To Dump or Not? Chocolate Wheat Nightmare.

[rgrim001]

I need educated opinions on my brew from last weekend. I'll give the recipe used and then the issues I have with it.

The recipe: Brewed 11/19

3 gallon batch

2lbs White Wheat
3lbs Pale Malt (6 row)
1lbs Pale Malt (2 row)
1lbs Steel Cut Oats
2lbs Chocolate Wheat

.5 oz Cascade 60 min
.5 oz Cascade 30 min
.25 oz Citra 15 min
.25 oz Citra 0 min

WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast

The OG was 1.094 and I had great starch conversion (via iodine test).

Everything went well. Very sanitary.

After a week the aroma is odd, almost moldy (but not mold), although it has improved over the last few days. The flavor is a heavy and almost like a black malt character, but too much. It is a rough beer to say the least. Its tough to describe. I clearly used too much chocolate wheat. I am thinking about dumping it. What would you do?

 

[jmprdood]

Don't do it - rack into a secondary and let it sit. Time heals all.

 

[bhaff]

I'm not a fan of dumping beer. I say let it ferment all the way and rack to a secondary for two weeks and see how it ends up. Who knows it maybe awesome! Some yeasts just have weird smells. Wait it out if you can.

 

[jtupper]

DONT DUMP RDWHAHB!!! Worst case scenario if its too much grain maybe it will be applicable for a blending of a weaker beer to make your masterpiece. I agree I would wait it out and see what happens. If it doesn't help brew something you could blend with it.

 

[Firebat138]

you say you used too much chocolate... was it a recipe or your own?

Either way, let it go and see what happens...Maybe try a smaller beer and see what those results turn out... I am sure it will be fine and tasty...

 

[djfriesen]

That's an awfully big beer to be ready in a week. Give it some time. My guess it will turn out ok.

 

[PseudoChef]

That's definitely a lot of chocolate, but to say time heals all is ridiculous.

Give it a couple more weeks, then dump if the flavor doesn't go away. You'll be better off just revamping the recipe, brewing it again, and having an actual good beer on your hands.

I hate the don't dump mentality.

 

[jmprdood]

Thanks for the flame - I meant, let it ride and see if it'll come around, if it doesn't se le vi

 

[tyrtruion]

I hate the don't dump mentality.

I hate quitters...

Let the process take it's toll, worst case scenario is in the end you have a ****ty beer...
But that doesn't stop anheuser-busch now does it?

 

[PseudoChef]

I hate quitters...

Let the process take it's toll, worst case scenario is in the end you have a ****ty beer...

And I don't like drinking bad beer. I'm not quitting when I'm going to try to brew the same beer again to make it better. I'm going to learn more by figuring out where I went wrong (recipe, in this case), brewing again and refining my techniques and practices.

But that doesn't stop anheuser-busch now does it?

Well that's just ignorance. Anheuser-Busch is doing a fantastic job of making American Light and American Lagers. They are incredibly consistent and the brewers responsible for their products are at the top of their game. If you don't think it's good, that's fine, but to compare a poorly designed recipe with what AB is making is just silly.

 

[passedpawn]

If it doesn't taste good, dump, Frankly, I don't understand the "wait it out" attitude.

Why wait when you can brew again? In my opinion, it's only laziness that keeps one from tossing a bad batch and re-brewing. Perhaps some recover, but I'm not the type to wait around.

Yes, of course, there are a few styles that benefit from aging. I've got barleywines, a RIS, and several sours that are years old.

[edit] I'm with the chef.

 

[eastoak]

dump it and next time use oz of chocolate malt rather than pounds.

 

[Dynachrome]

How are you set for bottles? Let it age.

Check out the threads on this site regarding letting beer sit for a long time. Bottle conditioning has good effects.

Alternatively, do you have acquaintances that like Imperial Stout beers? They may like it and it will not be wasted.

IMHO - chocolate and wheat are maybe not such a good match-up.

What was your inspiration? I'm interested in what led you in this direction.

Here is on thread about "Not Dumping":

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/never-dump-your-beer-patience-virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

Good luck

 

[strambo]

I'd bottle and age it for a few months. The flavors may mellow and turn out very good.

 

[MaynardX]

A week is waaayyyy too soon to think about dumping. I would let it sit on the yeast at least another week, two would be ideal. The yeast is still working and will prolly clean up whatever you are smelling.

 

[Calder]

3 gallon batch

2lbs White Wheat
3lbs Pale Malt (6 row)
1lbs Pale Malt (2 row)
1lbs Steel Cut Oats
2lbs Chocolate Wheat

.5 oz Cascade 60 min
.5 oz Cascade 30 min
.25 oz Citra 15 min
.25 oz Citra 0 min

WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast

The OG was 1.094 and I had great starch conversion (via iodine test).

