Need some advice. I tried brain tanning but the hide came out hard not soft like it was supposed to. It's my 1st try at brain tanning and I guess I failed miserably. Can I soak it again and try softening it or am I stuck with stiff leather? Can I retan it with chemicals? Trying to figure out what to do with it! Any help is appreciated!

Give it a good wash and go again.

What are you working on?

I have never BT myself, but I will following for an update. GL!

Yes, as long as the hide didnt rot, you can try redressing and softening. I do that often on large hides.

I found getting the hide to the right wetness before dressing really helped with getting a good softening.

If that's failure then I've done a lot of failing because I've braintanned thousands and still get hides that take extra work and brainings.
Getting the dressing steps right usually takes some experience. Just keep at it and you will figure it out.

Thin it down good by dry scraping before tanning.You will save yourself a lot of work and have a more uniform piece of leather to work with.
Dryscraping takes some experience to get good,at first you may pop a few spots,but dont worry a needle and thread will rectify that.
Are you doing hair on or hair off?

When I BT tough hides like squirrel and otter, and I do it with deer also just to make the softening effort easier, I intentionally let the first braining dry into the hide. I wring it, brain it, wring out the brain solution, and get it dry fast in the sun or a good dry place with air movement. I just let it shrink and dry hard. I have found that this guarantees the brains fully penetrate and then the second braining I wring it out and work it dry. The second time the brains will soak in fast, then wring the excess and soften. You did not make a mistake, (as long as it did not start to rot before it dried as stated by k snow!) - you actually stumbled in a “trick” that makes the softening a lot less work. I also dont work the hide constantly unless it is at “critical stage” where it is drying fast. I just work the stiff spots as I feel them. Also dont forget to abrade, when hand softening you NEED to break up the crust on the surface with an edge or pumice. It is an important step that I did not think was important when I first started. That said, I know a guy who uses a stone celt in a socket on too of a stake driven in the ground to work larger hides and he does not abrade - i expect the celt abrades enough that it happens while softening.

I'm doing hair off.

Large buck hide. It's my first brain tanning attempt.

Thanks everyone. Guess I didn't fail after all. Sounds like I just got some more work to do. Just got a couple more deer so I have plenty of material to work with.

Loosanarrow, that sounds like a great trick for stubborn hides. I might have to give that a shot.

I have also found that while softening after a second dressing, the hide softens much easier.

I soften over a cable, which abrades when i pull the hide back and forth. Stubborn spots I'll hit with a pumice stone.

You got this, Brother!

Don’t forget to smoke it.