When you've waited for your beer

[zoebisch01]

A thread in the AG area sparked this curiousity in me. I was just wondering who out there has had batches they thought were bad, held on till the end and they turned out fine? Also who waited and hoped to have their hopes dashed by a truly bad beer?

Well, I should have added another option: "I always let my beer finish out before casting judgement" (That's what I do) Mod can you add that?

 

[brewt00l]

My first batch was a can kit with a slew of corn sugar fermented pretty hot...green apple city! Course, my friends and I drank the entire batch.

I had a recipe based off a wee heavy that went through an interesting flavor development. It was good when it first carb'd, tasted like shoe leather for about 3-4 months then mellowed into something decent around the 4-5 month mark.

Can't say I have ever dumped a batch.

 

[zoebisch01]

Heheh, the shoe leather thing is a funny description

I guess I should say, I personally haven't dumped anything. Just always rode it out.

 

[JustDave]

Well I'm new at brewing, so my first batch was just bottled on the 4th. I had a bad case of noob-itis and couldn't wait any longer, so a few days later I tried it. It wasn't the worst beer I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't great.

So about 4 days later, I tried it again because I wanted to see how it had changed. What a difference those 4 days made! It had gotten a lot better, and for the first time I thought it might actually turn out to be a decent brew.

I've quickly learned that waiting can make a big difference ....

 

[Yooper]

I only had one batch that I thought tasted bad. Not off-flavors or contaminated, but something I didn't like (it was the caramel cream ale that everybody else in the world loves). I waited and still didn't care for it. I finally served it to some friends because I didn't have anything else- they LOVED it and drank the whole two cases over a few weeks. So, taste is definitely subjective.

Never actually had a batch bad, but some have been better than others!

 

[Evan!]

I've had batches that I thought were effed. Take my Imperial Punkin Pie, for example. While in carboy, it had this nasty, medicinal/band-aidy smell and taste. I thought it was some kind of infection or something, but I stuck it out anyway. I still have a few btls left today, and it's excellent stuff.

At the opposite end...I had a couple batches (Oatmeal Stout and London ESB) that were just plum AWESOME in the carboy...but they apparently got some kind of infection in the bottling bucket, because the entire batches turned into gushers and bombs, and tasted sour and dried out. Definitely infections. At first, when they tasted all weird but didn't gush, I thought, hey, they're just green...they'll get better. Quite the opposite. About a week ago, I dug out a case from the bottom of my stacks that had some of the last oatmeal stouts left, and 4 of them had kasploded. Oh well. The ESB's are great for cooking or putting in the water bowl in my smoker (the water bowl in my meat smoker, not the water bowl in my bong).

As for the rest of them, I've come to realize how green they are when first bottled. A few of my earlier extract batches had that extracty twang that they never quite lost, but you live and learn and move on to PM & AG.

 

[the_bird]

One of the first recipes I put together myself, for my second AG batch, was based loosely on an altbier (without really knowing what an alt was). It came out, meh... OK. Not terrible, but a bit too harsh. Couldn't pick up the malt flavor from the 2-3 lbs of Munich malt I used. Too many hops. Not bad, it was drinkable, just medicore.

Fast-forward about six or seven months, to a couple of weeks ago. I'm going through the stashes, seeing what I have for brews, just doing a bit of an inventory. I find a couple cases of these and toss a couple bottles in the fridge. Low and behold, a lot of the bitterness seems to have dropped out, along with almost all of the excessive hop flavor. The malt is shining through, full and sweet. It's got a great balance, it's not too bitter, it's not too hoppy, and it's not too malty. It just came out really, really good (especially if drunk a little on the warm side), a HUGE improvement over the "meh" batch I had on my hands when I first bottled it.

I have an ESB in the keg that I was very disappointed in. At first, it was real fruity, then it seemed to get harsh on me (which was odd). I haven't touched it in a couple months, but I'm going to pull a pint tonight and see what I have. It's probably pushing six months old now, which is a while for an ESB, but I'm hoping that it's mellowed out and become a smoother, maltier brew now as well.

The only truly BAD batches I've had have not improved, but those were issues more to do with me not knowing how to formulate a recipe or using too much fruit in too small a beer - mocha stouts with far too much chocolate and coffee never really get any better

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

I made a wheat beer with a belgium wit yeast, almost hit 80F during fermentation and I thought that the fruity esthers would never fade. I bottled anyway and after 6 weeks or so and lettting it get real cool in the fridge, it wasn't the best beer, but it was more than drinkable, I was willing to say it was good. A friend of mine liked it more than any other beer I've made.

My pumpkin ale was REAAAALLLL bitter at first, but that mellowed out and turned into an awesome beer.


Always wait it out.

 

[david_42]

My first barley wine used 8 oz. of peat-smoked barley. Took 8 months to reach the drinkable stage, two years later it's great. I've only had one batch I've dumped from disappointment. After four months, it still wasn't improving and I had plenty of good brew on tap.

 

[magno]

I always wait to pass judgment, sometimes well after the beer has peaked. I just hate dumping them.

