Has anyone ever messed up a batch??

[Revvy]

Something that occurred to me, and something Yooper can attest to (knowing what her first thread on here was) is that despite the stories we've had about infrequent issues like infections or bad batches because of druken brewing, or bad recipes...is all the times we have done something absolutely STUPID to our beer and it still came out fine!!

That's the biggest thing...no one is perfect, like I said I have stuck my arm in the bottling bucket (unsanitized) to fix the spigot...stuck my hand in a hot mash tun...I have dropped a lighter I was using to tilt my bottling bucket (and why I came up with my dip tube) right into the bucket when I was lifting it to the table....I have had a beer where the autosiphon wouldn't keep, and I had to literally use it like a pump to move the beer, I have had my autosiphon and my bottling wand get so gummed up with whole hops and pumpkin goop that I couldn't use them and had to literally bottle directly from the spigot....And fermented a beer at so high a temp it tasted like bubble gum (the one in the never dump your beer thread.)

And None of those beers turned out bad at all! In fact some of those ended up being some of my best batches.

Maybe we need a thread about that....

This brewing stuff is funny that way...an that is why it really is important to just relax!!!

Edit I made that thread....https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

Think of it as a corollary to this thread....Has anyone ever messed up a batch that has STILL turned out OK.

 

[maltMonkey]

But again you proved my point...you can see where each thing went wrong...it's not like the average first time brewer who follow his instructions to soak his brand new equipment in sanitizer, and follows his instructions....he/she pretty much isn't going to have a bad batch...no matter how worried about it he is....

Oh, I agree with you Revvy--I was just responding as to how many batches I've actually dumped. I have "messed up" MANY MANY more batches which all turned out great. As a matter of fact, I would say that I have only had about 3 "perfect" brew sessions.


On the batches I've dumped, here is my reasoning:

- 1 was my second batch ever (after a mr beer kit that SHOULD have been thrown out) - an ancient partial boil kit that developed a gusher infection in the bottle.

This was from a partial boil kit from my only LHBS that I literally had to knock the dust off. the yeast was ancient, the instructions horrible. I gave this beer several tasting chances for months, but it was an OBVIOUS gusher infection. I had done much reading prior to making this. I sanitized my ass off. I feel that this beer turned out bad through no fault of my own. From this experience I not only learned not to buy any kits from my LHBS, but also went straight to AG afterwards.

- 1 was a brown ale that was my first all grain on equipment I had just built. Had many many problems with the mash (too high temps) and it ended up sticking about 15 points above the expected final gravity. I pitched more yeast, but nothing, then I forgot about it for a few months.

Completely drinkable even without aging. Probably should have saved it.....but here's my thing: I love the art of brewing, but I think I love the science of it even more. When I dump out a batch, I don't consider my time I put into it, or the $$ I put into it. I just don't want some freak of nature beer that is incredible but impossible to duplicate. That's how I felt about this beer. It would have been good, but there were literally 100's of things I was tweaking and fixing during the entire process (due to the new equipment). This was my own recipe I had made twice before, so I knew how it "should" have turned out and this wasn't it.

- 1 was an English Pale Ale pitched onto a 5th or 6th generation yeast cake that somehow turned into paint thinner LITERALLY .

i knew I was pushing my luck by going 6th generation with the yeast, but the prior generation had turned out great. It may not have been the yeast (I actually had a great brew day) and will never know what turned out wrong....but this was some horrible stuff.

- 1 was a Belgian strong ale that turned out 14 points too low, didn't show any kind of promise for flavor after 3 mos in secondary, developed mold in the airlock, then my cats knocked the airlock & stopper off for ?? days while I was on vacation....plus I had remade the same beer the following week.

This was quite drinkable in the secondary, despite the suspicious white spots on top of the beer. I basically lost interest in the batch since I had brewed the same thing the following week to improve my efficiency. I guarantee you that it had something a little funky going on, but I bet it would have been very good in a year. I just didn't have the bottle supply, or the patience to wait it out.

AND Matt, this is 4 batches out of how many and over how many years? (uh if it's 4 outta 5 in 6 months of brewing don't bother answering we DON'T wanna scare the newbs... And if that is the case. Pm me privately, someone may have to pimp your process for you.)

