Dumping a wheat beer that's too old?

[Palefire]

Ok, so after 19 batches, I'm actually thinking about breaking protocol and dumping one ...

Brewed an AG dunkelweizen a few months ago - the first wheat beer I've brewed (pretty standard recipe). 3 weeks primary, 3 weeks in bottle before drinking. Came out delicious. Exactly what I was shooting for. Couldn't get enough. Wasn't SWMBO's favorite, though, so I ended up being the only one here drinking it. Plus the pipeline was pretty full, so I wasn't drinking it all the time.

Here's the problem ... I have about 18 or so bottles left. But after a few months, it's starting to taste kinda bad. A little watery, but more like the flavors just kind of fell apart. I can still stomach it - I've certainly drunk far worse things in my life - but I have a bunch of other beers sitting around and I'd rather drink them if given the choice.

So, my question is: I know wheat beers can go bad after a short period of time - is 3 months from brewing about right? And if so, has anyone else broken down and dumped theirs? I mean, unlike other beers for which age can cure many problems, I don't see this one getting any better. Should I just call it lesson learned (the lesson being: drink your wheat beers quickly)? Hate to dump, but there are those precious taste buds to consider...

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[jgln]

So far I have kept mine for much longer and have not noticed anything bad happen to them. While on topic can I jump in and ask WHY wheat beers are subject to this? They are all grains right?

 

[PinkyOFloyd]

If you can tolerate the taste, drink fast!! After 3 months it's definitely going to be showing it's ugly side.

 

[azscoob]

I will be the first to say go ahead and dump it, if you dont like the taste why hoarde something you dont care to drink? I would rather put the empties to use in a new batch than holding something that you have reservations about drinking.
makes me think of my wife opening up a tupperware container long forgotten in the fridge and taking a whiff, making a "thats gross" face, putting the lid back on it and putting it back in the fridge again.

 

[DRoyLenz]

I used to subscribe to the school that governs that under no circumstances should a homebrew be dumped (save for infection). The more I brew though, the more I begin to realize that it's not worth the trouble choking down a beer that isn't as good as it could be. If I've got other, better, beers in the pipeline, or I need the bottles, then a bad batch will get dumped (something I'm gonna have to do soon).

When I make big batches of chili, and don't eat it all before it goes bad, I don't have a huge problem with throwing the rest away, same thing applies here. I've got plenty of good beer to drink, and if I only allow myself to drink a pint or two a day, I'm gonna go with the good ones.

 

[samc]

I have no problem with dumping a bad batch. Why drink something you don't like. I have a bottle of Freshops hop extract and sometimes a few drops will really turn a bad beer into something good. You might give that a try, otherwise dump.

 

[EricCSU]

A wheat beer will only get worse over time.

I say dump it.

Life is too short to drink less than great beer.

Eric

 

[Lando]

I think we are in the same boat regarding the wheat beer. I have half a keg that kind of sucked in September. I have a feeling that aging it did not help... only one way to find out.

 

[PinkyOFloyd]

I think we are in the same boat regarding the wheat beer. I have half a keg that kind of sucked in September. I have a feeling that aging it did not help... only one way to find out.

Better hold your nose when you drink that one......

 

[maztec]

I would dump it, cook with it, or make bread with it.

Other than that, forget it - it is not going to recover any time soon.

 

[Frank99]

Cut your losses and move on...Dump it!

 

[Palefire]

Wow - dump, baby, dump! Never thought I'd hear that from so many HBT'ers ...


Seriously, thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[KUbrew]

If you need the bottles then dump it. If not, I would save several and see what happens over time. I love pulling out old beers to see what has happened to them. I've got lots of wheats that are over a year old. They aren't as good as they were fresh, but almost all of them are still worth drinking. I had a brown ale that went from awesome to bad in about a month of being in the keg. I bottled it because I needed the keg and I'm just now getting around to drinking it after 6 months and it tastes much better than when I bottled it, so you never know.

 

[SteveM]

I went through this same process with the one batch of hefe that I brewed - my only wheat beer ever. Wheats are a special case - unlike barleys, they won't keep getting better, and while I choked mine down, I would never make that mistake again, especially because there's a place ten minutes from my house with Paulener hefe on tap.

Life's too short to drink bad beer!

 

[throwbookatface]

Agree. Think about beer logistics - a 5-gallon brew means two cases. Outside of homebrewing I never hear of anyone buying two cases of one kind of beer. If you have more in the pipeline and it was cheap to make, why keep 30+ beers you don't like?

Save a few for cooking/breadmaking, or give some to friends, but other than that, it's not worth it. You can also make 2-3 gallon wheat brews if you can never make it through a full batch.