How many brews have you dumped??

[fuzzy2133]

I have dumped 1 full batch and 1/2 of 3 batches.
First was fermented too hot and produced too much banana for even a hefeweizen.
First 1/2 batch a irish red was a problem with the bottling spigot letting air in and oxidizing 1/2 the bottles.
Second 1/2 batch was a brown ale with zero character just a muddled mix of flavors. Finished 1/2 the keg over 6 months and it never improved. Suspect a combination of LHBS recipe being a "hoppy brown ale" and chloramine as part of the issue.
Third 1/2 batch a stout, found out the mash did not convert post fermentation. Even splitting the batch, adding different spices and doing blends never helped.

 

[Firewalker11]

I dumped one partial batch, it was an extract kit and never tasted right. Oh, there was the sour from Surly but that wasn't my beer really so I'm not sure if it counts.

 

[beergolf]

In over 250 brews I have never dumped a batch. I have had a few that I thought were MEH but not enough to dump them. Friends liked them or I would use them for cooking.

Early in my brewing I listened to the bad advice that Belgians like to be fermented hot. So I started a BDSA at 75 degrees, probably got up to about 85 during the peak of fermentation. Don't do that. Fusel bomb. I probably could have sold it to NASA as rocket fuel. Tried to age it but the fusels do not age out. It, however, is fantastic for cooking. I use it to braise duck legs and thighs with some leeks and dried cherries. Awesome meal.

 

[TheMadKing]

I have dumped 3 in 8 years of brewing. 2 of them were my first two batches, and one of them doesn't count because it was a first attempt at gluten free beer and therefore probably dumpworthy even as a success.

 

[Ski12568]

One. Tried making an extract batch of my Amarillo pale ale and it was bad. I think the extract was old.

 

[Spartan1979]

I guess three. The first was a long time ago. I was using Polyclar to clear the beer and grabbed the wrong container and put cleaner in it. Down the drain. The second was a Saison using the 3724 yeast. I couldn't get it to finish so I had that beer up to 95 degrees. It ended up with a strong medicinal taste. About half the batch got drank before I dumped it. Then we had a club barrel project that got infected. We ended up with Sour Imperial Porter. It wasn't bad, but I knew if I kept it, it would be taking up a keg and refrigerator space for a looooong time. So I dumped it.

 

[LostBoyScout]

16 batches in and none have been dumped prior to bottling, but I've had quite a number of drainpour bottles - 3 or 4 batches have turned out not great, largely due to experimentation

 

[Wash1]

Just one, a chocolate peppermint porter that after a year in the keg, still tasted like you were drinking foam pillow....very minty foam pillow!!

 

[Psylocide]

I have about 30 bottles that should be dumped, but haven't needed the bottles or the space yet.

First batch ever, and it sucks really hard. After that I found this site and haven't had a bad one since.

 

[JonM]

Three, I think. One was my second batch ever. I had filled the bottles right out of the spout without using a bottling wand, so it was terribly oxidated.

The second was a real shame. (And this was many years ago.) It was a robust porter. I got it in the bottling bucket and noticed that the spigot was leaking because I had overtightened it and deformed the o-ring. So I got the bright idea to starsan my arm and stick it in there to fix the spigot. Well, it got infected of course and I had to dump it all. Funny thing is, if I had just let the leak go I probably would have lost three maybe four bottles worth, tops.

Third was my first ever lager. I didn't have a stir plate back then and I tried to make a 2+ gallon starter. It didn't work well and the beer was an undrinkable acetaldehyde-laden mess. I tried everything to get rid of the acetaldehyde, but with no luck so down the drain it went.

 

[hopkincr]

I've been brewing for 15+ years and only dumped two, and they have both been in the past year. First one was an Octoberfest - from a recipe on here - and it just tasted bad. Not an infection, just not good. Second was a blonde ale made with leftover Kolsch yeast. This was something with the yeast because I used the same yeast in a summer wheat and it also tasted bad, same off flavor. The wheat was drinkable, with a bit of citrus (lime or orange), but the blonde was terrible. So, not happy I've had to get rid of two batches after as much experience as I've had, but only dumping two in that amount of brews isn't too bad.

 

[slym2none]

I have had an undrinkable batch, but I cooked with it, so I have never actually dumped a batch of beer.

 

[schematix]

1, but only because i had something better that needed a keg!

 

[kh54s10]

None. Not all of mine have been great. But they have been drinkable. Though I have one on hand now that I don't enjoy so I am using it to make beer bread.

 

[BrooklynTom]

I never had any that I had to dump, but I had one this week dump itself...... I had an IPA with all New Zealand Hops. I had it in my bottling bucket as a secondary so I could dry hop it a few days before bottling it. I went into the bar room to hop it, only to walk on to a soaked carpet and an empty bucket with a broken spigot. Split across the threaded part.

I had others that I thought about dumping down the drain, but I gave them extra time and they worked out fine.

