Dumped batches.

[25518]

How many brewers & brewesters dumped a batch? How many batches?

I dumped 2. Before I really got into reading & understanding HBT. Differerent threads about yeast, hops, wort. So on. Granted. I still have a lot to take in. man. I'm still new to brew. Now, I can't get off HBT. I breath, eat, sleep, HBT now. My dumb cat woke me @ 4 a.m. this morning. I grabbed my phone to check out HBT. I love this site. Constantly learning.

Oh yeah. I scratched 2 batches. Because I'm an idiot. Had I read more on this site. I'm sure I could have saved them. Oh well. Lesson learned.

 

[grathan]

I have dumped maybe 2. I have 5 that I'd rather not drink and probably will dump( they are in kegs so this will be fairly easy and buying beer is pretty affordable atm). I had an issue last year with all-grain mash ph and tannin extractions.

I will not hesitate to dump batches to make room in the pipeline in the future. I have about 10 kegs and probably drink 1 a month.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

I have a coconut porter that may take a year to carb. But I did kinda sorta dump a raspberry wheat from Midwest

 

[Cyclman]

I made a Hefe from the Brew Hut. All of the other kits were awesome. This one was so orangey / citrusy, I used most of it in my BBQ drip pan.

I am always mystified at how many HBT brewers add massive citrus to their brews. Just not my thing.

 

[orangeryno]

I have dumped 1 batch that went sour and have had 9 good ones!

 

[Bordy]

I was pondering dumping a hazelnut brown ale that has way too much hazelnut. It was a kit with a hazelnut extract, I wish I'd used half of what I did, because the beer itself turned out really well. I crack one every now and then, but give away most if them.

 

[kh54s10]

I may be jinxing myself but 35 batches with none that were even difficult to drink. My worst one was an experiment with second runnings and a lot of hops, (IPA) that took a while to mellow. Then it was not too bad.

 

[seigex]

I've dumped 2. One was a hefeweizen that had a heavy banana flavor. This was my second brew ever and thought it was infected, then after I got really into craft brews and started trying some of the offerings, I noticed it was an actual hef flavor and a product of the type of yeast I used. When I found out I was sad

Second was a stout I fermented with two 5-gallon sparkletts bottles. It was infected and had a horrible smell with some nasty stuff floating in it. I wanted to vomit taking a sniff of it, so I figure I was justified in tossing it.

 

[Mongrel]

None yet
*knocks on pressboard*

 

[MalFet]

I have dumped more batches than I can recall. Double digit number of batches, certainly, and even more bottles beyond that. Most of it has been "drinkable", but there's no good reason in this beautiful world to drink mediocre beer.

 

[day_trippr]

Zero. Did have one wheat beer that I went too heavy with the coriander and dried orange peel that took forever to kick, but <knock on wood> have never had a spoiled batch, and nearly all of my brews evolved from reputable recipes...

Cheers!

 

[Piratwolf]

I'm up to 4 or maybe 5 out of 80+. Two were brutally undrinkable b/c my buddy gave me a CFC he said he'd sanitized, but I later flushed big chunks of black stuff out of it. 2-3 I've dumped not b/c they're horrible but b/c, like MalFet, I'm not trying to drink mediocre beer.

 

[bobmcstuff]

One, but not fully - I still have a few bottles in the hope that one day it will miraculously improve.

I made the stereotypical mistake of screwing around with my second brew too much. It was a "Belgian" (use this term very loosely) made with dark LME, honey and demarera sugar. Also bittered to about 90IBU because I didn't calculate it properly, and 9.5% alcohol.

Dark LME makes it taste like stout, but the honey comes through quite a lot and it's completely unbalanced. It has a really harsh bitterness and hot alcohol flavour that makes it undrinkable after a few sips.

Still, it was a valuable experience - I've learnt to try new things in moderation and to not overcomplicate recipes.

 

[Brewskii]

I recall specifically one; but, I'm sure the number is more like 3. It was a speckled heifer kit from NB and I was brewing a couple times/month in the beginning. I used what was essentially a sanitized syphon hose with some crud built up so it wasn't clean.
Transferred to secondary and -a week later it was very 'not good'

As I recall there were a couple that went south around that time. That led to my current procedure where I now replace my cold side tubing often and boil it before and after each transfer.
Never really found out how anyone else does it but it seemed to work magic for me.

 

[swackattack]

1/25. Still not sure where the infection cane from. It was a vanilla bourbon porter. I can only assume it was from the vanilla beans

 

[brokebucket]

Fixing to dump one because it tastes like plastic. Waiting to bottle the other two experimental batches prior to dumping.

Frankly this whole "never dump a batch" mantra here is beyond me. I would dump a beer in a second that I didnt like.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I have dumped more batches than I can recall. Double digit number of batches, certainly, and even more bottles beyond that. Most of it has been "drinkable", but there's no good reason in this beautiful world to drink mediocre beer.

I'm with MalFet. I've had a couple of batches go cider, and some others that just weren't very good. Might as well keep the keg space open that will be used.

 

[m3n00b]

I might dump my first 5 gallon batch. I've had maybe 6 of them and it's not getting any better. It was a nut brown I added too much lme to in too small of a kettle. has a lot of caramel flavors. I mean a lot! It's a few months old now. I'll give it a few more.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I've pitched more than a few, they weren't even bad beer, I just won't waste the calories drinking something that I feel is kind of 'meh'.

 

[dstranger99]

Recently dumped an overcarbed batch of brown ale before it blew my nuts off........

