sidebar

Tragedy, prayers needed...well, maybe a hug

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
F

Fisk Jaegaren

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 5, 2012
109
0
0
Near the hive of scum and villiany
We had a bad accident today while bottling in the kitchen. We were bottling a cyser concoction which I am working on a name for...but back to the accident. I had just finished filling the fourth bottle and went reaching for another when one of my beloved hounds came strolling in and jumped up on my leg for a closer look at what I was doing. When she dropped back down she had snagged the filling tube with her paw....the carboy came crashing down into the sink, shattering and leaving the sweet aroma of cherries, honey, apples and more in the air. 4-12 oz bottles is all that survived...with one promised to a friend already. ...:(
 
Very sorry for you loss, but more grateful that you and your beloved hound survived unscathed. While I prefer glass over plastic for bulk aging, glass seems to pose a risk even for the very careful.

Scritch your dog on the head and savor the few bottles that survived. Poor beloved hound did not mean any harm.
 
I am glad no one was hurt.

I had a situation as well, or rather 2 of them.

The first was I lost 1/2 a batch of a Pumpkin Hazelnut I made. My apprentice picked up the case of bottles and boom the bottom dropped out of it, glass and mead everywhere in the kitchen. My apprentice was not in shoes. So I directed her to stay still. Swept, blotted up mead, got glass up and the like. Not her fault. The bottom of the box was weak and not suited to the weight. ALLWAYS check your boxes for integrity before you bottle.

The second loss I was a bit more prepared. I picked up a brew bucket, moved it over to the counter by the sink that I rack from and the bottom cracked open. Quick thinking and knowing that I had just cleaned and sanitiezed the sink, I swung it over, popped in the stoper of the sink and then racked from the sink as the bucket let it all go. I think that I lost only about a six pack's worth of 12 oz bottles from a 6 gal batch of Peach Vanilla Nutmeg Mead. It could have been bad. I remember to clean and sanitize my kitchen sink and counters from then on. And keep a few plastic trash bags around and open incase it happens. I am just lucky that the brew bucket didn't let go on the carpet or in my wood floor of a dining area.

So, Yes we all have them. I am sorry that the loss of a glass carboy and mead. So glad that no one got lacerated by the shards of glass. That being said, I still will use glass carboys over plastic Better Bottles. I like them better. Just a big reminder to be very careful when lifting and racking and the like.

Matrix
 
ALWAYS packing tape the bottoms of your boxes several times before putting filled bottles into them ESPECIALLY if you are using the same boxes in which you had empty bottles shipped to you. Even old boxes which were designed to carry filled bottles weaken with age and moisture...
 
I need to get more packing tape, I have one box I duct taped when I couldn't find the packing tape that keeps threatening to let go, doesn't want to stick to the cardboard... and don't forget, the adhesives and the tapes themselves can get brittle after a few months or years (depending on the conditions) so check things periodically even though they've been working fine for years...
 
Matrix4b said:
I am glad no one was hurt.

I had a situation as well, or rather 2 of them.

The first was I lost 1/2 a batch of a Pumpkin Hazelnut I made. My apprentice picked up the case of bottles and boom the bottom dropped out of it, glass and mead everywhere in the kitchen. My apprentice was not in shoes. So I directed her to stay still. Swept, blotted up mead, got glass up and the like. Not her fault. The bottom of the box was weak and not suited to the weight. ALLWAYS check your boxes for integrity before you bottle.

Matrix
Click to expand...

I like to wrap cardboard boxes/cases in shipping tape to add a bit of structeral integrity because they don't tend to age well....
 
skunkboy said:
I like to wrap cardboard boxes/cases in shipping tape to add a bit of structeral integrity because they don't tend to age well....
Click to expand...

Oh, yes. I have learned my lessong on this. Yes, I have them fortified with tape and check it prior to bottling. I don't want to loose 1/2 a batch again.
or any.

Matrix
 
Pumpkin is almost unheard of over here. They call ANY winter squash 'pumpkin' including butternut. I can get Libby's canned pumpkin at extortionate prices, but nothing else. So, how are you adding pumpkin flavor to mead? Surely not from canned pumpkin (I did that once with mango pulp. BIG mistake !!!)
 
I've turned jack o'lanterns into wine before, but I have seen recipes using canned pumpkin purée... And I did substitute in a butternut squash when I was a few pounds short of pumpkin... squash tastes better anyway :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom