Do you drink your bad batches?

[AlexKay]

Just threw out a kartoffelbeer. It was drinkable, but not good — not worth the effort of bottling, not worth the space in the garage, not worth the calories to drink it.

 

[Wables]

I’ve dumped one batch, winter of 2002. I had brewed 3 extract kits and 2 all grain kits by this point, so I was an expert. I designed my own RIS recipe…I don’t recall all of the ingredients, but I remember a full pound of black patent in the 5 gallons. I sampled it on bottling day and it hit the drain.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Can't say we have actually brewed a "bad" beer. A recent brew had a bit of diacetyl flavor, and it was brought to my attention, addressed the issue and it is now fixed.

Normally if a beer turns out not as I expected, or not to my liking, the entire keg will be given to a friend.

It is actually difficult to brew a truly bad beer, if standard operating procedures are followed, and quality ingredients are used.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Bad batch?

 

[HVCBrewing]

It all gets kegged or bottled. If I don’t much like it The beer gets set aside while I “hope for the best“ in it future development. If after 30 to 45 days I’ve lost all hope, it goes To the backyard and hydrates the Morning Glories.

 

[Melicious]

Are people still on this site? I’m currently drinking a batch of bad apricot seltzer. Even the stench is off. Buuuuut come on 5 gallon batch. I feel like at the nearby beach I’d be more willing

I'm wondering if it can somehow be distilled down to an apricot liqueur/spirit of sorts...?

 

[odie]

always drink your "shame"...it teaches you not to repeat that which you did...

 

[cmac62]

Right now I have two 5 gal batches that I used home dried kveik and they are both funky. I may drink one, but unless something has changed in the last month lagering one is getting dumped. The other is just a little sour, and that is drinkable.

 

[Rish]

Just threw out a kartoffelbeer. It was drinkable, but not good — not worth the effort of bottling, not worth the space in the garage, not worth the calories to drink it.

I'd like to see your recipe! Can't seem to find find much about potato beer recipes on the interwebs

 

[Jaybird]

Hell no. Down the drain. Life is too short to drink crap beer.

BOOM! EXACTLY!

Hello thread revival from years gone by! Baaahhhaaaaaaa 2013? REALLY??

Cheers
Jay

 

[dwhite60]

I drink them as penance to the gods of brewing for my lack of attention and care in my process.

A big batch for me is 14 liter so drinking it isn't too horrible a job. Also, if you do it in a session, they tend to taste better as you go through them.

Darker beers in particular really improve with time. Patience with them will pay off.

 

[Beer666]

Would love to see people drink some of the beers i have thrown away. Full on plastic or tcp. Some of it you would struggle to swallow a mouthful let alone finish a pint.

 

[AlexKay]

I'd like to see your recipe! Can't seem to find find much about potato beer recipes on the interwebs

~1.25 gallon batch (glad I didn't make more!)
1 lb. Weyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner Malt
1 lb. Bob's Red Mill potato flakes
2 g Magnum @ 60
5 g Tettnang @ 15
5.5 g Danstar Nottingham, fermented @ 64 F

Attenuation was low -- I figured the potato starch would already be gelatinized, but maybe I needed a cereal mash? I BIAB, and the bag was an absolute gummy mess that took forever to drain.

And it didn't taste great. So there's the recipe ... probably best to try something different.

This was actually my second kartoffelbier. The first I used actual baked potato cubes, and they took forever to convert in the mash, and the wort was an astringent mess. Only batch I've ever dumped as wort, before fermenting.

 

[jdauria]

Knock on wood, don't have bad batches anymore...but no, it goes right down the drain if it's not up to snuff.

 

[Upstate12866]

Things really do change over time. Somewhere on the internet there are breakdowns of what flaws can and can't be fixed with time. Many issues related to the fermentation can be improved, while I think I recall issues like skunked or oxidized beer can't be.

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Yup! Drinking a pretty bad witbier right now; thin with a lactose infection.
Allow your suffering to hone you into a stronger brewer.
... oh crap, am I becoming a brew-Sith?

 

[mashpaddled]

I started brewing right before law school so at a time when I wasn't working but under a lot of stress I couldn't bring myself to dump gallons of beer if it was at all drinkable. I drank a lot of bad early homebrew batches. With time I brewed fewer crappy batches but with as much sour and brett beer as I brew I'll always have an odd bad batch to dump. I don't mind bottling a less than ideal batch and see if it ages into something interesting but I give a short leash these days.

 

[Toxxyc]

I drink it, if it's drinkable. If not, I distill it, if it's got enough alcohol and a lower amount of hops. If not, I dump it.

I actually dumped a batch this past weekend. Brewed up a batch with some milled malt I got from a guy, he couldn't tell me how old it was. I didn't do a starch test after the hour mash and just proceeded to cube and pitch the next day. It fermented for a few days, and then I kegged it.

Undrinkable, no alcohol, tastes like stale bread. Disgusting. I watered the lawn with it.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Also, if you do it in a session, they tend to taste better as you go through them.

I disagree, if it is bad, it is bad.

 

[JAReeves]

One of my first Pale Ales was so badly oxidized that we drank it with a slice of lemon. In the words of my sister, "Congratulations, you made Corona!" That'll learn me.

 

[csantoni]

Drinking one now! My pale ale got oxidized with some unplanned delays between packaging and getting it into the kegerator. If I didn’t know how good this recipe can be I might not have noticed, but this is brown and boring. I’ll drink it until I have something else to put in the keg.

 

[Immocles]

I’m struggling through a terrible dunkelweizen, myself. I keep trudging through the bottles because I partially want to figure out what went so wrong, and because I keep thinking maybe, just maybe, it’ll be better with the next bottle.

Only like 9 more bottles to go.

 

[madscientist451]

I do lots of experiments and get lots of beer that isn't really all that bad, but not really ready for prime time. So I try blending it with other beer and cider and yes, sometimes I just have to dump it out. I usually have a "wake" for my departed brew and open up a bottle of barleywine to drown my sorrows.....

 

[derekp83]

Yes. I have several bottles of a cream ale that have a phenolic yeast flavor. Bunch of 22 oz bottles I keep staring at hoping they'll miraculously disappear.

 

[Golddiggie]

IMO, life's too short to drink bad beer. If it's not up to snuff, it gets dumped. So far that's only been due to equipment issues during the brew process (sat too long at high temps, in the kettle, and was way too bitter).

IF I have any concerns with a batch, I'll pull a sample (that's what sampling valves are for ) and decide. Hell, I was concerned about the cider I started just over a week ago. Pulled a sample yesterday and it's good. FG is lower than I expected, but tastes good.

 

[bracconiere]

Only like 9 more bottles to go.