How many batches have you dumped?

I know time heals all wounds, especially when it comes to beer, but sometimes you just need those bottles.

I have dumped 5 batches in my first year of homebrewing, I don't believe any were due to infection.

1. Nuclear Porter <-- I pitched champaign yeast at the same time as ale yeast, I didn't realize I was supposed to stager them

2. Brown Ale <-- Tasted like crap, I blame the addition of brown sugar

3. Oatmeal Stout <-- I ordered liquid yeast through the mail in the summer (first mistake), I tried an extract oatmeal stout (second mistake), and since the Brown Ale wasn't confirmed nasty yet I added brown sugar (third mistake)

4. Oktoberfest <-- Smelled and tasted like canned corn. 100$ repulsive.

5. Oktoberfest attempt #2 <-- floating themometer broke in cooling wort.

I'd say that's about 25% of my batches for the year. My last 5 have gone off w/o a hitch though.

In over 100 batches, we have dumped three.
One was a mead that never took off and turned an ugly color.
I can't remember what the second batch was but it tasted like chewing on a grapefruit rind and not in a good way.
The third just had some weird infection that clouded it up and made it taste nasty.

i dumped around 5-6 batches in my first couple of years. one was a trippel that was critically underpitched and finished undrinkably sweet. tried everything and couldn't resurrect it. Most of the rest were dumped due to a certain off-flavor that I could never get rid of until i went AG. I dumped 3 partial kegs when we moved, and have thrown out portions of batches now and then as they started going off.

I initially read the thread titles as "How many bitches have you dumped?"

Out of the 6 batches of made, none have been dump worthy. Here's hoping the trend continues.

Haven't dumped any batches.

PintOfBitter said:

one was a trippel that was critically underpitched and finished undrinkably sweet. tried everything and couldn't resurrect it.

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Been, there, done that. Learned my lesson. Part of that lesson was forcing every single one of them down. Will never under pitch again.

Bottles are so cheap that no way I would throw out beer just for the bottles. If you didn't wait 6-8 weeks in the bottle before dumping than that's just a pure waste. If the beer has a gravity over 1.050 it may take a lot of time to smooth out, especially if everything didn't go perfect. I just had a wit that was flipping awful (I was 14% better efficiency than I planned on so it was 6.7% ABV instead of 4.5%) for over a month. Had a gross mouthfeel and a bland ass taste, now 6 weeks after I bottled it, it tastes awesome! If its bad, put it in the closet for a month or 2 and try again.

I had an IPA that was terrible until 3 months in the bottle, then became quite good.

Never have dumped a batch, there IS still some corn stalk beer left that I use for barbeque. After two years it is also starting to mellow. Just starting though.

I only dumped about half of a batch since I've started brewing. Not too bad for over a year and a half. Even if some stuff wasnt' particularly great it got drank eventually. You know, those end of the night beers where you know you will either forget about it or fall asleep while its half full.

I agree with beezer. Empty bottles are no excuse to dump beer; if you're desperate check out the alleys behind bars. Haha, I guess it's a good thing we don't bottle anymore ^_^

In two and a half years we have never dumped a batch. Not only that but there have been zero bottle bombs and zero infections. And now I will be knocking on wood for the remainder of the day

Have not dumped any, so far!

None for me - every batch came out OK, though I did tire of a hefe I made several years ago. I guess I have made between 75 and 100 batches.

I have just dumped one. Silly me poured honey straight into the fermenter during secondary. Yeah, it got infected. Very infected.

