Have any of your homebrews made you gag?

I have bottled two beers so far: AHS Apocolypso and Session Belgian Saison. They aren't ready until Oct 15th but I just snuck a taste test. The Apocolypso is decent with good potential but the Belgian smells and tastes like.... well.... a Belgian's @sshole. After three sips, I ended up pouring it out because I gagged. Had this every happened to you? It had crushed coriander in it for two weeks...could it have rotted?

How long ago were they bottled? Are they carbed at all? Describe said '@sshole' taste.

I've got an extract wheat I made earlier this year that is just not good at all. I"m not even sure where I went wrong with it, but it's the only beer i've made that I actually have trouble drinking

I had one beer that must have gotten infected - it tasted like paint thinner with a hint of lemon juice. I dumped it out of secondary after a month.

sinned34 said:

I had one beer that must have gotten infected - it tasted like paint thinner with a hint of lemon juice. I dumped it out of secondary after a month.

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Solventy and sour flavors almost always age out, and are especially common in higher gravity beers. You done f***ed up.

bottlebomber said:

Solventy and sour flavors almost always age out, and are especially common in higher gravity beers. You done f***ed up.

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You may be correct, but when I say it tasted like paint thinner, I mean it burned on the way down, and it burned badly. After a sip of it my throat was sore for an hour. I really, really didn't want to dump it out (until I went all grain, it was my only brewing failure), but after a month in primary and a month in secondary with no change whatsoever in the burning taste, I figured there was nothing that would save it.

Huh... that is a little long for that flavor to be lingering. I've had one that was so bad the hydro sample made my chest burn, but it was much younger than that. Did eventually age out though

wow. No, never gag. I've had a couple that made me think I didn't meld the hops correctly for the style.

I had one that looked infected that wasn't.

And I am still suffering from some sort of gusher problem, but never gag.

My first batch was pretty bad.

I'll pop another tonight and post the profile. It's just an overwhelmingly sour/fermented smell and taste. Behind that is a nice bubble-gummy saison but the sourness makes it undrinkable. Hopefully it'll tone down in the next few weeks -- or maybe it was just a bad bottle....

I've got an Irish Red in the keg right now. The last 2 times I've made it has been a partial extract, this time I tried an All-grain. It's very sour. I overshot the mash temp by about 5 degrees but I'm doubting it's going to come around, it's pretty nasty.

I'm curious how old this belgian beer is. Saisons, Lambics, and other Bret or sour beers will usually taste pretty funky until the 6-12 month mark. You might just be tasting the off flavors produced by the different yeast strains that bring that beer into style.

rhamilton said:

I'll pop another tonight and post the profile. It's just an overwhelmingly sour/fermented smell and taste. Behind that is a nice bubble-gummy saison but the sourness makes it undrinkable. Hopefully it'll tone down in the next few weeks -- or maybe it was just a bad bottle....

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if the predominant flavor is sour, then you probably got an infection and don't expect that flavor to age out.

solventy flavors may age out, but they are a sign of a flawed fermentation (IMHO), and, as they say, you can't polish a turd.

rhamilton said:

Have any of your homebrews made you gag?

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Yes. Eight gallons of Band-Aid Wheat down the drain.
(Still haven't figured out what went wrong.)



I've also gotten beers in swaps that'd make you throw up a little in your mouth.

AnOldUR said:

Yes. Eight gallons of Band-Aid Wheat down the drain.
(Still haven't figured out what went wrong.)

I've also gotten beers in swaps that'd make you throw up a little in your mouth.

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Chlorine in the water does that, especially for AG. I got a nice filter, and haven't had the problem since.

bottlebomber said:

Chlorine in the water does that, especially for AG. I got a nice filter, and haven't had the problem since.

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Yeah, that's one of the possibilities. Have a filter, but may have let it go too long without changing. Over 100 batches and never a problem. Using Campden now just for the peace of mind.

No, and hopefully never. I have had one's that I am less satisfied with, but as mentioned, they got/get better with time.

Well the recipe from AHS says it's ready to bottle in 10 days, and tastes best after 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. Gravity readings were spot on and it's been bottled for a week already. The sourness wasn't present before bottling. Hopefully it was just that one bottle. I'll post again tonight after popping another.

I wouldn't necessarily say I gagged... but my 1st personal recipe, 1st AG batch has so far unimpressed me to the point that it is non-drinkable. Gave me the baby "eww" face. Tasted like yeast and water with a little bit of something disgusting.

I would get a couple commercial examples of the beer you have made. Saisons and Lambics are supposed to be pretty sour. I've had both that could almost pass as a cider style.

10 days seems a bit short for that style. My guess would be if you bottle condition for a few months you will really see that sourness not so much fade away, but meld with the other flavors pretty nicely.

So now I'm not thinking anything is wrong with the brew. I drank a La Fin Du Monde last night which is a Belgian Triple and it definitely had the same smell that made me gag from the saison. It wasn't nearly as strong but it was definitely there -- after 3-4 sips it didn't bother me any more.

So hopefully the saison will mellow and that sourness with go away a bit.

that girl said:

No.

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Never gagged on my own. Had a couple that I wasn't too impressed with, and one that I don't go out of my way to drink, but nothing completely undrinkable. Some other people's beers however.... I had two recently that were just horrible. I wonder what the hell they did to it to mess it up THAT bad.

Chlorine and it's more stable version react with the hops that to us tastes like a fermented, wet bitter dog. Try Camden pills used in winemaking. I use a filter too but it does not remove all the chlorine.

My first AG batch I tried to adjust the water profile and accidentally added ounces instead of grams of salt to the mash water. Needless to say it was too salty. I used it for marinating meats and boiling sausage.

yup, my pumpkin ale this year. Spent a whole day looking for canned pumpkin did everything right. Let it age for a month, grabbed a glass, and it was like sucking on a sour patch kid. Not.good.at.all