This is 4 batches out of 40, 1 1/2 years brewing, 200+ gallons bottled....and only 2 of the 4 "bad" batches were actually bad, so I'm still improving on my 5% failure rate

That's the biggest thing...no one is perfect, like I said I have stuck my arm in the bottling bucket (unsanitized) to fix the spigot...stuck my hand in a hot mash tun...I have dropped a lighter I was using to tilt my bottling bucket (and why I came up with my dip tube) right into the bucket when I was lifting it to the table....I have had a beer where the autosiphon wouldn't keep, and I had to literally use it like a pump to move the beer, I have had my autosiphon and my bottling wand get so gummed up with whole hops and pumpkin goop that I couldn't use them and had to literally bottle directly from the spigot....And fermented a beer at so high a temp it tasted like bubble gum (the one in the never dump your beer thread.)

And None of those beers turned out bad at all! In fact some of those ended up being some of my best batches.

Totally agree. I have had many things happen to beers which almost made me discount them before they fermented. I tend to have more problems when everything goes great. As a matter of fact, 3 out of the 4 beers I've dumped had what I would consider to be a "perfect" process.

 

[Revvy]

I would like to know from the lurking noobs if this and/or the new thread is helping...or scaring you further...

I think the OP's original post here was from typical fear, and I commandeered it to diffuse that fear and really to show you how nonchalant those of us who have had bad batches "survived" to brew again...

It's kinda like getting a new car (especially if it's your first new car) you are hyper protective of it...You park it away from other cars so you don't get door dings, park it in the shade...Wax it constantly. Maybe worry about it a little...

Then one day, *bing* you back up and scrape your bumper (yourself) or it gets hit by a shopping cart...and then after that, you don't give a care....

AND, that feeling, the dropping of your guard, is in a lot of ways actually very FREEING....and then you can actually relax and enjoy this really great hobby.

 

[slheinlein]

I would like to know from the lurking noobs if this and/or the new thread is helping...or scaring you further...

I think the OP's original post here was from typical fear, and I commandeered it to diffuse that fear and really to show you how nonchalant those of us who have had bad batches "survived" to brew again...

Revvy - this has been extremely helpful to me. I definitely makes me feel much more at ease. I've learned that:

• no matter how bad you messed things up, there is still a good chance the beer will end up just fine
• If things look bad, give it some time
• and most of all, just relax and have some fun. That is why I decided to try this after all.

Its great fun to hear some of the crazy stories (such as putting your whole unsanitized arm in the batch!) and finding out things were OK.

Fear was one reason for the original post but it seemed like a constant, recurring theme on posts was to not worry, the beer is fine. I guess I was sort of skeptical about this. The responses have proved me wrong.

Thanks for all you guys do in this forum to help us Noob's along. I look forward to my first post where I am actually answering a question rather than just asking them!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Ooh, I remembered 2 more bad batches. They were due completely to our jacked up overly alkaline water here (470 ppm bicarbonates). Anyway, I didn't know that we had bad water for brewing when we first moved here and my first two batches here were undrinkably astringent because I'm sure the mash pH was off the charts. OK, maybe undrinkable is over the top, but I don't like drinking crappy beer, so I dumped both kegs.

You're right, though. Something going wrong on your brew day may have little/no effect on how good the beer turns out. I've jacked up countless things brewing and still had great beer in the end.

On the other hand, I've also had a few flawless brew days that resulted in so so beer (could be recipe, old hops, yeast poop out early, etc.).

Some things just make for good stories with your brew buddies (like my cigar beer). Other things just "make you go Hmmm" and you look at each other, shrug your shoulders, and move on to plan the next brew.

 

[MrShake]

AND I betcha you never can recreate that recipe eh? And wish you could...

Actually, odly enough.. I had just installed Qbrew on my pc and had taken copious notes... and recreated it almost exactly... then made a few minor changes and have produced my favorite beer based on that recpie... I'll be brewing 10 gallons of it in a few weeks in fact.

 

[Revvy]

Actually, odly enough.. I had just installed Qbrew on my pc and had taken copious notes... and recreated it almost exactly... then made a few minor changes and have produced my favorite beer based on that recpie... I'll be brewing 10 gallons of it in a few weeks in fact.

Oh, that's awesome to hear!!!!

 

[mikfire]

Just to add my $0.02 to this. I am still fairly new to the process and keep trying new things.