Iv'e made around 35 brews now over the past two years and had 7 or so that I had to throw out (very painful exp.).
the first was just plain infected with mouldy taste and smell a dark bitter mix n match of a recipe. the second was a belgian Abbey brew with a rotten strawy flavour along with a lot of brown sugar which didn't ferment and was very heavy, I managed to drink about half but couldn't stand any more. The third was a my only attempt at a porter again it was infected (mouldy).
Next a Rauchbier, smoky rotten flavour I blame the oak chips in secondary.
An attempt at english brown ale saw a very heavy, hardly fermented sweet milky , more like chocolate milk drink than beer type creation.
oh ya nothing worse than a watery stout , a red ale which seemed to have picked up a lot of bleach from somewhere.
Recently had a few problems with bitters and I'm wanting to blame the notty, but It kind of made me have a rethink of all my sanitary processes so I'm hoping now things will improve . I was using Iodine based sanitizer but now changed to peracetic acid and S-04 , I hate losing brews,

this is my first year and seriously considering dumping my first one. its s hefe and my efficiency was too low. it just doesnt taste good so might dump it as soon as i need the keg. i usually make it my fourth or more drink of the night.

I haven't dumped any yet. But I was a winemaker first, so beermaking came pretty easy to me. I had the sanitizing, racking, temperature control, etc. all understood, so it went pretty well. I did a few beer machine 2000 beers before that (I can't really remember when) that were pretty bad, though. We drank it, but didn't love it.

None so far... knock on wood.

One, due to an infection.

In retrospect I should have let it ride.

I had 2 brews going at the same time. They both were infected I let one go and disposed of the other. I still have about 1.5 gallons of the saved brew, Amazing, that is all I can say

Dumped 2 batches so far. A mild that didn't attenuate and basically tasted like unfermented wort. I aged it for couple months with no improvement. Shouldn't have dumped it, but at the time I just didn't want to look at it anymore. The other was a double IPA that I broke a floating thermometer in. Couldn't take the risk. I also have a keg of extract ESB that I brewed back in March that I'm hoping will improve. Kegerator's awaiting refit so I haven't tried it in a while. Maybe a dumper if it hasn't improved at all.

One in 45 batches - Yellow/white creepy crawly things in my beer!

I have dumped two.

petep1980 said:

2. Brown Ale <-- Tasted like crap, I blame the addition of brown sugar

3. Oatmeal Stout <-- I ordered liquid yeast through the mail in the summer (first mistake), I tried an extract oatmeal stout (second mistake), and since the Brown Ale wasn't confirmed nasty yet I added brown sugar (third mistake)

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I have added brown sugar to multiple beers with good results. I suspect you should look at your yeast pitches and/or fermentation temperatures. I don't think it is the sugar.

Had to dump a batch of stout last year.

It was fantastic coming out of the secondary, but went sour after bottling it. I assume that I picked something up in the bottling bucket or it took that much time for the infection that had been picked up earlier to "shine" through.

It was painful to do, but even more painful to drink. I saved a few bottles for 6 months or more, just in case I threw out the greatest beer ever made. Nope! Still the s**ts.

I dumped four in a row when I changed water sources and had consecutive batches that tasted like ass. No...worse than ass. I suspect chloramines.

I've brewed 38 batches total.

Zero, throw away beer? That beer never did any thing wrong to me! hehe

Im new to brewing but have read on it for years and been makeing wine for 15+ years I think it helped me out.

For thoughs of you useing floating thermometers. What I have been useing is a digital meat thermometer with a long wire between display and the probe. It can be put in boil pot and the lid fits tite rite over it. You can watch the temp with out removing lid and there is nothing to break. Works great for me. Just an idea. There is even a set point on it that you can set were an alarm will sound when you reach a desired temp.

sub-zero said:

What I have been useing is a digital meat thermometer with a long wire between display and the probe.

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Yep, I loved mine. "Loved" is past tense because the electronic base part got dropped into the boiling pumpkin ale wort

I snatched it out, but the LCD flashed blue and green, made a creeking sound and then was silenced forever.

yeah that could be a problem LOL

i'm impressed at how few batches you guys have dumped. methinks some may even be coloring the truth a bit. If the beer's not great, and aging hasn't helped, it's history. Not gonna waste my time drinking sub-par beer. learn the lesson and move on. I didn't start homebrewing in order to lower my standards.

Maybe you all are much better brewers than I was (I've had very good results for a while now, whether by skill or chance) or maybe you just find it hard to part with a beer you're actually not enjoying?

Zero....... That being said I'm wondering if I just didn't curse my self.

