Bad beer. What do YOU do?

[Zymurgrafi]

well, about 2 1/4 cases of not so pleasent beer to go. I am trying to make myself drink it before I touch any of my good beer, but it is really punishing.

I am a frugal sob so I hate wasting sh!t even if it is BAD, but this is tough. I know I have some good brews. I guess the ulterior motive is to let the good brew get "gooder" with age, but man, blech! I tell myself after a few it won't matter as I am feeling
but that does not help when I only want to enjoy 1 or 2. Well, answer the poll! Thanks


:fro:

 

[homebrewer_99]

'esplain more...wadds wrong wit it?

 

[Zymurgrafi]

wow, fast reply, how'd you do that?

uh, I'd find my old posts but you would probably reply before I got there...

Suffice it to say nasty yeast problems... :cross:

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

Man, I got the same problem, just broke open my first bottle of my Belgian Wit, ugh, something is wrong, I cultured the yeast from a bottle of White Rascal, and I am now under the impression that Wits use a mix of yeast strains, and I isolated a single strain. It came out very clear, watery, and tastes like rubbing alcohol...poured myself a whole bomber of it, only took 4 sips before quitting and pouring it out. Have about 30 more 22oz bottles of the junk.

 

[the_bird]

I've got a couple of early batches that I can't stand. If I ever need bottles, down the sink - but since I have about a hundred extra bottles and am now in the kegging business, they'll probably stick around for a while

Some beer gets better with age, so put it in a dark corner for a while and see if it improves. Life's too short to drink crappy beer, though, even if it's your own!

 

[mot]

im waiting one of minet right now...I am just gonna go buy some more bottles for other batches

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Life's too short to drink crappy beer, though, even if it's your own!

Indeed.

I am pretty much 99.9999999999999999999999999999999% these will not improve with age. Super mutant yeastage situation.
They do the job if you just want to get buzzed but getting there ain't much fun.

Ah well, here's to better beers from now on

 

[user 574]

I dump it. Although I've sat on some bottles for 1 year but they never got better. Bottles I'm a little more hesitant, but kegs. gone! they can't take valuable tap space.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I've dumped one batch. but most of them i save for people who claim to not like homebrew. Cuz F them! they don't deserve to drink my good stuff!

 

[rdwj]

I've really only had one bad batch and I dumped it. Life is too short to drink bad beer. I kept it around until I had something else to take it's place, gave it one last chance to redeem itself, and then dumped its sorry ass!

 

[Rook]

I dumped a batch a few days ago. No fun to do, but I could not stomach drinking it, it was horrible. My own fault, I burned the absolute CRAP out of the liquid extract, and the beer had a horrible taste to it becuase of that. I also didn't mix the priming sugars into the beer very well when I put them in, so while I did dodge any bottle bombs, I had a few EXTRA carbed bottles and a few low carb bottles.

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

I've only "had" to dump 2 batches in three years. Luckly I can stomach pretty much anything:cross: . But these were foul. I voted Nader

 

[david_42]

I've had two bad batches & dumped one keg just because it didn't turn out the way I wanted it. Sometimes I'll get tired of a batch and dump the last few quarts. I've thought about bottling leftovers, but I hate bottling. I save the effort for meads & strange stuff.

But, Vermonters do have a reputation to live up to.

 

[magno]

If its just "not so pleasant" I'd drink it. Im like you ... frugal (to put it nicely).

- magno

 

[magno]

Man, I got the same problem, just broke open my first bottle of my Belgian Wit, ugh, something is wrong, I cultured the yeast from a bottle of White Rascal, and I am now under the impression that Wits use a mix of yeast strains, and I isolated a single strain. It came out very clear, watery, and tastes like rubbing alcohol...poured myself a whole bomber of it, only took 4 sips before quitting and pouring it out. Have about 30 more 22oz bottles of the junk.

I doubt that you isolated a single strain if there were multiple strains to begin with. It sounds like youve got a good old fashioned infection (likely from the yeast harvesting).