Every time I start to panic, I keep one thought firmly in mind. We have solid evidence that people have been brewing beer for at least 3000 years. I am willing to bet the Chinese were doing it longer than that. They brewed perfectly fine beer with no understanding of yeast, of the chemistry by which starch becomes sugar, no real temperature control, etc.

If they brewed beer w/o all the equipment and science I have, then I know I can brew beer. I am also fairly certain the process has to be very robust -- I may not produce great beer, but it will be drinkable beer no matter how badly I screw up. So I just need to relax, follow my sanitization protocols and let the yeast do its thing.

 

[spriggan486]

I am currently on my 2nd batch.

I, just like many other, was paranoid and thought that I infected my first batch. It was a coopers bitter kit. I was impatient, and bottled after a week, and popped the first one after about a week. I thought the beer was ruined or "infected" because it tasted like cough syrup. I still drank it though, I wasn't about to let 5 gallons go to waste. At some point I put a 2 liter bottle of it in my fridge and completely forgot about it for about 3 weeks. This was after having it sit about 2 weeks at room temp... I found it the other night, and poured a glass......

It was pretty damn good and all of the cough syrupy flavors were gone!

These guys really know what they're talking about when they stress the importance of patience!

Thanks Revvy and Everyone else!

 

[optimatored]

1.) Brown ale, Partial mash. I ground up the grains so fine the beer was "grainy." I did throw this one out.

2.) Doppelback. Partial mash. Some bottles were very infected and some not carbed up at all. Drank most of them...

3.) Marzen, Partial mash. I dont know, it was just gross. I tried formulating my own recipe from many others and it came out just wierd.

All three provided great learning experiences...SANTIATION, GOOD YEAST, and BEERSMITH.

I have made many good batches so its not all bad!

 

[Revvy]

Every time I start to panic, I keep one thought firmly in mind. We have solid evidence that people have been brewing beer for at least 3000 years. I am willing to bet the Chinese were doing it longer than that. They brewed perfectly fine beer with no understanding of yeast, of the chemistry by which starch becomes sugar, no real temperature control, etc..

This mik, is sort of one of cornerstones of brewing philosphy...my mantra...just think of all the things that we have that they didn't...

An understanding of germ theory for one thing...basic sanitition, like regularly washing your hands (remember in many parts of the world centuries ago bathing was thought to be EVIL) so those people fishing their hands into their wort to grab their airlock grommets (j/k) really were at a higher risk of infection than we are....

AND yet...for "BEER" to have survived to be as large a part of the world's culture as it is today...even MOST of their batches had to have turned out OK, meaning it tasted good "enough" and didn't make them sick.....Or else beer culture would have gone extinct...people wouldn't have bothered refining the process if ALL THE BATCHES didn't turn out...

Beer would have gone out of society just like Clear Pepsi and New Coke did...

 

[Saccharomyces]

clean clean clean. One can NEVER be to sterile.

Good point. I pulled out my racking hose a few batches ago and gave it the visual inspection I always give my equipment before use. There was crud in the hose. A quick whiff and I knew it was toast, I must have not cleaned it well. I threw it out and bought a new one before racking.

If it looks clean, smells clean, and it has been sanitized properly, you are good to go...

 

[Zipdrive2006]

I brewed a Scotch Ale that has tried to go into the trash can (panic) a couple of times. But, I have held fast and know that no known pathogens can live in alcohol. And after finding this board last night and reading this thread, I had to add in my story.

Malt extract with steeped grains kit from local brew supply store (good store). All went well until I went to fill up the fermenter. Added an extra 1.5 gals of water cause I could not remember here the 5 gal mark was. Starting OG was suppose to be 1.057. I measured 1.020, just right about where it should be finishing. Talked to a brewing friend of mine and we discussed what I did and we could not come up with an immediate cause. Then the idea of dilution came to mind. Called my wife up and asked for the measurements of the fermenter and where the water line was. Found out that I had an extra 1.5 gals of water in there.

The 'fix' was to add another pound of malt extract with another few cups of water, boil for 15 minutes, cool and add to the wart. Finally got around to doing that 5 days after it had sat in the fermenter. Let it sit there for another week and racked it to the carboy. When I checked the specific gravity, it was still 1.020. Tasted really good, no idea of the alcohol content at all.

It has been in the carboy for 24 days now and it has trub (at least that is what I think it is - little white cylinders about the size of two periods stuck together). Sooo, what do I do with the trub? I have a bucket big enough to place the carboy in and add water and ice to chill the wort. How long will it take for the trub to fall out of the wort. Should I rack it when its cooled, before adding the priming sugar or just leave it and work it from the carboy?

