How many batches have you dumped?

[jbeauchamp]

I have been brewing for almost two years. This year alone I have made 100 gallons of beer. I have never had to dump a batch. I sure hope my streak continues.

 

[Julohan]

Dumped 2, so far. I am having a bad run right now. I did a dead guy ale that came out low in volume, and was just nasty. A stout, that just wasn't good. Now I have a S. Brown Ale, and an ESB on tap. The ESB came out short too. The S. Brown Ale is very bland. I will give it a couple more weeks to see if they get better. I have one waiting a Scottish 80 Export, which everything went perfect. It's so depressing of having a good run of quite of few batches, then running into 2 possibly four in a row.

 

[agroff383]

I just brewed my 12th batch on Saturday and haven't dumped one yet, but I made an Altbier that is just horrible, still in primary and hoping it will get better?

If it doesn't get better I might bottle it anyway and add fruit flavoring, put it in the basement, and forget about it for a year. It is outside in the cold garage "lagering" right now with Mother Nature as the temp control, who knows if that will help but it was very hot and harsh tasting, fermented down to 1010 so I know it's gotta be done.

 

[smiths9312]

i'm impressed at how few batches you guys have dumped. methinks some may even be coloring the truth a bit. If the beer's not great, and aging hasn't helped, it's history. Not gonna waste my time drinking sub-par beer. learn the lesson and move on. I didn't start homebrewing in order to lower my standards.

Maybe you all are much better brewers than I was (I've had very good results for a while now, whether by skill or chance) or maybe you just find it hard to part with a beer you're actually not enjoying?

I've dumped beer, but not batches. Sometimes you have a beer that is tastes blah, then a few months later and all of a sudden it is great. Always wait on a beer to see what it'll do.

However, other times you have beer that starts awesome, then 2 months later and it is meh. In these cases, that beer is just going to get more meh as time goes on. I homebrew so I can drink awesome beer, not meh beer. I have no problem dumping that less than fresh meh beer and popping open a fresh awesome beer. Considering it it $20 for two cases of beer, it isn't like the stuff is made of gold.

 

[gabeweisz]

Only 1 - first time a cooler as a fermentation chiller - combination of a metal piece on the inside poking a hole in my fermenting bucket and a failure of the seal between the spigot and the side of the cooler due to the weight of a bucket causing a leak - resulting in moldy beer all throughout the cooler and the bin where I keep all of my brewing supplies. Tragic!

 

[TexLaw]

Knock on wood, it's only been one batch. It was infected, 100% confirmed. That's been over 16 years of active brewing, so I'd like to keep the number right there.


TL

 

[khiddy]

Only two batches, totally 5 gallons: my first lager attempt, using second runnings from a stout and a Vierka Munich Dark dry yeast that had piss-poor directions; and a Mr. Beer batch that I essentially forgot about for 5-1/2 months. It had turned literally to vinegar. Ptooey! I still taste the nastiness that was in that tiny keg!

Other than that, I've made ~20 batches that have been OK to absolutely fabulous.

 

[SkiSoloII]

Never. Ever. Though I think I should have dumped the first one I did after 8 years off. Made it this January with extract left over from before I took time off. Used the 2 cans that were the least bulged (!!!!) - A really ugly brown. Still have 1 bottle left that has been in my fridge for quite a while - wondering when I dare drink that last bottle. :cross:

I REALLY vote for the freshest ingredients.

Dave

 

[Tonedef131]

Only one that I dumped the entire thing, but I have dumped the bottom of a few kegs when I get sick of drinking them. Some of the stuff in the begining that I brewed, I would probably dump now because I have raised my standards and have a lot of better beer around. I might dump this Saison I have on now though cause I don't really like it and have some other stuff I wanna put on.

 

[boredatwork]

I never have a problem cleaning out a non empty keg. But I think the term "dumping" has a negative connotation. I have dumped 3 batches (out of 7) because they did not taste good. I drank them for a while, then realized that was stupid. Now I have no hesitancy to dump out a keg to make room for something else.

 

[Brew-boy]

I have dumped 3 so far all Belgians, but I will not be beat. I am planning on doing them again. One I have done so far over again which was a Dark strong and it went from 1.108 to 1.022 so I have concord this one and now 2 more to do.

 

[pericles]

I'm about to dump a lemon pale ale, and there's about a half a batch of witbeer from the summer that I think is a little past its prime. . .

Are we counting the batch of stout that exploded in the bottles in my closet?

