Sad Day in Brewland

[kmonty]

After trying my Dunkelweizen for the the fourth consecutive week in the bottle with no improvement, I opened all the bottles and poured the batch out. Hope I never have to do that again!

I posted concerns about it a couple weeks back and it still had an intense apple/sherry flavor. The posts on the thread were very helpful. I followed the advice by trying one each week and making notes as to how it tasted. It did mellow a little, but did come close to tasting like a Dunkelweizen (or a good beer for that matter).

I learned plenty about what may have gone wrong - from suggestions by veteran brewers here and the infamous 'How to Brew' book:
-1 gallon per pound of steeping grains (I used 3 gallons for 1 pound)
-use dry scale instead of liquid measuring cup to measure extract
-fermentation temp is key! And ambient temp (outside of bucket) is different than inside the bucket.
-patience when trying the beer is equally important
-learning from a bad brew is all part of the process

Thanks again for this forum, so that I can learn from the mistakes. And realize I am not the only one making them!

 

[Runyanka]

It is indeed a sad day in homebrew land. I luckily have never had to dump an batch, but feel your pain. At least you took the proper steps to insure that it wasn't improving to your likings. Now that your primary, and bottles are clear, what do you have in line for the next brew?

 

[unionrdr]

True,your not alone. It seems to be an inevitable part of the human condition that we make mistakes that cost us sooner or later. The hardest part to afford,imo,is temp control. Easier in winter than summer. Then water quality,amount & type of sugar used,carbonation levels...So many ways to mess one up.
Don't grieve too much,just grab a hold anywhere ya kin,& hang on!

 

[Malric]

-use dry scale instead of liquid measuring cup to measure extract

I might be having a moment, but didn't JP recommend measuring by weight for DME?

 

[Malric]

Oh, forgot to add, I dumped a orange wheat beer than never got any orange, just a watered down bitter/sour flavor that never went away. Dumped it after 12 weeks.

 

[thughes]

After trying my Dunkelweizen for the the fourth consecutive week in the bottle with no improvement, I opened all the bottles and poured the batch out. Hope I never have to do that again!

I posted concerns about it a couple weeks back and it still had an intense apple/sherry flavor. The posts on the thread were very helpful. I followed the advice by trying one each week and making notes as to how it tasted. It did mellow a little, but did come close to tasting like a Dunkelweizen (or a good beer for that matter).

I learned plenty about what may have gone wrong - from suggestions by veteran brewers here and the infamous 'How to Brew' book:
-1 gallon per pound of steeping grains (I used 3 gallons for 1 pound)
-use dry scale instead of liquid measuring cup to measure extract
-fermentation temp is key! And ambient temp (outside of bucket) is different than inside the bucket.
-patience when trying the beer is equally important
-learning from a bad brew is all part of the process

Thanks again for this forum, so that I can learn from the mistakes. And realize I am not the only one making them!

Yet you dumped it after only 4 weeks in the bottle?

'Tis indeed a sad day..........

 

[kmonty]

I have a Blonde Ale to be bottled next week. And an Oatmeal Stout that is bottled and quite tasty. That helps ease the pain!

In response to the earlier post on measuring DME, I measured LME in a regular measuring cup and it did go well. Bottom line is I need a scale to measure priming sugar ( yet another error - I added 4 ounces measured in the liquid measuring cup instead of 3/4 cup that is recommended. So not only did it taste off, it was flat) and other dry ingredients for accuracy.

And before pitching the batch, I had a couple friends and an experienced brewer give it a taste. They unanimously agreed that it was not worth keeping around.

Live and learn - and on to the next batch.

 

[Yooper]

I feel for you! I just now dumped 5 gallons of beer. It looked great! It was carbed well, nice and clear, and was a pretty beer. BUT.....it was horribly phenolic, probably from a reused yeast strain (? bacterial contamination in the yeast?). Pouring out that nice looking beer was a sad moment.

But you know the old saying........."Life is too short to drink bad beer!"

 

[upperNY01brewer]

Had a bad batch of Pumpkin Ale that was no good. Waited nearly 4 months and the flavor just got worse, so I poured it down the drain. I feel your pain....

 

[hypergolic]

I had to dump a batch too, shrug it off and get back to brewing.

 

[Stoutman82]

If I was my dad take a salt tablet and run a lap. But in all honesty sorry to hear that it's hard to scrap something you've worked hard on. The next batch will be better.