Contemplating my first full batch drain pour

If its undrinkable and taking up space you gotta do what you gotta do, no sense in keeping a beer around that you arent going to drink.

I had a similar experience with a DIPA that so much went wrong with. I was expecting 70% efficiency but got about 85% by my pre boil gravity readings, then the yeast I pitched was second generation (repitched from a smaller beer) and went crazy on the wort bringing it way lower than expected. The temperature no doubt got way too high. None the less the beer was amazing for about a two to three week window but after some of the hop flavor and aroma began to fade the booziness of this 12% monster was way too much for me to handle - I had to dump the final 1-2 gallons. I was not happy at all about that but I knew I was not going to drink it and I certainly was not going to serve it to any friends.

I submitted that beer to the American Homebrew Competition and I feel really bad for the judges who had to taste that one. It was really freakin good when I sent it in originally but I know what it turned to by the time judging day came around and I dont even think it deserved the marks that it received.

 

It could be distiled!

 

I had to drain-pour a full batch of DIPA with a junk-ton of Citra recently, too. Sad day, but i suppose it'll happen to us all at some point. Mine was looking fine and dandy, but simply refused to carbonate in the bottles, and then, bam - a hardcore overcarbonation/infection like a month later. Tasted like an absolute mess, and unfortunately I had already sent some to a trading buddy because he loved my last batch. I'll make good on it sometime soon. Sorry to hear it happen to anyone else!

 

It might age well, early on in my brewing I made up a barleywine that go a bit too hot, but for whatever reason I kept the bottles around

after ~3yrs the fusels had faded, and caramel and butterscotch flavors dominated (oxidation) but good none the less

 

My only drain pour was a vanilla bean and coffee RIS that got up to 85 during fermentation (Batch 6 of 68 in my 2.5 years of brewing). It never mellowed and tasted like rocket fuel... If you're unhappy with it, dump it. The wort was free, and although a lb of wasted Citra hops hurts, its not nearly as bad as instant headaches from drinking fusel laden beer (This is coming from a guy that suffers from migraines, FWIW).

 

That sucks. I say take a bath in it. I've always kinda wanted to do that.

 

It is possible for fusel alcohols to convert to esters over a period of time. From Homebrewing by Al Korzonas:

“During aging, these higher alcohols will estrify in the presence of yeast and acids and create fruity flavors. The solution therefore is further conditioning o the yeast. Some esterification can occur without the presence of yeast, but a small fraction of that done by yeast.”

I brewed a Saison a number of years ago where the fermentation temperature got too hot for that strain of yeast. After six months of bottle conditioning the beer was much improved. I aged some of those beers for over 2 years. The beer did slowly get better with more aging (i.e., one year of aging was a bit better than 6 months of aging).

I suspect that whether aging will ‘fix’ your problem is highly dependent on how much fusel alcohols were produced during your fermentation. Needless to say but for a DIPA the hops will be very faded with extended aging and the beer will be more like a Barleywine style.

Cheers!

 

not to make you waste more hops - but since its a DIPA, any chance you can dry hop the shit out of it and salvage it?

 

I saved a citra DIPA by dry hopping the shit out of it. Fermentation got way too warm and the fusels and esters were awful, I was about to dump it when I tried a Flat Tail IPA and thought "if they bottle this shit then I might as well"

dumped 6 oz of dry hops in including 1oz of Magnums and now the beer is sorta drinkable, still not good however, but drinkable.

 

Sunk cost. Dump it.

 

that sucks, sorry man. I get the worst headaches from fusels and would be right there with ya in dumping it.

I think occasional issues with bottle conditioning the Fullers strain are the only times I've dumped a batch.

 

I saw this on an episode of Brewmasters. The 120-Minute drain pour.

 

What about trying to turn it into malt vinegar? you could sell it on etsy?

 

I'd say the headaches are the deal breaker here. I've drank beers that didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, and I'll put up with some minor off flavors, but I wouldn't put up with headaches, which I'd say are a pretty good indication that this beer is doing your brain cells no good.

I'll put up with a lot in support of my brewing habit, but I'm not willing to brain my damage.

 

I made a DIPA and an IPA in the same day a little while back. I've brewed tons of each, all with good success. This time, however, my IPA got oxidized at some point and it kicked in while in the keg. I am really succeptable to this off flavor and aroma, especially in an IPA. I poured about 4 gallons of it out and cleaned the keg. It hurt, but it had to be done. I wasnt up to par and was never going to get drank by me. Shit loads of hops and money down the drain.

The DIPA was fine. Not sure how it happened as I'm the most OCD CO2 purger in the world.

Sorry for the loss, but I can definitely relate.

 

I would consider bottling it and aging it for a few years. Maybe a little time on some Oak, then bottle. In 2 years you may have 3+ cases of a great Barrel Aged Barleywine or a drain pour... you've already got the drain pour, so what's to lose?

 

If you're not hung up on legalities, you could distill it. It would be a good idea to discard the first and last 15% or so of distillate to get rid of the toxic headache inducers. Note that freeze distillation won't get rid of the nasty stuff. Really, dumping it is probably the best option. It's taking up carboy space that could be fermenting something nice.

 

Time & (a little) money.

 

I'm pretty sensitive to fusel alcohols myself. I recently drain poured all but the first few sips of an expensive bomber because I got an instant headache from it. You know the saying: life is too short to drink bad beer? All this nonsense about saving a beer, waiting it out to make the best of it, etc? Forget about it.

If I brew a beer that I don't think I'm going to like, I'll dump it. Otherwise I'm gambling, and I don't like my odds. I have two kegs. If I keep a risky beer in one for a long time, hoping it will get better, I'm giving up the opportunity to brew and drink other beers. If I bottle it, I'm gambling that the time it takes to bottle will some day be worth it. But the odds of a bad beer getting substantially better over time are probably pretty low.