Never dumped a batch. If its not something I want to drink, I have plenty of friends that will (even if it tastes like liquid cake).

I hadn't dumped a batch in 20 years, until I got a floating thermometer that literally exploded in my mash tun about a month ago. Stay away from those things, they're horrible.

I have been brewing for almost two years. This year alone I have made 100 gallons of beer. I have never had to dump a batch. I sure hope my streak continues.

Dumped 2, so far. I am having a bad run right now. I did a dead guy ale that came out low in volume, and was just nasty. A stout, that just wasn't good. Now I have a S. Brown Ale, and an ESB on tap. The ESB came out short too. The S. Brown Ale is very bland. I will give it a couple more weeks to see if they get better. I have one waiting a Scottish 80 Export, which everything went perfect. It's so depressing of having a good run of quite of few batches, then running into 2 possibly four in a row.

I just brewed my 12th batch on Saturday and haven't dumped one yet, but I made an Altbier that is just horrible, still in primary and hoping it will get better?

If it doesn't get better I might bottle it anyway and add fruit flavoring, put it in the basement, and forget about it for a year. It is outside in the cold garage "lagering" right now with Mother Nature as the temp control, who knows if that will help but it was very hot and harsh tasting, fermented down to 1010 so I know it's gotta be done.

PintOfBitter said:

i'm impressed at how few batches you guys have dumped. methinks some may even be coloring the truth a bit. If the beer's not great, and aging hasn't helped, it's history. Not gonna waste my time drinking sub-par beer. learn the lesson and move on. I didn't start homebrewing in order to lower my standards.

Maybe you all are much better brewers than I was (I've had very good results for a while now, whether by skill or chance) or maybe you just find it hard to part with a beer you're actually not enjoying?

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I've dumped beer, but not batches. Sometimes you have a beer that is tastes blah, then a few months later and all of a sudden it is great. Always wait on a beer to see what it'll do.

However, other times you have beer that starts awesome, then 2 months later and it is meh. In these cases, that beer is just going to get more meh as time goes on. I homebrew so I can drink awesome beer, not meh beer. I have no problem dumping that less than fresh meh beer and popping open a fresh awesome beer. Considering it it $20 for two cases of beer, it isn't like the stuff is made of gold.

Only 1 - first time a cooler as a fermentation chiller - combination of a metal piece on the inside poking a hole in my fermenting bucket and a failure of the seal between the spigot and the side of the cooler due to the weight of a bucket causing a leak - resulting in moldy beer all throughout the cooler and the bin where I keep all of my brewing supplies. Tragic!

Knock on wood, it's only been one batch. It was infected, 100% confirmed. That's been over 16 years of active brewing, so I'd like to keep the number right there.


TL

Only two batches, totally 5 gallons: my first lager attempt, using second runnings from a stout and a Vierka Munich Dark dry yeast that had piss-poor directions; and a Mr. Beer batch that I essentially forgot about for 5-1/2 months. It had turned literally to vinegar. Ptooey! I still taste the nastiness that was in that tiny keg!

Other than that, I've made ~20 batches that have been OK to absolutely fabulous.

Never. Ever. Though I think I should have dumped the first one I did after 8 years off. Made it this January with extract left over from before I took time off. Used the 2 cans that were the least bulged (!!!!) - A really ugly brown. Still have 1 bottle left that has been in my fridge for quite a while - wondering when I dare drink that last bottle. :cross:

I REALLY vote for the freshest ingredients.

Dave

Only one that I dumped the entire thing, but I have dumped the bottom of a few kegs when I get sick of drinking them. Some of the stuff in the begining that I brewed, I would probably dump now because I have raised my standards and have a lot of better beer around. I might dump this Saison I have on now though cause I don't really like it and have some other stuff I wanna put on.

I never have a problem cleaning out a non empty keg. But I think the term "dumping" has a negative connotation. I have dumped 3 batches (out of 7) because they did not taste good. I drank them for a while, then realized that was stupid. Now I have no hesitancy to dump out a keg to make room for something else.