Don't dump your bad brew!

BellAub · Sep 4, 2011

I started brewing beer almost a year ago and in that time I have made three bad batches of beer. One of them I did dump and I just thought what a big waste of time. Then I heard that you could age out any off flavors. So I bottled the other bad batch any way and tasted a bottle every month to see if there was any change in the taste. After tasting one of the many disappointing bottles I decided, instead of poring this sad creation down the drain, I will try and give it a new purpose. I poured it in a pot with some onions, green peppers, garlic, and brats. Snap! That was the best brats ever. I did the same recipe for some friends and they confirmed that I did not have bias taste buds. I have since used my Ridgecrest crud in various marinades with awesome results. I just tasted my first all grain attempt and I would be embarrassed to give a bottle to the wineno on the corner. But, I cant wait taste it injected in a pork roast or used as a brine with smoked turkey.
I will never dump a bad batch again.
Proust :mug:

jfr1111 · Sep 4, 2011

BellAub said:
I started brewing beer almost a year ago and in that time I have made three bad batches of beer. One of them I did dump and I just thought what a big waste of time. Then I heard that you could age out any off flavors. So I bottled the other bad batch any way and tasted a bottle every month to see if there was any change in the taste. After tasting one of the many disappointing bottles I decided, instead of poring this sad creation down the drain, I will try and give it a new purpose. I poured it in a pot with some onions, green peppers, garlic, and brats. Snap! That was the best brats ever. I did the same recipe for some friends and they confirmed that I did not have bias taste buds. I have since used my Ridgecrest crud in various marinades with awesome results. I just tasted my first all grain attempt and I would be embarrassed to give a bottle to the wineno on the corner. But, I cant wait taste it injected in a pork roast or used as a brine with smoked turkey.
I will never dump a bad batch again.
Proust

Cool if that floats your boat, but getting fat while cooking/drinking crap beer is not my idea of a good time. I'm already fat enough as is. Pinpointing what made the beer crappy in the first place is, in my humble opinion, a way better avenue than holding on to undrinkable brew.

CGVT · Sep 4, 2011

I don't see what it would hurt to keep it to cook. If you have room and don't need the bottles, keeping it around to boil a pot of brauts seems like a good idea to me. :mug:

nos33 · Sep 4, 2011

you get bad batches eventually, no one is perfect. Bell is just saying he found a new way to enjoy a failed brew. Where did the getting fat part come from?

Bmorebrew · Sep 4, 2011

You pretty much have to eat anyway, I'm not sure he was suggesting to make extra meals on top of the normals ones just to use up unsavory beer.

Also, don't forget beer makes an excellent ingredient in chili!

BellAub · Sep 4, 2011

jfr1111 said:
Cool if that floats your boat, but getting fat while cooking/drinking crap beer is not my idea of a good time. I'm already fat enough as is. Pinpointing what made the beer crappy in the first place is, in my humble opinion, a way better avenue than holding on to undrinkable brew.

Well I sometime cook/marinate with balsamic vinegar (failed red wine) but I would never drink a bottle of it. Plus, I have to buy the vinegar.

The_Professor · Sep 4, 2011

I had one bad batch that tasted a lot like malt vinegar.
I guess I could have had it with some battered fish.

jfr1111 · Sep 4, 2011

All I'm pointing out is that if cooking with bad beer is great, imagine how fabulous it would've been with good beer ? Plus, you need to do a whole lot of cooking to warrant keeping 5 gal of bottles (that could be filled with good beer, mind you).

BTW, balsamic vinegar is far, far, FAR from just being "bad wine". A good balsamic vinegar can be godly on a simple piece of bread. It is also especially good drizzled on ice cream.

As I said. I'm fat enough as is

.

passedpawn · Sep 4, 2011

jfr1111 said:
All I'm pointing out is that if cooking with bad beer is great, imagine how fabulous it would've been with good beer ?

Perhaps not as great, or no diff. Really. I use apple cider vinegar a lot for grilling. If I had a beer taste like that (I've had one!), it would be undrinkable and great for cooking.

jfr1111 said:
Plus, you need to do a whole lot of cooking to warrant keeping 5 gal of bottles (that could be filled with good beer, mind you).