Sometimes the wait is worth it, like with a Belgian I made last year. Sometimes the beer just doesnt come through, like with a Porter that I made in 2005 (one of the first recipes that I came up with).

To date, the only batch that I have dumped is one that was blowing bottles in the closet.

- magno

 

[zoebisch01]

Lots of good stuff. It is interesting to see the cross section of experiences and outcomes...

Thanks to the mod that added the other option...Oh and ps. you can have multiple answers to the poll.

 

[DraconianHand]

2419|-| |\|4|>32 |>035|\|7 \/\/417

I can't read this crap, what does it say?

 

[zoebisch01]

2419|-| |\|4|>32 |>035|\|7 \/\/417

I can't read this crap, what does it say?

Lol, you need a decoder ring.

 

[Biermann]

I've dumped two batches. I don't think either was infected, but I do think I had some stressed out yeast due to underpitching, and it produced some funny off-flavors. One of the batches, a porter, did mellow somewhat, but I didn't like it. I ended up giving a bunch of it away, and the people I gave it to really liked it. I dumped the rest.

My doppelbock lagered for more than 9 months, and it still sucked A$$, so I dumped it. I just couldn't foresee it improving much. It wasn't sour, just tasted "funny."

I also dumped some of Ed's apfelwein-- I actually made too much of the stuff, and it became too much for me (and everyone else) to drink, so about half a keg went down the drain. .. but not because it wasn't good.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

I'm with ralph....

 

[Drunkensatyr]

After a few years of brewing, we have only dumped 1 beer. Gave it a month in the keg but just would not mellow out. Used too much of the wrong ingredient, and it just wasn't enjoyable to drink in the slightest. Freed up the keg and made it again, correctly the second time

 

[jowens]

2419|-| |\|4|>32 |>035|\|7 \/\/417

Ok, I decoded it ... and I still don't get it. What's ralph got to do with this?

 

[rdwj]

God, I hate leet speak. I've only had one batch that didn't get good with age. I was a little nervous about my Burbon Barrel Old Ale, but it turned out pretty nice; not what I was aiming for, but good!

 

[CBBaron]

I have not had an infected batch or one I thought was infected, however my 1822 Porter did not taste very good when I sampled it a 3weeks nor at 5 weeks. After 2 months in the bottle it is improving and is drinkable but still not good. However I now have hope that is will eventually age to a decent beer.
Craig

 

[Dr Malt]

Brew 001:

Interesting you had a beer that had a "leathery" character. Just an FYI, "leathery" is a flavor attribute that can occur is some commercial beers. Its origins is unknown but it does seem to occur in the intermediate stages of beer aging. It is often at low levels and associated with oxidation or staling incorrectly.

Dr Malt

 

[Thalon]

I also don't get how Ralph has anything whatsoever to do with this topic. If you said he doesn't give up, I would at least understand the point better.

My IPA mellowed out a bit while trying to carbonate but even after 6 months I still have to choke it down.

 

[DeathBrewer]

i've had three batches recently that i screwed with the wrong dme for priming. they sucked for months. i drank all of one of them to punish myself (it was bad anyway, too much acid malt). i just threw a couple bottles of the other two in the fridge yesterday. one of them tastes great! the other is still flat, sweet, and unpleasant, however. i bottled them at the same time...dunno wut teh problem is

my honey rye that i just bottled yesterday has a kinda gross smell to it. it tastes good, but peculiar. we'll see in a few weeks!

i don't throw anything out though. i have had one batch that just turned to crap on me after months of waiting, but that's it.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

My 666 ale was gross and it stayed that way. So has every hefe that I've tried to make. No more hefes for me- if I get a hankering for a wheat, it'll be an American Wheat.

 

[mrb]

My Russian/Stout experiment is still aging. After a few beers it tastes down right wonderful, but as a first beer it's not sooooooooooo good. I keep pawning it off on friends who seem to like it - yet most will drink free beer.

Even thought I could use the bottles I just don't have the heart to trash it.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I voted for four of the five choices. I had one batch that never got good. I've had several that were REALLY good after waiting for them to age a bit. Regardless, I always keep in mind that I shouldn't be too critical of my beer until it's had time to condition properly. I voted for the l33t speak option because I don't understand it...just like I don't understand my beer sometimes.

 

[zoebisch01]

It's interesting to see the different approaches folks take and the outcomes. So shoe leather is related to oxidation...interesting. As for the Ralph selection, it is there because of tradition. Don't read into it

 

[brewt00l]

Brew 001:

Interesting you had a beer that had a "leathery" character. Just an FYI, "leathery" is a flavor attribute that can occur is some commercial beers. Its origins is unknown but it does seem to occur in the intermediate stages of beer aging. It is often at low levels and associated with oxidation or staling incorrectly.

Dr Malt

It was actually Peat smoked malt....as the beer aged, the smoked malt flavor intensified to shoe leather phase and then mellowed.

Interesting stab at it though.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

This is the only one I've ever dumped out. Maybe if I would've held out I could've invented a new style of beer - cigar ale or something.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22684&page=5