The Infamous Bad Batch

My last batch is a bit rough (over hopped and maybe some infection), but I'm working on it bottle by bottle. Such a waste of time and ingredients to pour out. I can't get myself to do that unless I simply cannot bear the taste. At least you know where you went wrong. Every time you drink it should be a reminder so you don't do it again.

 

Depends on the beer. You could make a large starter or got to a brewery and get slurry to pitch into your beer and get it to go down farther. The right Brett strain in a Barleywine would be good too. Souring some beers works. Dry hopping others.

 

Repitch some attenuative dry yeast if the Barleywine is still in the fermenter.

 

My first batch went something like this. I called it "Sawn Timber Ale" because it tasted like wood to me (not that I go around gnawing on wood all of the time). The last bottle I had was so foul that I grabbed a bottle of a different brew that had gone magnificently well (Stone IPA clone) and started to drink it. I couldn't immediately get the taste of the first beer out of my mouth. It was then that my sentimentality for my first beer was obliterated and the remaining bottles went down the drain.

 

I'm considering doing this with a beer I've currently got going that I'm not too happy with. I might just add in some more sugar and some brettanomyces, and throw it in storage for a year.

 

Depends. How bad is it, and do you feel like experimenting? Blend with other beers or add some brett. If learning from your mistakes is your thing, well, there might yer be something to learn from this

If you can't imagine ever finding anything redeemable in your mouth that was born from this fermentation then dump. (sorry for any unfortunate imagery caused by my words).

 

So, I am a total naysayer here. I've made many batches (I call Oscar batches) that in my head sounded good and turned out to be not good. Nothing wrong with them brewing wise but I might not have liked a hop or the yeast, etc. Those I give to friends or my bum friend who liked them. If no one likes, drain pour. I don't bother keeping them because I won't drink them. Mistakes like underpitch or hot ferment, in that situation, drain pour, no giving away even to Oscar. I don't even mess with it. I used to have better bottles, kegs and bottles sitting around forever waiting to see if they get better with age or experimentation. It was never worth it...IMO.

PS: So the Oscar story- at one time I used to give batches I bottled off my kegs in gallon water jugs or two liters to a bum downtown who I would buy sandwiches for. He loved the stuff. On Fridays I'd see Oscar, buy him a sammy and give him some beer and chat a little. Then one day he never showed up again......never did find out what happened to him. Hopefully he went back to his family or moved on to bigger and better things.

 

Generally I pour it down the drain and don't even sweat it. If it's drinkable, I drink it. If not, there's no fixing a truly bad beer. Some beers may be best blended, but save the effort if you've made drainpour ale and don't try to make it into tasty beer.

 

I've had some not turn out, I sit on them and hope it ages out, or I end up just dumping.

I have no problem dumping a batch after it's sat for a while and I'm not happy with it. Shit happens. Sometimes the ideas and plans don't pan out, and thats the way of a brewer.

Souring, or brett usually work, hence the reason I tend to play more with styles that I can do something with if, in the event, something doesn't work out.

 

I don't know, I've never (touch wood) had a batch that hasn't been salvagable in some way. Even the ones that didn't turn out were still drinkable. Maybe my taste buds just aren't critical enough?

 

A splash of bourbon before each glass will probably help you care less...

 

I guess it depends on how far along I am in the process. If it's during the mash / boil, there's almost always something to do that can fix it. If it's already bottled, well, not much.
I haven't had too many batches that are that bad - when I do, I'll end up using them for cooking one way or another. A not so great ESB I made is actually very good in chili / pot roast or in my smoker, for instance.

 

The worst beer I ever made was my very first batch. Because it was the first one, I guess I developed a higher tolerance for the occasional mistake. Most of my subsequent faults have been minor things like inappropriate (too high or too low) carbonation, so I grin and drink it, but if it's truly problematic, I don't subject them to other people.

 

Underpitching can make a beer can result in a number of technical flaws and at worst be a bit subpar. If underpitching is the only problem I don't think you will have what I, or most people would consider anything near a drain pour.

 

Have you ever blended a beer that tastes better than the two beers that you had to start with? I haven't. I know that it takes one great beer and a shitty to funnel down into a decent blend. Why waste a great beer to pull the weight of a bad beer.

Maybe I should reread your post on nitro champagne.

 

Yeah I really want to try that nitro champagne now! Someone needs to invent it! I get half the money of course!

I can't say I really have an example where I prefer the black and tan over the individual beers to the point where it's "better" that way. But I would say beers like ten-fidy I enjoy either way. I usually split the can half and half between a black and tan and straight up.

 

What are you mixing 10 fidy with?

 

Generally some sort of lager or ale that's good for a "tan." Homebrewed lager went real nice with it. Alamo ale* is another that goes well. I would not mix it with something like bud light because ten-fidy is simply too far out of bud light's league. It would be like buying a six hundred dollar bottle of wine, and then bringing it to mcdonald's for dinner.

When I make a black and tan, I want to still taste the flavors of the stout, but make it a bit more drinkable at the same time (and perhaps have more than one. ten-fidy is good for 2-4 black and tans, depending on the pallet of the drinker).

IMO a good black and tan focuses somewhat on the black, and less on the tan. For instance, I wouldn't mix ten-fidy with RABC Hans Pils, because Hans Pils is really hoppy, and would probably either clash with or take away from the ten-fidy. Hans Pils is more of a stand alone lager.

If I'm way off base here, do tell how IPAs and imperial stouts mix well together. My policy is more of a best-guess thing than something I'm basing on concrete evidence, so I could be wrong, and won't get too butt-hurt about it if that turns out to be the case. As a matter of fact, I personally think it's a badge of honor to admit you were wrong and change your way of thinking in the light of new and better evidence.

*a real surprise, because at first I thought this was another pseudo-craft beer being pushed by BMC. It's not, it's a new brewery in San Antonio. Alamo ale is actually really good. it's also local and rarely more than eight bucks a sixer (convenience stores not included). When you have alamo ale and RABC local, and both are generally cheaper as well, you tend to find yourself drinking these brews regularly. I like alamo ale because it's fairly light and refreshing, good for after a day's work when you're thirsty and hot and don't want imperial stout or a double IPA. However, it also has flavor, an important aspect of beer that is sometimes overlooked by short-sighted breweries that specialize in drunken frat boys. I think it's a blonde ale, too lazy to look it up. Who cares, it's good beer, and makes a good black and tan.