Dumping out Homebrew .......... Can this ever be justified? Under any circumstance?

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SamuraiSquirrel

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I'm sure everyone has brewed some less than stellar homebrew at some point. When I first started brewing I originally took the stance that dumping out any homebrew, no matter how horrid tasting it is, would be an unforgivable sin and a complete atrocity. I am still not completely convinced that this is not the case ........

I still have a good number of bottles from the first few batches sitting in my basement. I have brewed over 70 gallons since then and the beer is remarkably better now than the first few. It's not that they are undrinkable. It's just that every time I go to grab a homebrew, there are so many better selections available that I don't know when I will ever resort to or have the desire to drink the originals. On top of that, I just can't stop brewing new beer. There is new beer coming in faster than I can drink what I have.

I have not yet actually been able to pour my less than stellar homebrewed creation down the drain but the thought has crossed my mind.

They might just have to remain in the corner of my basement until the end of time.
 
You might be running low on beer at some point in the future and need them.
 
The worst of me beers either went into cooking or into the smoker for moisture. They are still useful even if you arent drinking them.
 
My first batch got an infection, I let it sit in bottles for a year, I still couldn't drink it without almost throwing up... so I dumped it.
 
I dumped out most of my first batch of Apfelwein. I just don't like it, its hideous. But my wife, sister, and mother in law all thought it was great.

And last night I was over at my folks house and found a couple of six packs of year old peach wheat in their refridgerator. My dad wanted me to take them home, so I drank a couple and threw the rest away.

And I have 3-4 cases of 12oz bottles of beers from various batches out in the garage that have been sitting there since I started kegging, I should probably throw them out as well but I can't quite bring myself just to toss them out. Realistically, with four great beers on tap I'm never going to drink those warm bottles though.
 
If it tastes like satan's anus..meaning you want to throw up...a noticeable infection...Yes...


Because you aren't happy with the beer? In a month, or two or 6 or a year it could be the best damn beer you ever drink...so no....

The proof is in the pudding in this thread...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

I personally think not giving a beer a chance, is a waste, of our time AND money...if you dump now, you have a 100% chance that you will not be able to drink this beer...if you wait a few months, then the odds are you may have a very drinkable beer....

I know from expereince that four batches of mine, that were in various shades of not good, when I gave them time turned out to be drinkable, and one of those was called the best beer I had ever made by some beersnobs of mine.

Plus I have posted several times about finding 3, or 6 or 1 year old bottles of my beer in the fridge or the back of my beerstorage, and how I have chilled it down, and have been blown away by it.

And like I said, evidently a LOT of people who contributed to that thread agree about waiting and not dumping right away.

But if you at least can say you tried for a few months, and it didn't improve or got worse...then you should dump...

Read what I said to Con, here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/1266535-post105.html

Your choice...but don't look at some of us experienced brewers for rationalization for doing so, because you won't find it with a lot of us...we know the opposite to be true....if you wait, there is a high probably you won't regret your decision.

:mug:
 
I drink MAYBE two pints a day average so there's no room for ****ty beer. If I don't readily go for a pour, it's already on the D list. If I find that I'd rather go for commercial beer rather than drink my last reserves on the D list, it gets dumped when I need the keg.
 
I've seen it said in someone's signature and it's exactly how I feel.... I'll never dump a batch unless I drop the carboy or something like that
 
I think the only stuff Ive dumped was the apfelwein when I first brewed it. I WAY overconsumed and hated life for a long time thereafter. I then made another batch (for guests) as its not exactly my favorite beverage. Its been in the kegerator for several months now... Getting better... (For guests)
-Me
 
I'm with Bobby. If I can make better - it's done. I don't care about waiting to see if it's going to get any better. It should be good to begin with, not after a wait. I trust my palate enough to know what is flavors mellowing/meddling and what is 'off.'

With that said, just recently dumped 5 gallons of Brett Saison.
 
I have only had one 5g of dumpable beer. It was really bad IMO. However, at a party I threw, somehow the keg got hooked up and the tap ran dry. The animals at my house drank all 5g of that nastyweiss. Yeah for me.

That said, if I had a beer I genuinely didn't like, I would give it away or something like that before dumping it.
 
I learned a valuable lesson about bottle conditioning. Being new and impatient, I was trying out beers after 1 week. Hated this Hefe I made, I mean hated it. Tasted like smoked oysters. Little did I know that a month later it's awesome. Unfortunately I poured out about 10 or 12 to make some bottle room. Wish I hadn't now.
 
I brew enough that if I make something that turns out like crap (like one of the beers that I have on tap now), I'll just rebrew it and dump it. Hell, I'm dumping 2 kegs tonight because I need them for other, better beers. The one just plain sucks and I only have about 1/3 of a keg left of the other one. It's ok, but I can do better and I'd rather free up the kegs to get something else on tap.

I'm not concerned with holding onto a batch 'just in case it gets better'. As I said though, that's only because I have ridiculous amounts of beer sitting around.

For someone who brews maybe once a month or less and doesn't consume very much I can certainly see how hanging on to a bad batch in hopes that it will get better could be a viable option.
 
I'm considering this with one of my kegs. I've got a brew that is just not that great and I cannot drink more than one glass. It is my last choice when I decide on a beer to drink. It will just take forever to drain the keg at this rate.
 
I dumped out 8 gallons of carbonated vinegar Sunday. I had been putting it off, kind of in denial.

Finally, I pulled the pressure release on both kegs, let the CO2 escape for a while, then dumped them into the toilet.

