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Author Topic: Dumping 5gallons  (Read 2574 times)

Offline SeymoureButts

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Dumping 5gallons
« on: August 06, 2015, 01:41:42 pm »
I brewed a West Coast IPA not too long ago, bottled it, and have since cracked open a few of them. They are terrible.

I live in Southern California and as of right now I have no way of controlling the temperature in my fermentation closet. My beer was fermenting above 80° almost everyday for a couple of weeks. From another thread I posted I have gotten a few responses saying that this extreme temperature could have caused the off flavors.

I am wondering how many here have brewed a batch, tasted it, didn't like it, and cracked open all the bottles and poured them out? I have at least 40 bottles of the stuff left, but I prefer drinking the few remaining Bud Lights left over from a beach party last weekend. How many of you have had a similar situation and cut your losses and dumped it? Or how many of you sucked it up and drink em?
El Gringo Borracho

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2015, 01:45:56 pm »
I don't drink beer I don't like - mine or bought. We've most all dumped at some point. Use it as a learning experience. The next batch will be better !
Jon H.

Offline erockrph

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2015, 01:55:23 pm »
I still do on occasion. And it's not just for bad beers. If something is "just OK" and I need the keg/bottle space, then down the drain it goes. I enjoy the brewing part as much as the drinking. That's part of the reason why I started brewing smaller batches.

I found that once you get over the guilt of dumping batches you become a better brewer.
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Offline a10t2

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2015, 02:16:57 pm »
Definitely nothing wrong with dumping the batch, but unless you need the bottles right now I don't see any reason not to sit on it for a couple months and see what happens.
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2015, 10:43:30 pm »
Almost every homebrewer has dumped at least one batch. It just happens for one reason or another that a batch didn't turn out and you don't want to drink it.

I agree that if you have the room hang on to the bottles and see what happens.
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2015, 05:55:03 am »
Some never recover, but some do!  If it is badly infected, given the hop content, I doubt that it will recover to be a good beer, but since it is bottled, I would keep it for a while and see.  Maybe it will be the next great sour!
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Offline udubdawg

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2015, 06:19:00 am »
honestly I dump as much beer as I drink, as I like brewing more than drinking, and the beer gets old. 
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Offline beersk

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2015, 07:21:36 am »
Udubdawg, sounds like you need to brew smaller batches.

OP, dump it and be done with it. Nothing wrong with dumping beer as long as you learned something from it, which it seems you have. I dumped a whole keg of oatmeal stout last winter...that was sad. Pitched some bad yeast, I think. It had a whiskey-like flavor in it, but there was no whiskey added and it fermented at 64. I can only think the yeast was bad or it picked up some kind of infection. That was very disappointing.
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Offline udubdawg

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2015, 07:47:13 am »
Udubdawg, sounds like you need to brew smaller batches.

OP, dump it and be done with it. Nothing wrong with dumping beer as long as you learned something from it, which it seems you have. I dumped a whole keg of oatmeal stout last winter...that was sad. Pitched some bad yeast, I think. It had a whiskey-like flavor in it, but there was no whiskey added and it fermented at 64. I can only think the yeast was bad or it picked up some kind of infection. That was very disappointing.

I brew about 3.3 gallons per batch.  What I needed to do is brew less often.  That's been accomplished this year, unintentionally.

Offline beersk

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2015, 10:02:42 am »
Ah, well, steady on then! My batches typically last 1-2 months in the keg, 4.75 gallons at a time. I'm good with that.
Jesse

Offline a10t2

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2015, 10:24:32 am »
honestly I dump as much beer as I drink

Me too, just several hours later. ;)
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Offline chumley

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2015, 01:50:05 pm »
Crappy homebrew works pretty good in the smoker water pan. Speaking from experience.  ::)

Offline BrewBama

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2015, 06:04:43 pm »
Crappy homebrew works pretty good in the smoker water pan. Speaking from experience.  ::)
Outstanding idea!

Offline Hooper

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2015, 07:35:05 pm »
Microbes giveth and taketh...lessons either way...
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Offline johnnyb

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Re: Dumping 5gallons
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2015, 07:39:43 pm »
Some never recover, but some do!  If it is badly infected, given the hop content, I doubt that it will recover to be a good beer, but since it is bottled, I would keep it for a while and see.  Maybe it will be the next great sour!

Doesn't sound like it's infected. Sounds more like fusels and off flavors from fermenting too high.