 

[Auger]

I've dumped two, both due to my poor recipe design. Both were extract brews, and both were highly experimental. The first one was a bourbon barrel porter kit that I added smoked malt and cloves to. The clove completely overpowered everything else in the beer - it tasted like eating a smoked ham. The second was a honey-lavender pale ale that I came up with, and added too much lavender. It ended up tasting like soap. I tried aging it, blending it, anything I could come up with, but in the end there was no saving it.

I'm also about to dump the last dozen or so bottles of a strawberry wine I made in 2007. I recently found a stash of them and tried one, and realized how poorly that prison hooch actually came out.

 

[Sir_niveda]

I've dumped a couple when I was still in the very early days of AG and didn't really know what I was doing, also trying weird ingredients like rose hips...

Then there was the vanilla imperial stout that tasted amazing, but didn't really carbonate because I used honey as my bottling sugar and didn't use enough. I gave a few cases of that to my friend and she made a chocolate reduction sauce out of it that was out of this world. I guess you cant really call that dumping so much as repurposing.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Has anyone else had a few that just never really hit he mark???

Bot? Or did you just not read the thread?

 

[brrman]

Had one infection early on so dumped that.
And then had a batch a year or so ago that just got worse and worse in the keg. Figured infection so dumped it as well. Came to find (on my next kegged batch that followed the same downfall) that my regulator had gone south and had overcarbed the beer terribly - I was tasting carbonic acid in the beer. Kinda peeved I never figured that out before I dumped that 2nd batch...

 

[zippyclown]

I dump my IPAs a lot actually. I live near Vermont and drink a fairly steady supply of Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, Lawson's, 14th Star stuff... IPAs that (in my opinion) are so intricate and well constructed that any IPA I cook up in my stupid basement just tastes amateur. Not all of them, but most I'd say. I'm chasing something that is unattainable in my stupid basement. I drink one of mine and think it tastes good... Then I have a Heady Topper and in a fit of rage I rip the keg from its hoses and chuck it through the nearest window. Also I tend to overeact.

 

[max384]

Dumped one batch ever.

Left it for two years and it turned to vinegar.

 

[m00ps]

I dump my IPAs a lot actually. I live near Vermont and drink a fairly steady supply of Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, Lawson's, 14th Star stuff... IPAs that (in my opinion) are so intricate and well constructed that any IPA I cook up in my stupid basement just tastes amateur. Not all of them, but most I'd say. I'm chasing something that is unattainable in my stupid basement. I drink one of mine and think it tastes good... Then I have a Heady Topper and in a fit of rage I rip the keg from its hoses and chuck it through the nearest window. Also I tend to overeact.

Heady Topper sends you into a fit of rage? IMO, not doing it right

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Zero.

That number doesnt tell the whole story though. Any beer that didnt hit the mark or wasnt great falls into two dump categories.

1. Drink it when I just wanna get drunk. The Belly Dump Category.

2. Use it for some other culinary purpose. Freeze distill it so it takes up less room and I see if making it into booze makes it better. Or use it for cooking, a failed stout is great 'flavorful liquid' to deglaze pans for chili or beef stew.

(most failed beers I've had were just ultra-bland or something sneaky got in to the bottles and they turned into rockets, so I just use them for their alcohol to extract flavors in food)

 

[zippyclown]

Heady Topper sends you into a fit of rage? IMO, not doing it right

Rage over the low quality of my own dumb beer in comparison to HT. Rage, I say.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I dump my IPAs a lot actually. I live near Vermont and drink a fairly steady supply of Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, Lawson's, 14th Star stuff... IPAs that (in my opinion) are so intricate and well constructed that any IPA I cook up in my stupid basement just tastes amateur. Not all of them, but most I'd say. I'm chasing something that is unattainable in my stupid basement. I drink one of mine and think it tastes good... Then I have a Heady Topper and in a fit of rage I rip the keg from its hoses and chuck it through the nearest window. Also I tend to overeact.

Maybe start making other styles of beer.

 

[m00ps]

(most failed beers I've had were just ultra-bland or something sneaky got in to the bottles and they turned into rockets, so I just use them for their alcohol to extract flavors in food)

Hmm, maybe I should save my bottles I would toss for "ballistic defense". That dude who walks his dog and $h1ts in front of my building without picking it up is gonna be sorry...

 

[Mustang_Bobby]

Yes, I had a batch of sake that was undrinkable. It had a sour milk smell and even taste to it. Not sure what I did wrong because I followed the instructions carefully. Probably won't try that again. Beer wise no all of my beer batches even my first have been at minimum drinkable.

 

[zippyclown]

Maybe start making other styles of beer.

Oh I do. But my favorite style is IPA or IIPA so I'm always comparing mine to the best of the best (to my palate).

It's like watching a porno and then catching a glimpse of yourself naked in the mirror.

Am I making any sense?

zc

 

[DevilNuts]

Not once. I make myself drink the failures as a punishment.

Actually, not true. I had some experimental mead flavored with chamomile and lavender, and it was just disgusting, so down the sink it went.

 

[McGarnigle]

None for me, although 1 or 2 perhaps should have been dumped. But I gutted it out.