A First: California Common!

I am hoping to brew 15 gallons of beer this weekend...

The first one I brewed was a California Common. I used JZ & John Palmer's How to Brew to formulate the recipe. My starter was going good and strong. The brew day and boil were cruising along without a hitch. All systems go, right?

Did I mention that I am planning to brew 15 gallons this weekend? Ten gallons are going to come from the same grain bill - a parti gyle (mentioned in a couple other posts this past week). This takes a bit of prep and coordination. My plan was to get an early start, and brew straight through the day, marathon style. Can you tell by all of these disclaimers that I have not yet gotten to the actual story?

So... I was pre-staging ingredients for the first brew from the parti-gyle (a big Old Ale) - getting the grain ready, weighing out hop additions, measuring my black treacle. My wife, who supports my brewing habit but doesn't get directly involved with the process (or any of my hobbies - obsessions as she calls them - now that I think about it?), was attempting to engage me in a conversation; the topic was definitely important, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. And then I was called upon by my sons for an expedient toy repair.

Amid the brewing prep and maelstrom of family activity, my timer went off. 10 minutes remaining in the boil. I grabbed the last hop addition, along with the treacle, and headed out to the deck to drop them into the wort along with the wort chiller. Ten minutes later, I killed the flame, partially replaced the kettle lid, and began chilling my California Common wort.

People who understand the BJCP style guidelines have already spotted my mistake... Treacle? In a California Common? WTF? However, at this point I had not noticed my mistake. Then I took a gravity reading with my refractometer - I overshot by A LOT? I did some quick calculations, and added back some filtered, boiled water to hit my gravity numbers.

It wasn't until I got ready to start on the parti-gyle that I realized what had happened. I went to look for my treacle, which should have been right there on the counter with my hops... Nowhere to be found. Oh crap! I freaked out!

My wife, again supportive of my brewing, managed to talk me down "off of the ledge" about my mistake. She convinced me that the beer would still be 'great' - just not what I had planned (only a small consolation, by the way!). So, technically, I have still never brewed a California Common.