Thanks for your help and this is a great forum!

Cheers.

 

[universe]

I would like to know from the lurking noobs if this and/or the new thread is helping...or scaring you further...

After making a post on here and reading enough, I fear nothing anymore. All my beers look weird and taste great.

 

[brown_dog_us]

mmmm....
Deviled eggs.

OK, back to the topic. I had to think long and hard, but I'm pretty sure I've never dumped a beer. Have I made some nasty beer? Oh Yeah! When I started brewing (20 yrs ago while in college) I had zero knowledge, money, or HBT and winged it. It was a lovely "Australian lager" that was 4 lbs of malt from a can and 4 lbs of corn sugar. Why did I use 4 lbs of corn sugar? Well it came in 4 lb bags silly. Why not use it all. I followed up by fermenting it in less than two days at 85 degrees. It tasted like cider mixed with donkey piss and we drank all but one of them. The last bottle is still in my fridge and one of these days I'm going to give it a try. Since then I've made other great and memorable mistakes. My first AG managed to come in at 1.022 OG. It was an less than extra special ESB, but I drank it. I put way to much vanilla in a porter one time. I drank it anyway. I feel like drinking my poor decisions has helped to keep me from doing it again. Now a days my bad beers are out of balance. It "needs more hops" or has "way to much chocolate malt" and I drink them all. Now that I'm older and smarter (maybe) I mix my bad beers with something else. Take the way to hoppy APA and mix it with a porter and it becomes a strong American brown ale.

 

[TurboBrew]

I've had a few bad batches.

One was a hefe weizen that I dumped a couple of cans of lemonade concentrate into. Bottled it after about 1 week and surprise, they were WAY to carbonated. Ended up just dumping them all into a bottling bucket and had a swill fest out by the pool.

I bought a kit that had the wort preboiled in a bag. The only beer I've ever had that got worse the longer it was in the bottle.

They were all drinkable though.

 

[Freelancer]

I would like to know from the lurking noobs if this and/or the new thread is helping...or scaring you further...

Scared? I'm half tempted to TRY some of these shenanigans!

Good point. I pulled out my racking hose a few batches ago and gave it the visual inspection I always give my equipment before use. There was crud in the hose.

Ditto. Apparently i forgot to rinse and dry everything after bottling my last cider, and for some reason put the siphon tube in the bucket before putting the whole lot away. When i dug out the bucket to start my current batch, i found a nice hairy mass in there, and my clear tube was now completely opaque, and scarlet red. Needless to say the tube got binned*, i nuked the bucket with about 3/4 of my remaining sterilizer (about 10x the normal dose).

3 weeks later, my beer has hit target fg, i'm leaving it for another 3 weeks because i know from (limited, 4th batch) experience what the extra time does for the final product, which should give it 6 weeks to sit in bottles before my birthday, and the 1st anniversary of my first brew.

* Here's the sad part. I have an awesome microscope, with a nifty USB camera attachment, that i'm always looking for something unusual to examine, and that i only remembered existed the day AFTER the bin was emptied. I cursed. A lot.

 

[springer]

I have had my first unintentional infection the Octoberfast in my sig . Everything went well and when I went to take a sample it was infected. I believe its a lacto infection . Its all powdery and white on the surface. I am just letting it go to fruition no sense dumping it now. I'll let ya know in a few months if its screwed.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I have ten gallons of a saison I made sitting in a big steel fermenter in my garage. I don't think I am going to keep it, but I am so not ready to dump it out. I used a strain of yeast that was actually a blend, and I think somehow wild yeast came into the mix. The beer dropped to .997, and I'm not really sure what's going on with it now. The initial taste was not great. It has gotten better, but it really would only be worth saving for my less discerning friends.

I just don't know...

 

[Malticulous]

I made one batch that I dumped most of and two I dumped all off. The first was off flavor from a vinyl hose. The other two were temp related I think, could be contamination but I did make another batch pitched with yeast form one of them that turned out great (I want a microscope.) I got the chest freezer going right after those two and now I can make ales as clean as lagers. Not a dumper since.

15 gallons out of about 400, a 3.75% dump rate. I could live with that but I'm only getting better.