 

[Pabst Blue Robot]

The only batch I've actually dumped started out as a good beer. It was 10 gallons and the first keg was fantastic, but unfortunately the second keg "conditioned" in an 85 degree room for about a month and the hot, oily, heavy fusel alcohol flavor was very apparent in the finish. Less than a pint would give me a splitting migraine headache, so once I noticed the correlation, it was gone.

 

[Beer Weevel]

Distill It !!!!!!!! And use it for fuel, RIGHT!!!!

 

[Cheesefood]

Man, I got the same problem, just broke open my first bottle of my Belgian Wit, ugh, something is wrong, I cultured the yeast from a bottle of White Rascal, and I am now under the impression that Wits use a mix of yeast strains, and I isolated a single strain. It came out very clear, watery, and tastes like rubbing alcohol...poured myself a whole bomber of it, only took 4 sips before quitting and pouring it out. Have about 30 more 22oz bottles of the junk.

Many brewers use a different strain for bottling.

 

[Jaybird]

Feed it to your lawn. Your lawn will never be greener. Kill snails put beer in a plate where the snails are eating you plants and in the morning the plate will be full of dead ( died happy) snails.
JJ

 

[Flyin' Lion]

My first batch was infected (hefe) and I drank it out of spite. Now that I have more available, if it wouldn't cut into my stock I'd dump in on the lawn. At the least you'll get some use out of it.

 

[Dude]

I usually try to salvage it for as long as I can. After about 6 months if it hasn't improved, I dump.

 

[EvilTOJ]

I was an idiot and made my first all grain batch for a party. I must have sparged a ton of grain bits into the boil because it had an aftertaste of burnt tortillas. I tried dryhopping it to help mask the taste but it did zero. I served it and people genuinely liked it (most people who drank it had at least two bottles) but I couldn't stand it.

 

[homebrewer_99]

wow, fast reply, how'd you do that?

uh, I'd find my old posts but you would probably reply before I got there...

Suffice it to say nasty yeast problems... :cross:

What kind of brew was it?

I blend my beers when they are just slightly off from what I wanted them to be.

If it's a wheat or light you could mix it 50/50 with Sprite or some generic lemon/lime soda to make a Radler.

If it's dark use cola.

If it's for a party...mix it 50/50 with cola then add about a shot of rye to every liter (or 1/2 gallon to thin it out) for a Geistmass (Ghost Liter). We used to drink them in Germany and get shiitfarced...

 

[Zymurgrafi]

What kind of brew was it?

Well, I've got about 12 Irish red ales which are as cloudy as a hefe but no where near as tasty. Those have been in bottle about 3 months now. Then I have about 1 3/4 cases of steam beer that are actually crystal clear but have a nasty yeasty flavor. They have been bottled about 1 month but were in clearing tank about 1 1/2 months (after two in primary) which is why they are at least clear. I actually do not need to mix the steam beer with anything. They seem to be quite potent (can't remmber the abv at thr moment) probablyy some fusel alcohol going on too? Well, I am leaving them until the bottles are needed I guess. Or I just feel like punishing myself

The real problem is the nasty almost impossible to remove residue this yeast leaves all over the inside of the bottle (it clings to the sides as well as the bottom). Had not thought of it before but maybe there is a wild yeast strain that got in there. Never was too impressed with the packaging of this yeast brand.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

I doubt that you isolated a single strain if there were multiple strains to begin with. It sounds like youve got a good old fashioned infection (likely from the yeast harvesting).

um, I did, I work in a lab and streaked out the yeast from the bottle on a YPD plate, picked a single colony and cultured it, but thanks.

Many brewers use a different strain for bottling.

Asked the brewmaster at the brewery, he said it is the same yeast in the bottle as is used for fermenting, whether or not they use multiple strains, that I didn't ask, and forgot when I was there on friday. Apparently they got it from a Hoegarden bottle...