 

[lyacovett]

None. I had one batch that I got an infection in that turned very sour .... 6 months later I popped one ... really good, dried out nice in the bottle and the sour faded quite a bit. 8 months after bottling, tasted close to a lambic, kind of like champagne. It's been about 10 months, I think I will give it till Christmas and try another. Time really does the trick. After this experience, I don't think I will ever toss anything, I will just stick it in the dark corner and wait till I find it again.

 

[rawl28]

I have dumped one batch, and it was earlier today. I made 10 gals of wit and 5 looked great, while 5 had turned black, so I only bottled half. Kinda sad though.

 

[SporkD2]

1 because I was a ******* and rinsed my starsan with hose water LOL

 

[BA_from_GA]

not a single one out of 16 5-gal batches. Did try some fruit additions in one batch that ended up way too tart, but has mellowed over 4 months. It's ok after mowing the lawn on a hot day, but still not that great. Fortunately by buddy's wife likes it.

 

[adx]

One. It was the first batch I made in my new house and it came out terrible. Traced it back to the water when the second batch had the same crappy taste, but the roast covered most of it up. I bought a water filter after that.

 

[flyerwire]

1 batch of IPA i only dumped probably about 1 out of the 5 gallons. I just couldnt figure out what the off flavor was, it was somewhat drinkable, but it never mellowed and I could never get past that flavor.

 

[dogbar]

Out of 11 batches so far this year, it's been 1.5. The one was an infection and the .5 is a batch I never dumped, but which only comes out when my most taste-challenged friends are in town to drink it.

Friends who like good beer are great to talk to. Friends who don't mind drinking crummy beer are a treasure.

 

[captianoats]

None. Can't say I've brewed nothing but award winning beer, but what wasn't good at first turned out to be decent after a few months.

 

[ceannt]

One.... back in 1991. I was Lagering in a closet under a stairwell that stays around 40 degrees in the winter. I forgot to check on it and the airlock dried up. I will never forget the blood curdling scream the SWMBO let out when she opened the closet and saw the mold growing out of, and down the outside of the carboy... kind of like a bad science fiction movie...

 

[Token]

i'm impressed at how few batches you guys have dumped. methinks some may even be coloring the truth a bit. If the beer's not great, and aging hasn't helped, it's history. Not gonna waste my time drinking sub-par beer. learn the lesson and move on. I didn't start homebrewing in order to lower my standards.
Maybe you all are much better brewers than I was (I've had very good results for a while now, whether by skill or chance) or maybe you just find it hard to part with a beer you're actually not enjoying?

I totally agree. I very much enjoy brewing beer, but I'm not very good at it yet. I've decided to start brewing half-batches. That way I won't have as much sub-par beer to drink. Ya, I feel pretty bad about dumping it. But there is a case or so left of one I did a while back that got an infection, and it is getting the heave-ho today. Should have dumped it a long time ago.

 

[keiths]

None yet, But I have a Brother-inlaw that will drink anything if I dont like give it to Mikey he'll drink anything.:cross:

 

[Token]

Oh sure. I opened the first bottle of the bunch I was going to dump, and it smelled pretty good. Then I poured it into a glass and tried it. Well, it doesn't taste half bad!

What do you think? Should I save it? I mean, it was an extract kit (Austin Homebrew Sam Adams Brown Ale clone) brewed probably 2 years ago. I wasn't sure if it had an infection on it or not, so I bottled it. Knowing that it might have had an infection kinda weirded me out, so I never drank much of it. It's just been sitting in the basement all this time.

It's kinda fizzy, has just a hint of astringincy to it, but overall it doesn't taste too bad. Is it ok to save this?? Even though I think it had an infection?

 

[Dirt101]

Just dumped half a batch of my first brew ever today, a Brewers Best English Brown kit that fermented way too high and tasted like bandaids. From what I understand that taste wont go away, I choked down about half the batch but it was definitely not good beer.

 

[flyerwire]

Oh sure. I opened the first bottle of the bunch I was going to dump, and it smelled pretty good. Then I poured it into a glass and tried it. Well, it doesn't taste half bad!

What do you think? Should I save it? I mean, it was an extract kit (Austin Homebrew Sam Adams Brown Ale clone) brewed probably 2 years ago. I wasn't sure if it had an infection on it or not, so I bottled it. Knowing that it might have had an infection kinda weirded me out, so I never drank much of it. It's just been sitting in the basement all this time.

It's kinda fizzy, has just a hint of astringincy to it, but overall it doesn't taste too bad. Is it ok to save this?? Even though I think it had an infection?

besides a bad taste, if its drinkable its not going to hurt you, up to you on that one