Hey Guys. I brewed a pretty bad 5 gallon batch of beer and it has just been sitting in the keg. I may have to dump it but am trying to avoid that. The issue with the beer it that it is overly hoppy/bitter. It is an American Wheat beer brewed entirely with columbus hops including dryhop. I thought it might mellow out with some conditioning time but not so much.
Could I brew another 5 gallon batch with the same grain bill and very little hops in attempt to blend with the bad batch? I honestly don’t know if I will make the effort to do this but was curious about others experience and advice.
You could also try buying some commercial examples of some styles that might that might make a good match with your beer, then blend them with a sample of your beer in varying proportions. If you find a particular beer/blend to be desireable, then you can plan to brew a batch similar to the commercial example used in the successful blend.
Something like a malty amber might make for a decent blend. An amber that borders on malty sweet (a style I don’t normally care for) might balance out that Columbus bite.
Definitely not being entered in a comp…haha. Thanks guys. I think buying a six pack of commercial beer and mixing it is probably the best/easiest idea. If it is still pretty bad at least the investiment is cheap and quick.
I think I will either need to choke down a few pints or dump a few to make space in the keg.
I got past the “I don’t want to dump any of my beer” stage pretty quick, and I’m much better for it. Sure, you could try to blend it, and you might even make a decent beer. But, wouldn’t you rather brew 5 gallons of something you want to brew instead of trying to fix something that’s broken? Otherwise you’ve just dedicated 2 brew days and batches to an iffy beer. Sounds like throwing good money after bad to me.
If you really want to try to “fix” that beer, I say dump the batch you have and rebrew a new version of the recipe that is closer to what you want. You’ll get a lot more out of it in the end.
You are right. I won’t waste the money/time in trying to brew something to blend it with. Blending with some commercial beer may be an option just to have 5 gallons around if I run low.
What possessed you to put Columbus in a wheat beer? :
I would consider mixing it, but the suggestion to dump it isn’t a bad one. I had to dump a batch, and while it hurt a little, in the end it was about $16 worth of ingredients and I’m not broke. Time counts for something, but again, I’m not broke for time either. After the little bit of sting, I just brewed another batch and moved on.
I was going for a cross between an American Wheat and an APA. Didn’t think 33 IBUs would be out of the question with only 2 oz of total hops used in the boil and 1/4 oz as bittering. I severely undershot my efficiency which didn’t help.
Your beer should lose quite a bit of that bitterness with extended conditioning. Forget about it for about six months then try a few and see how that works.
I once had a batch that didn’t quite live up to what I wanted. Debated dumping it. Then I decided to just put it into bottles. When someone came over I opened one up and said try this. First two said not to their taste. However, the third person just was coco over it. When they were ready to leave that night I asked them to help me carry something out to their car. After a few “No Way!” and “Really?” I got a big hug.
I still here about the great beer that I just gave them.
One man’s trash.
I just dumped a two-year old attempt at an American light lager. It had a weird bitterness that did not seem to be from the hops (all Perle IIRC). I tried extended conditioning, blending in the glass, etc. Simply did not like it. In the end, I needed the keg and there was only about two gallons left anyway.
It looked like great beer swirling down the drain, but I will not miss it.
Gonna try to let this condition in the keg as long as possible. If I need the keg and it is still tasting bad, I will dump it. Had a taste last night for the first time in a few days. Still bad but not as bad…haha
