Fun with Sh*tty Beer: Adulterating a Failed Barleywine

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by barfdiggs, Mar 21, 2013.

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What should I do with this beer?

  1. Drain pour it... everything you brew sucks

    3 vote(s)
    4.8%

  2. Sour it (Lacto, Brett, Pedio)

    10 vote(s)
    16.1%

  3. Add Brettanomyces (Suggest specific Brett strains below)

    11 vote(s)
    17.7%

  4. Krausen it with English Yeast (WLP007) & wort

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  5. Krausen it with Trappist High Gravity Yeast (WY3787) & wort

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  6. Krausen it with Trappist High Gravity Yeast (WY3787)w wort, then add Candi Sugar to turn into a BDSA

    3 vote(s)
    4.8%

  7. Add miscellaneous secondary adjuncts (Suggest below)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  8. Dry Hop it and claim its an American Barleywine

    1 vote(s)
    1.6%

  9. Leave it alone and hope something magical happens

    29 vote(s)
    46.8%

  10. Something Else (Write in)

    5 vote(s)
    8.1%
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  1. SeaSparrow

    SeaSparrow Initiate (0) Sep 4, 2010 Texas

    I voted sour it, but after reading all the way down, I am going to second BumpkinBrewer's motion.
    Call to a vote? :-)
     
    #21 SeaSparrow, Mar 22, 2013
  2. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Dry hop the shit out of it with Citra. That cures all homebrew errors right???
     
    #22 OddNotion, Mar 22, 2013
    SFACRKnight likes this.
  3. WickedSluggy

    WickedSluggy Savant (1,129) Nov 21, 2008 Texas

    Distill it and age it with oak chips for 15 years. Then bottle age it for 15 more years. Then sell that bottle for $10,000 on ebay. That will be enough money to buy a bomber of Hog Heaven Barleywine.
     
    #23 WickedSluggy, Mar 22, 2013
  4. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    add some wort and sour it with a blend of bugs
     
    #24 AlCaponeJunior, Mar 22, 2013
  5. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Thanks for all the suggestions! I took the two with the most votes (Brett/Sour and Leave it alone) and did both. I blended 2 gallons of barleywine with 3 gallons of 3.8% sour(ing) brown ale (Pitched Roselare) and the remaining 3 gallons was bottled, unaltered. Curious to see how they turn out 6 or so months down the line. Cheers!
     
    #25 barfdiggs, Mar 25, 2013
  6. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Update to the thread.

    The half I left alone and aged at 60 F now has absolutely no detectable banana flavor or aroma. While the beer is still a bit too dry, it has picked up some great prune and dark sugar flavors/aroma and may turn into a really solid barleywine in the next couple months once the alcohol has had a chance to mellow a bit more and a little bit of additional oxidation takes place.

    The other half after blending and being hit with BugFarm VI and Roselare, plus a pound of golden syrup (immediately) and D2 syrup (Yesterday) has turned into a pretty tasty sour (Sour is the operative word here). I'll be racking it onto ~9 lbs of peaches (3 lb/gallon) in a couple weeks to make a Sour Brown ale with peaches.
     
    #26 barfdiggs, Jul 17, 2013
    JackHorzempa, pweis909 and jbakajust1 like this.
  7. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Write-in...quit using SO-4 and let it ride. : )
     
    #27 GreenKrusty101, Jul 18, 2013
    barfdiggs likes this.
  8. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Yeah, this was the final straw with S-04. It's been wy1968 since this batch.
     
    #28 barfdiggs, Jul 18, 2013
  9. mylar

    mylar Initiate (0) Dec 13, 2011 Pennsylvania

    Let it sit...unless you need keg space then dump it! Its very doubtful youre going to make an undrinkable beer any better...toss that shit and replace it with a homebrew you enjoy. Unless this is one of those youre your own worst critic situations and its actually a decent beer but has one tiny little aspect you dont care for then suck it up and drink it or serve it to friends. otherwise no point in collecting shit...dump it
     
    #29 mylar, Jul 18, 2013
  10. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I was about to say I was conflicted and didn't know whether to say "leave" it or "sour it," but I read through the whole thread, realized the votes had been tallied months ago, and that you were apparently conflicted too.

    That second half has lots going on - a barleywine grist with two bug blends, two types of sugar boosters, and peaches - give us an update when ready.
     
    #30 pweis909, Jul 18, 2013
    barfdiggs likes this.
  11. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California


    Will post an update on the sour when its ready. My first two sours didn't turn out quite sour enough (They were great gateway sours), so I went and talked to a friend that brews professionally and makes great sours... He told me for his homebrewed sours that aren't quite where he wants them to be regarding acidity, that he waits until about 4-5 months in when the sacch has went dormant, racks off into a purged carboy and adds sugar or maltodextrin, which causes the bugs to go nuts and produce additional acidity and funk. Really looking forward to how this turns out because as of right now it has very interesting flavor profile.
     
    #31 barfdiggs, Jul 18, 2013
    pweis909 likes this.
  12. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I only have two finished sours under my belt. The first was a sour brown ale made with S-04 and half a pack of Roselare - the other half ended up on the floor :slight_frown:. It aged for about 6 months in a cool cellar and didn't get very sour. Then I moved it to a warmer location (by about 10 degrees) and added a couple quarts of DME starter wort and it helped improve the sourness. I enjoyed it, but it could have had more sourness.

    The second was a Berliner Weisse with S-05 and WYeast lacto - I heard stories about the WL version. It was pleasantly sour after primary, but I decided to add fruit to this - 5#s sour grapes (Cabernet Franc, I was told by the vintner who gave us the vine) and a quart of their juices from my backyard vine - grapes don't have much opportunity to sweeten up in my parts due to a short season. This beer is bracingly sour.

    I currently have another brown in my cellar. This was half a batch of an amber biere de garde to which I added Roselare and 3 gallons of fresh wort. I sampled several months ago and it was not very sour or bretty. It now has a moderately interesting-looking pellicle formation on it so I've been holding of moving it to a warmer spot or sampling it.
     
    #32 pweis909, Jul 18, 2013
  13. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Time heals all homebrew.
    Except those when it doesn't.
    Time...heal my homebrew!

    -hOmebReW hAiKu
     
    #33 HerbMeowing, Jul 19, 2013
    barfdiggs likes this.
  14. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah


    Time, it heals all wounds
    but this homebrew, what'd you do?
    Get the souring bugs! :grimacing:
     
    #34 AlCaponeJunior, Jul 21, 2013
    barfdiggs and HerbMeowing like this.
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