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It seems like my latest batch of homebrew has gone wrong 🙁 It's supposed to be a strong(ish, 5.3%) ESB, it's been in bottles for three weeks and I tried one on Saturday and it's minging. I know it's a bit early conditioning-wise, but I'm pretty sure it's not that it's not ready, it's that it's had an infection get into it somewhere along the line.
So, other than pour all 40 bottles down the drain, is there anything I can do with it, or some of it?
Work christmas party?
As above, give it to someone you hate, what else could you do with it?!
Just make sure you clean everything scrupulously before you brew the next batch!!
Compost heap accelerant. If you haven't got one, maybe the local allotments society would appreciate it. Mmm, beer.
Sell it as some sort of Kombucha thing, folk will guzzle it to boost their gut health etc while ignoring that it tastes of aged cat sick.
Drain pour
Industrial slug catcher !
Just make sure you clean everything scrupulously before you brew the next batch!!
Yeah, deffo. I have a sneaky feeling I know when/how it happened too, grrr.
distill it into off-beer moonshine?
I have a sneaky feeling I know when/how it happened too, grrr.
You might be grrring, but that's infinitely better than not knowing how it happened.
Label it as Heineken.
Make 40 litres of shandy or is it that bad?
Drain disinfectant or toilet deodouriser?
Send it to Iggy Pop ,he gargles with stuff like that.
You might be grrring, but that’s infinitely better than not knowing how it happened.
Oh aye, it's more of a self-aimed grrr as, if it's what/when I think it is, I thought at the time "that was a bit of a stupid thing to do".
But yeah, live and learn.
Label it as Heineken.
Tennents Super maybe.
Secret Santa ?
Add wheatgrass and sell it as a weight loss drug.
Get it canned, make up a ****y name for it and sell it to hipsters for £6 a can.
We made about 10l of alcoholic water last year. You could use it to make alcoholic squash. In the end, we just tried sterilising our drains with it.
It might not be that bad.......
Stick it somewhere warm (really warm. Like the airing cupboard, but in a box so it doesnt go everywhere if it explodes) for a week. That way the yeast can churn through the bulk of any off flavours and then you'll know if its a lack of conditioning or infected. This time of year if you put it in the shed to condition the yeast will just go to sleep.
Worst case bacteria love warm temps more than yeast, so if it tastes even worse in a week then you know what the problem is.
Stick it somewhere warm (really warm. Like the airing cupboard, but in a box so it doesnt go everywhere if it explodes) for a week. That way the yeast can churn through the bulk of any off flavours and then you’ll know if its a lack of conditioning or infected. This time of year if you put it in the shed to condition the yeast will just go to sleep.
Worst case bacteria love warm temps more than yeast, so if it tastes even worse in a week then you know what the problem is.
Like how warm? I have all the bottles in a temp-controlled brewfridge at the moment, so I can stick it at whatever degC and leave it. The yeast was a 20degC fermentation temp, it had the best part of a month at that in the bucket cos we went away and I didn't get a chance to bottle it, and it did the first week or so in the bottles at that temp too to carbonate.
It tasted okay when I bottled it (at least I thought so, the Mrs wasn't so sure), but I had two sips of the bottled stuff at the weekend and it was pretty horrible. I do sort of wonder if its because it's pretty strong, so needs much more conditioning to mellow a bit (I had a bottle of Bishops Tipple at the weekend, which I guess would be similar in style, and that had a similar flavour but without the mingyness).
Use Clip Art to create a 'modern art' type label, bottle it up and sell it to men who wear half-mast trousers with no socks for £8 a pop.
Or market it as a 'taking the waters' type purgative and sell it to girlfriends of men who wear half-mast trousers with no socks for £8 a pop.
Use as a chain cleaner/degreaser 😊
Like how warm?
25C-30C.
The reason for low temps during fermentation is to minimize the stress on the yeast and thus off flavors and it favors the yeast over any bacteria that get in. By this stage though there's little sugar left to turn into off flavors so not much to loose by warming it up as long as you don't go so warm it kills the yeast (33C+). Long term it won't do it any favors but for a week it'll be fine.
I've brewed some horribly rank beers that this has saved.
OTOH, maybe it's infected.
Could be worse, I had to empty 60 bottles of elderflower champagne that were supposed to be for a wedding. Some hadn't conditioned, others just tasted weak and Pippin with a funny aftertaste (not enough elderflower). Cost me £350 in Aldi organic Prosecco to replace it (which is actually really quite nice!).
My teenage son polished off all of my ropey homebrew
Just pour it away, lifes to short to mess around with rotten beer.
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2019/08/brains-brewery-pours-away-thousands-of-pints-of-beer/
Ahem distill it 😉
JeZ
Tie it up and give it to In Laws at Xmas in a glass, while you enjoy a tasty beer of similar colour from a glass. 😉
Pour it on any cats that poo in your garden
Ask yourself why its minging - i have found that rubbery off flavours do not tend to fade, but some do....
10ml of Canesten per litre should sort it out
Right, well, I whacked the temp in the brewfridge up to 28degC last night, so I'll leave it all in there a week and see.
UPDATE
It might not be that bad…….
Stick it somewhere warm (really warm. Like the airing cupboard, but in a box so it doesnt go everywhere if it explodes) for a week. That way the yeast can churn through the bulk of any off flavours and then you’ll know if its a lack of conditioning or infected.
You, sir, are a motherfunking hero! It's been in for a week at between 25-28degc and it is TRANSFORMED. What was a minging brew is now a really tasty strong winter ale.
I owe you a bottle 🙂
Was going to suggest living a week in the life of Viz's 8 Ace.
But...result!
Sweet!
I love this place.
(Usually.)
Just stick in some BrewDog bottles, no will notice the difference.