 

[Stocktonbrew]

I dumped a cherry stout. I should have only used the fresh cherries but decided to add cherry extract. The cherry was so strong instead of beer it was really a room freshener. That was about ten years ago and it still bothers me when I think about it.

 

[Nightshade]

I have dumped 4 (12bbls total) due to an infection.
Luckily any mistakes I have made have all been very drinkable so no loss from bad recipes as of yet.

 

[D_Nyholm]

No dumps for me in over 50 batches. I've had 2 batches that were bad, but not because of infection or anything, just experiments. I now experiment in 1 or 2.5 gallon batches in case it turns out not so good.

I am pretty thorough in my cleaning and sanitizing, but nowhere near as neat and clean that many post about on here.

 

[flatlanderHQ]

I too got creative with my second batch ever--Edworts Haus Ale-- and I ended up with a higher alcohol content than I expected and I had too high fermentation temps for a day or two. The result was a hot fusel tastin beer. Burnt like gas in your mouth. I let it sit in a secondary for 6 weeks with plenty of yeast still floating around . I tasted it yesterday and now it is very drinkable. The fusels are gone! Nice malt flavours, though still slightly astringent finish. A couple weeks of bottle conditioning will hopefully help that out. I thought this beer was beyond saving. Yeast is a miraculous little beasty. Time and patience!

 

[sumone]

I dumped my first batch last weekend as I was moving. It was my first hard cider attempt and I had kinda forgotten about it for 6 months lol. I took a taste right before dumping and aside from the initial horrible puckering and hot alcohol bite it had a very nice caramel after taste. I'm going to try it again only hopefully not forget about it this time.

 

[seigex]

I dumped my first batch last weekend as I was moving. It was my first hard cider attempt and I had kinda forgotten about it for 6 months lol. I took a taste right before dumping and aside from the initial horrible puckering and hot alcohol bite it had a very nice caramel after taste. I'm going to try it again only hopefully not forget about it this time.

Why did you dump it? 6 months is great aging time! Was it infected or something?

 

[McBrewskie]

Dumped a cucumber saison. Everything seemed to go wrong with that brew. In the end it tasted like dirt and rotted cucumbers.

 

[hautlle]

I've only dumped one beer in my 2.5 yrs brewing. I do a spiced hefeweizen with corriander, orange peel, and thyme. I didn't realize I was out of fresh thyme until about halfway through the boil. Tried to use about 1/3rd of the amount of dried thyme and it ended up tasting like thyme soup. I let it sit in primary for about a month before deciding there was no way it was going to get better and dumping it.

Live and learn.

The next batch of that hefe I brewed was the best yet, I've finally hit that sweet middle spot between the spices and the beer.

 

[sumone]

Why did you dump it? 6 months is great aging time! Was it infected or something?

I'm not really sure, I was moving out and didn't really want to mess with it. It was my first ever attempt at cider: 1 gallon batch in a plastic jug. I now have glass jugs for my next attempts!

Aside from the very bad harsh alcohol taste the yeast cake was turning green... I don't think it was infected, or if it was it wasn't bad yet.

 

[seigex]

I'm not really sure, I was moving out and didn't really want to mess with it. It was my first ever attempt at cider: 1 gallon batch in a plastic jug. I now have glass jugs for my next attempts!

Aside from the very bad harsh alcohol taste the yeast cake was turning green... I don't think it was infected, or if it was it wasn't bad yet.

ok, sitting on a yeast cake for 6 months could be an issue Not too bad if it's only 1 gallon, probably made some good vinegar though

 

[eastoak]

Dumped a cucumber saison. Everything seemed to go wrong with that brew. In the end it tasted like dirt and rotted cucumbers.

that's the worst beer idea i've ever heard. wow.

i'm a dumper of bad beer, i can't understand people who feel bad beer bad beer must be consumed no matter what. if you burn a pan of cookies (or any other food) do you still choke them down?

 

[temple240]

that's the worst beer idea i've ever heard. wow.

i'm a dumper of bad beer, i can't understand people who feel bad beer bad beer must be consumed no matter what. if you burn a pan of cookies (or any other food) do you still choke them down?

No, I put them in a dark closet to age for a couple months before choking them down.

 

[Braufessor]

I dumped about 3 gallons of belgian golden yesterday as a matter of fact..... Been sipping on it and passing it out to others to drink - kept hoping it would get better.... it was ok, did not really care for it as I am not much of a belgian fan in the first place. I have no problem dumping beer if it is not good, or if I simply don't enjoy drinking it. The second I have a better beer ready to put in a keg - a mediocre/bad beer's days are numbered.

 

[BreezyBrew]

that's the worst beer idea i've ever heard. wow.

Cigar City that makes one. It's a nice summer beer. Really light and refreshing.

 

[eastoak]

Cigar City that makes one. It's a nice summer beer. Really light and refreshing.

if i saw it somewhere i'd have to try it just because it sounds so awful.

 

[timrox1212]

Well I technically have not dumped one but I brewed a porter a few months back that I screwed something up on and it tasted like pennies. My buddy who would probably drink fermented gasoline thought it tasted fine so I gave him the remaining 47 bottles of the batch. Sucked loosing the batch but at least a friend enjoyed it.

 

[ktblunden]

I have a brown porter in bottles now that needs to be dumped. My utility company suddenly started using so much chlorine my tap water smells like a pool. I wasn't expecting it and ended up with a completely phenolic batch. I now have a nice filter setup that produces water with no smell or flavor at all, so I hopefully won't have any more bad batches.