Agree. I dump quickly, without remorse. I'll never advocate holding on to bad beer.

jfr1111 said:
BTW, balsamic vinegar is far, far, FAR from just being "bad wine". A good balsamic vinegar can be godly on a simple piece of bread. It is also especially good drizzled on ice cream.

??? serious?

jfr1111 said:
As I said. I'm fat enough as is .

Not the OP's fault. Let's assume the OP is fit and exercises regularly, OK?

Vance71975 · Sep 4, 2011

I would get a vinegar culture and a huge crock and turn the bad batched in to Prime Malt Vinegar and sell that to your friends, it isn't beer anymore so you can legally sell it.

Ricand · Sep 4, 2011

Ahh.. great aged balsamic vinegars ARE godly. Not cheap and money doesn't necessarily buy quality, so you can't chose on price alone. You can pay $30-$40 an ounce for the reeally good stuff, but you use so little it's not a horrible expense. Most people have just had the stuff from the grocery store shelf and I can understand why it is under appreciated. A good tip is to look for a hand numbered bottle.

jfr1111 · Sep 4, 2011

passedpawn said:
??? serious?

I am dead serious. It's like olive oil really. You have your run of the mill vinegar from the grocery that is good, but you also have the hand made, carefully mixed and aged stuff that is like CRACK. It's also surprisingly balanced and get even be syrupy with hints of vanilla and fruits.

BellAub · Sep 4, 2011

jfr1111 said:
All I'm pointing out is that if cooking with bad beer is great, imagine how fabulous it would've been with good beer ? Plus, you need to do a whole lot of cooking to warrant keeping 5 gal of bottles (that could be filled with good beer, mind you).

BTW, balsamic vinegar is far, far, FAR from just being "bad wine". A good balsamic vinegar can be godly on a simple piece of bread. It is also especially good drizzled on ice cream.

As I said. I'm fat enough as is .

Well maybe I should have called this thread "Don't dump your bad beer if you have the storage space." Most of my beer I keg but if I think the beer will not be ready to drink for a long time I like to bottle them so I can store them in smaller spaces. I also like to do a lot of barbecuing year round here in the California desert.

Where do you buy your vinegar? I have never seen vinegar like that.

passedpawn · Sep 4, 2011

jfr1111 said:
I am dead serious. It's like olive oil really. You have your run of the mill vinegar from the grocery that is good, but you also have the hand made, carefully mixed and aged stuff that is like CRACK. It's also surprisingly balanced and get even be syrupy with hints of vanilla and fruits.

I would not put olive oil on my ice cream either. I do like vinegar, and yes I'd use it about everywhere, but not on ice cream.

jfr1111 · Sep 4, 2011

passedpawn said:
I would not put olive oil on my ice cream either. I do like vinegar, and yes I'd use it about everywhere, but not on ice cream.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. But it's not as if I invented that combo:

Google: balsamic vinegar ice cream

Ty_Deschaine · Jan 5, 2013

Speaking of Ice Cream and botched beers, my botched stout is delicious with two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a Chocolate lined glass!

phenry · Jan 5, 2013

I had a batch of porter pick up a wild yeast infection or something similar, super overcarbbed and a bit of a funky taste. Rather than dump it down the drain, I just add two bottles to every batch of chili I make. Way better in the food than in a glass.

dcarter · Jan 5, 2013

You can also buy a water distiller online for about 100 bucks and make some great "enhanced beer". There's usually about a quart of "enhanced beer" in every 5 gallon batch.

Xpertskir · Jan 5, 2013

My pipeline/ingredient stockpile to large and life is to short to drink bad beer.

I'm not even talking about off flavors from process issues. If a recipe/batch isn't up to my standards I'll let it condition in my keezer for a few weeks and if its not where I want it, it's making room for better beer.

I have nothing against to dont dump crew, but I'm not wasting calories or brain cells on bad beer.

Don't dump your bad brew!

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