Sad.

:(

(But, I have 4 five gallon and 2 three gallon kegs in the kegerator, another three gallon keg in the chiller, and 16 gallons fermenting in my office. I will get by, barely)
 
If I don't love it, I will likely dump it. Unless someone I know is having a party or something then I will take it and just let people finish it off. But I am not going to choke down anything that I don't absolutely love drinking. I brewed it, I can dump it out if I want.
 
I am trying to build up a 1 years reserve so when the big one comes i am ready. Nothing gets dumped --- well i do have some special buddy's that suck up most anything.

But I agree.... If i dont like it i dont drink it ... If its in a bottle it will wait. If its in the keg it goes out at the Friday Night poker game
 
I've done 40-50 batches and only have had one that came out horrible, a brown ale. This was almost a year ago. I still have about 10 bombers of it left hoping it comes around but don't think it's going to, I'll probably cook with it.
 
been holding my first batch since january hoping it gets better, took out of frig a week ago trying to re age in bottle. i think i'll pray and try one tonight.
 
I can't justify the cost of dumping a batch. I am not willing to waste the money if it is drinkable. It sounds like you guys waste a lot of cash on dumped batches.

No kidding. If I spend the better part of my day and a solid 30$ on something, I am sticking it out for the long haul.
 
I can't justify the cost of dumping a batch. I am not willing to waste the money if it is drinkable. It sounds like you guys waste a lot of cash on dumped batches.
I can certainly understand this approach, but I am not in this to save money. I don't drink that much beer and if I just wanted beer around to drink it would be far cheaper to buy commercial. So at the rate I am drinking it would take me forever to kill a keg of something I don't like, and I just won't drink it when I have other beers around that I love.

That said I have only had to dump a couple batches cause I can usually take it to a friends party who is just glad there is free beer there. It's not necessarily bad beer, just ones that I don't prefer.
 
On my first batch I killed the Nottingham and dumped in some Fleishmann's. It was crap so I let it sit. After about a year it tasted fine.

However, a batch of Saison fermented up to 100F. Worst tasting stuff ever, loaded with fusels. I couldn't dump it fast enough.
 
Exactly the point. I'm not doing this to save money. It's more for the exercise of trying to make the best beer possible. When I fail, I don't take it out on my liver. I also frown upon the idea of pushing bad beer off on friends. If it's not good enough for me to drink, I don't want it destroying what little reputation I have left.
 
I don't know about you, but most of my friends think even the less satisfying brews of mine are fine. I think my standards for my beer are higher. So just because I don't like it, it's not really pushing bad beer on friends if they like it. Plus, if they don't like it, they won't drink it anyway.
 
When I need the room and I have a batch which is past its prime I'll take it to a gathering, whatever is left I will either bottle it up and give it away or dump depending upon whether folks want it. I haven't dumped very much beer...
 
I think my friends and family would say it is delicious, pitch it in the grass while I wasn't looking, and then ask for more lol.
 
I've tried to spread my lips and think of England with an infected Oktoberfest, but I ended up dumping a third of it. It was a pediococcus infection (butter flavored gushers), which I understand would only get worse with age.
 
I try to cook with any beer that I really don't want to drink such as the porter that I still have in the back closet of the house. Just too dang hot right now for that but works great for boiling brats.
 
I had my first dumper about 3-4 months ago. It wasn't a bad beer, it just wasn't all that good. I tried to drink it, but got distracted by the other beers that were good. I finally dumped about 1/3-1/2 of the keg that was left, to make room for better beer.

I'm not of the belief that time heals all beers. If you don't like it, get rid of it. Life is too short to drink bad beer.
 
Well, if this is one of those confessional threads, the last brew I made I had two pots going. On my large 7.5 gallon and another 4 gal pot with around 2 gallons boiling away.
I brew inside and I heard a loud thunk but saw nothing strange. Half an hour latter I added in some hops and on stirring I realized a box of batteries had fallen into the wort.
Needless to say I dumped those two gallons, and proceeded with the 5 gallons from the other pot.
 
I dumped a brown ale from a long time ago that grew mold. I also tossed a batch of Wit that had a bad off flavor and I needed the keg and could not see myself drinking it.

Now I probably would have tasted the Brown Ale before pitching.
 
I'll dump a batch if I need the equipment and it's not worth keeping. I recently brewed a very experimental beer, knowing that it could go either way. I now have a bunch of beer fermenting and am going to be short a keg if I don't dump it, so the way I see it, dumping the batch will be cheaper than buying a new keg.
 
I brew inside and I heard a loud thunk but saw nothing strange. Half an hour latter I added in some hops and on stirring I realized a box of batteries had fallen into the wort.

I was expecting you to say salt shaker... not batteries... WOW.


You should have NEVER dumped that out... have you not seen the appropriate threads that I am not bothering to link here?!!? NEVER EVER DUMP YOUR BEER!

:D
 
A small still will save you from ever dumping anything with alcohol content.
A reflux style still will strip most of the flavour out of it and leave you with a drinkable liquor, that you can also use for sanitizing yeast pouches, etc.
 
Hmmm I am in a similar predicament... I don't usually dump beer however right now I have an IPA with an obvious infection on my hands... So what I think I'm going to do is buy some Brett bugs and dump them on top of this current infection and let it go to town for a couple months... See where I'm at and If I like the taste... go ahead and bottle it for aging and comsumption... Not going to keg it though, as I don't want to risk keeping it in a keg that might be used for un-soured beers.
 
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