[cheba420]

In the 5 years I've been brewing, I've only dumped 2 batches and one partial. The first was a cider that went south. Turned to vinegar and I didnt know what to do with it, how to handle vinegar or anything....so it became drain cleaner. The second, was a batch of hard lemonade that I made earlier this year from our lemon crop. I may have dumped this one early but it was rowdy and I needed a keg for BEER. Sorry, lemonade...you have to go! The only beer I've ever dumped was an IPA that just had so much astringency, that I couldnt enjoy it. I drank about half of the keg and then just decided not to torture myself anymore. The beer was bad but the feeling I got over how I f*cked it up was worse!

[Pinski]

I've never dumped a batch but years ago I came really close.  I still have no idea what possessed me to think it was a good idea to brew with "Spruce Essense" but it was not a benevolent muse.  My Gin-o-phyle friend Gino loved it so I ended up keeping it around for him and after a couple months I could actually drink one.  It took on sort of a cola/Dr. Pepper kind of flavor.  Ended up being a good exercise in letting things ride.  Someday I may try the freshest of fresh spruce tips but never again will "spruce essense" disgrace my brewlog. 

[Joe Sr.]

Spruce beer was the first batch I dumped, and one of the first I brewed.  I stuck with it though and have dumped only two other batches that I can recall.

I've found that even if I don't care for them, generally someone does.  I have a few bottles left of batches that weren't favorites, but I have plenty of room to store bottles.

When I need a keg, I'd rather bottle than dump.  Or buy more kegs.

I haven't been there lately, but in the past when I've found myself with only the least appealing beers left it has been motivation to brew more.

[tomsawyer]

When I started the thread I was mostly thinking of the specific circumstance of developing a recipe and dumping anything that didn't measure up.  But I am appreciative of the testimonials, and I sense this has been cathartic for a lot of you mugs!

I dumped some beer last night, an alt that didn't quite measure up and got displaced.  As it was coming out the picnic tap I took a little taste.  Hmm, not too bad.  Got a small glass, tasted and hmm not too bad.  It didn't stop me from running it out though.  Theres more where that came from, and better.

[ibru]

Have I dumped beer? Yes. Probably 2 or 3 in about 20 years. I won't save a funky tasting beer

Would I dump because it didn't meet expectations and/or a beer style? Heavens no. If it is drinkable (no major flaws) I'll save it or try to make it a little better. Maybe I've got a so-so batch of stout and a so-so pale ale, but by mixing it makes both a little better. Maybe just  dry hopping with improve the beer. I'm not a big fruit beer fan, but maybe adding some cherry or apricot flavoring to it will do the trick.

That said, I have some (really) sweet mead that's been in the bottle for over 10 years. Don't want to throw it. Wonder what would happen if I put a few bottles in at the end of a boil of a lager? Hmm.

[denny]

My general rule for dumping beer is: if I can't finish the first one or, if after I have finished the first one I really don't want a second one, then its a dumper. No sense keeping kegs around with beer in 'em that I'm never gonna drink.

My feeling exactly, Keith.

[ccarlson]

I don't dump them until I absolutely need the keg. I've had too many get better with time.

[denny]

I don't dump them until I absolutely need the keg. I've had too many get better with time.

I've kept beers for years waiting for them to get better.  Never happened....

[ccarlson]

I don't dump them until I absolutely need the keg. I've had too many get better with time.

I've kept beers for years waiting for them to get better.  Never happened....

I'm not 100%, but I have definitely had some get better. In fact, I've had some that I hated turn into great beers.

[Slowbrew]

I've dumped 4, maybe 5, over the years.  Usually due to infections. 

I may keep a beer that I don't serve to anyone else and just drink it myself. I don't think I should waste the ingredients or torture my friends.  I do start to worry when I've developed a taste for a bad beer and start thinking about making it again.  8^(

Paul

[tomsawyer]

I've dumped 4, maybe 5, over the years.  Usually due to infections. 

I may keep a beer that I don't serve to anyone else and just drink it myself. I don't think I should waste the ingredients or torture my friends.  I do start to worry when I've developed a taste for a bad beer and start thinking about making it again.  8^(

Paul

I will admit that I've had a few beers that grew on me as I went through the keg.  Don't know if they were getting better or I was learning to appreciate them.

[kgs]

I used a cross-country move to dump my failures from my first year as a homebrewer. The good stuff was consumed. The failures included most of my efforts during a period when I was attempting Belgian pale ales, plus an IPA flavored with fenugreek that was undrinkable by any standard. (Note to self: no spruce, either.)  I will try Belgians again--I am not sure what the problem was, but it was good to focus elsewhere and produce a few drinkable beers.

I consider it a sign of my development as a homebrewer that the only beer I've considered dumping in the last year and a half was a 6-pack experiment where I threw in far too many hops (but I drank it anyway...though I didn't share it!). I've brewed beer that wasn't really all that good, but from a "waste not, want not" point of view, it was good enough to be choked down. :-) 

[brewmasternpb]

I've had some wicked Chlorolphenol problems, those were dumpers, tasted like paint.  Then I bought a filter and filtered out the chlorine!

[corkybstewart]

I dumped a couple last month that I brewed for a friend to distill, one was horribly hoppy on purpose, the other had very little hops.  he never got around to distilling them(for a good reason) and I needed the kegs.
Years ago I struggled to drink the first keg of a 10 gallon batch of pale ale that was awful.  After finishing a gallon I turned the rest into malt vinegar which turned out great.  A year later I found the second keg in the beer fridge.  I was about to dump it but I tasted it and it had really turned out magnificent.The flavor I didn't like the year before was still there but very mellow.
If I brew a batch that is subpar I force myself to drink it as punishment.  nothing like a little self flagellation to learn from my mistakes.

[phillamb168]

CAP brewed at ale temperature. Did a double batch. Such, SUCH a shame, this would have been a fantastic couple kegs if I had just not been as lazy. Learned my lesson for sure on that one.