 

[becon776]

Haha figured id bump this thread back up to the top and give all you vets a break.
I personally am on my second batch of cider two 5 gallons carboys. One has been perfect on had rhino farts added some yeast nutrient farts went away ... came back three days later. Added more nutrient (quite a bit) and went away again. Still the off gasses don't smell as sweet as the other carboy which has smelled sweet since the beginning. Also the "good" carboy has healthey krausen at the top whereas the difficult one doesn't. Almost like its fermenting at the bottom. Strange since both were prepped and filled exactly the same. Im not sweating it. Just see what happens. And if it comes out awful then i figure ill throw it outside in the ten degree weather and decant the next day ;-)

Oh yeah figure its noteworthy to add that both are still bubbling happily away at one per three seconds two weeks into primary

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

As a new homebrewer whose first batch is now bottle conditioning, this makes me feel more confident lol. Think all brand new homebrewers should read this thread. Summarized in one sentence, if you sanitize properly, your beer will turn out fine!

 

[Revvy]

As a new homebrewer whose first batch is now bottle conditioning, this makes me feel more confident lol. Think all brand new homebrewers should read this thread. Summarized in one sentence, if you sanitize properly, your beer will turn out fine!

Actually THIS is the thread I encourage noobs to read... it was inspired by this very thread....

 

[AJinJacksonville]

After several batches under my belt, I must admit that I tasted a pineapple APA I am brewing while transferring to secondary (and adding pureed pineapple). It was absolutely horrid tasting. That being said...I know it will still turn out okay. Still lots of time left before consumption...and as many have said...it all comes out in the wash basically.

May not be exactly what you were anticipating, but unless it was an attempted clone...who cares? Still tastes decent and gives you the warm fuzzies.

Cheers!

 

[SlitheryDee]

I haven't messed up a batch yet. 8 batches in so far and I'm beginning to believe what they say about beer being hard to mess up.

I'm not 100% sure I remembered to sanitize my bucket before I put this last batch into it. Pretty sure I didn't, in fact. Might have had a few too many of the previous batch during that session. Still, the beer is fine. I dumped some gelatin and vanilla beans into it just a few days ago and it looks and tastes perfect so far. I'll hopefully be bottling that one and brewing the next one this Saturday.

 

[KIC-8462852]

Granted, I am new to this forum but have spent quite a bit of time the past few weeks reading many, many threads. It always appears that when someone has major problems (at least to me) with a batch, someone (who knows much more than I) replies with...

"And your beer is fine. Don't worry."

Now, I am curious how many people out there have actually ruined a batch and the reason it was ruined. I am sure there has been at least a few ruined batches. This would give us Noob's some valuable good information on what not to do. Maybe the top 10 things to avoid would be good. I don't want to be the first thread that reads...

"Worry! Your beer is NOT fine!"

I've about 20 batches (20L max), and the only batch I tossed so far was a small batch of graf. After bottling, I realized I didn't correctly rinse out the active oxygen detergent/sanitizer granules from the bottling vessel... I found the risk too high, no way I was going to drink or serve detergent.

My lesson from that is that brewing is a bit like cooking a somewhat complicated meal. You have to be on top of things and aware of what you're doing and going to do.

 

[Thedude907]

This thread made me go from lurker to joining. I've started my second batch and am encouraged by the stories in this thread. Thanks guys you all rock. All noobs should read this.... wow.

 

[oylerck]

I have had 2. My first I put the grains right in my kettle and try to get the sugars that way. I had forgotten what I had done the time before. Needless to say the beer had scorched flavors. Tossed.

The other batch was a wheat beer. I had probably 10 brews under my belt at that point and I believe I mashed too high so my mash gravity was awful. I knew it was going to be a weak beer. Then I went to chill it, walked inside while my immersion chiller was running and it had leaked another gallon. My oh was about 1.03 at that point but when I tasted it out of the keg it was just watery. Pitched that one too.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Yes

I used to grow my own hops. And every year I would make a home grown IPA.
This one particular batch I dry hopped with them.
The entire batch got infected with something. It smelled like puke and looked even worse.

I never did that again.

 

[65C]

First batch I brewed tasted like sweet banana anti-freeze after 3 weeks - I racked it in to a polypin as didn't think worth bottling (did bottle a dozen) - 2 weeks on and it's starting to taste like real beer

I keep reading people say give beer time - but I've convinced my wife all this kit means I don't need to buy any more beer - so I have to drink it whatever right now