Back to a post from 2013, recently I was at an industry event, an established friend in the industry asked for tips for a new guy we were chatting with and I went with this Trust Your Gut. Anytime I have ignored it’s hurt an outcome, anytime I paid attention it’s resolved it.

It is the one thing I have learned the last few years. If my gut reads something is wrong when I check invariably there is a problem that needs to be corrected.

Case in point I brewed a beer last week and a few minor things stick out in my mind looking back. That pump is running a little louder-harder than normal. The grain bed seemed to settle in a higher and odd position to normal. My gravity during mash out was lower than normal. We get our grain pre-milled, but the shipment didn’t get milled, or crushed, properly so when I went to empty the mash tun I discovered that fact. Looking back at all these little things they clued me in there was a problem but I didn’t know exactly what until it was too late. From now on I will double-check each bag of grain to make sure it has been milled. Thankfully it was the first of a two batch session so I was able to compensate on my next wort(batch) and even them out.

If you didn’t clean it, assume it is dirty. 

If you didn’t check it, assume it didn’t get done. 

In the end you have to remain mindful of your surroundings not just to get the job done right, but also safely.