After a week the aroma is odd, almost moldy (but not mold), although it has improved over the last few days. The flavor is a heavy and almost like a black malt character, but too much. It is a rough beer to say the least. Its tough to describe. I clearly used too much chocolate wheat. I am thinking about dumping it. What would you do?

My first response was that you had created a wheat Porter, but then I noticed it is a 3 gallon batch. That's a lot of Chocolate!!!

1.094 is great conversion; probably in the region of 85%.

Unless you can figure out what is giving you the 'moldy' smell, I would leave it for a couple of weeks and see how it turns out. You are saying it has improved over the past few days, maybe it is something to do with the yeast and chocolate malt, and will dissipate as fermentation completes.

I would dump it rather than bottle and hope, but I would at least give it a chance to finish before making that determination. Yeast can give off some really strange smells that have nothing to do with the final product.

 

[jmprdood]

While I will concede that ounces rather than pounds of chocolate malt would be better for an off-the-cusp recipe - let it ride and see. What do you have to lose at this point? A few dudes on this board?

 

[passedpawn]

A week is waaayyyy too soon to think about dumping. I would let it sit on the yeast at least another week, two would be ideal. The yeast is still working and will prolly clean up whatever you are smelling.

Agreed.

 

[SwampassJ]

I say wait a few more weeks to see how it goes. I would still bottle it after a few more weeks unless the moldy smell persists or forms a cap on it. At worst you lose a case of bottles for a few weeks to monthas at best you get a sipper. Or you could bottle a few. I have no issue dumping beer but a week is too early unless its infected. ( I dont like sours or bretts at all so I never save them)

 

[bja]

Did you cook the oats before mashing?

I'd dump it. Even if the smell does go away, with that much chocolate it'll never be something I'd like to drink.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Who knows, after 2 years, it may be awesome.

You could try to lager it now to damp down the flavor.

 

[KayaBrew]

People here love to echo the "time heals all" mantra. Bullsh*t. How do you know that time heals all? Because someone with 17,000 posts said it? A lot of the advice on this forum is just stuff people repeat because they read it in another thread.

That said, 1 week and you're ready to dump it? Ride it out for at least a month. Then consider your options.

 

[PseudoChef]

People here love to echo the "time heals all" mantra. Bullsh*t. How do you know that time heals all? Because someone with 17,000 posts said it? A lot of the advice on this forum is just stuff people repeat because they read it in another thread.

Agreed. It's probably some of the worst advice I've read.

 

[bja]

People here love to echo the "time heals all" mantra. Bullsh*t.

Time doesn't heal a bad recipe.

 

[passedpawn]

I've got a lot more grain than time. Older I get, the cheaper that grain looks.

I dumped a batch of bitter this weekend, straight out of the carboy. Why did I brew that? The carboy looks much better right now with a Two-Hearted clone in it!

 

[stanzela]

Generally speaking, I think when it comes to homebrewing, the number of variables from setup to setup, brew to brew, recipe to recipe, water source to water source, etc. render any 'catch-all', universal rule pretty useless.

Will time heal everything? No, of course not. As has been said, time can't really heal a bad recipe, or an infection. Sure, many brewers are able to salvage bad recipes by mixing beers later or are able to work with an infection to get some interesting results, but that is not time healing anything. That is necessity giving birth to kicking and screaming invention!

A better rule of thumb, in my opinion, is that patience is your best friend. Naturally, that applies to the entire brewing process. While that's similar to the 'time heals all' mantra, it doesn't make any impossible claims. I would also say trust yourself. I think your tastes and insights are likely sound enough that you'll know if something is really wrong. I'd say let fermentation finish (another week or two) and then have a little taste. You're not looking for perfection, but If it seems close to something that you could see yourself drinking, bottle it up and let the flavours mellow. If it's definitely way off, then don't be afraid to scrap it. In the end, it will be totally up to you whether or not saving the time is worth more than trying to salvage what you're pretty sure will be a bad batch. If you've got lots of time and bottles to spare, just bottle it up and wait - after all, you have invested your time and energy into this brew so far, and it's always a shame to see ingredients washed down the drain.

As the comments have shown thus far, it clearly comes down to the individual brewer. For some, even the slight chance that things will be off might merit a dump (time is valuable, ingredients are cheap) whereas for others, even a worst-case-scenario might be worth a bit of a massage to see if things can be saved (time is plentiful, ingredients are costly and hard to come by).

So, be patient, have faith in yourself and your senses and you'll make the right call. Bad brews will make you all the stronger as a brewer, and if you dump, at least you'll have the memory of that sting to help keep you motivated to brew better.

I hope it turns out for you.