How many batches have you tossed?

Gunny1775

Gunny1775

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So I'm fairly new to BIAB brewing. I just brewed my 3rd batch this past weekend. Its a California Lager from Northern brewer. I used the dry yeast S-05 option since I live in the Devils armpit here in Yuma Arizona. I made a newbie mistake and re-hydrated the yeast too early (shortly after mash in, prior to boil). I pitched anyway in hopes that the yeast didn't starve and would go to work. I"m now about 72 hours into the ferment and so far ZERO activity in the airlock. I made the bad decision to put the wort in a bucket for primary fermentation instead of my Bubbler (saving for secondary, buying another bubbler on payday) so I can't see any activation. Homebrew store doesn't open until tomorrow so I'm waiting to pop a peak when I have another packet of yeast just in case i have to re-pitch. It got me thinking, I wonder if I have to toss this batch to do what ever other newbie mistake I may make, which in turn I chased a squirrel to the question "I wonder how many, on average, the home brewers in America and abroad of brew have we tossed"? Late night squirrel chasing with a glass of scotch lol.
 
Tossed 1 batch in last 2 years , had evicted a housemate and found lid on bucket in a slightly different position so tossed it ...also replaced my toothbrush o_O .

had a few batches not quite right but choked them down as a lesson to myself .

As for the no activity in airlock it does not mean fermentation hasnt started , if in any doubt take a hydrometer sample
 
Mark D Pirate said:
Tossed 1 batch in last 2 years , had evicted a housemate and found lid on bucket in a slightly different position so tossed it ...also replaced my toothbrush o_O .

had a few batches not quite right but choked them down as a lesson to myself .

As for the no activity in airlock it does not mean fermentation hasnt started , if in any doubt take a hydrometer sample
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Yea, I"m going to wait until tomorrow when I can get an extra pack of yeast. Just in case. Then I'm gonna take my sample
 
Your yeast is fine. It's working. Leave the bucket alone. Your beer will be fine, assuming that it's fermenting at a reasonable temperature.
I threw out a batch once that had sat in secondary too long and gotten a scummy skin on the top of it but it would have made a fine beer if I'd left it longer and let the lacto or brett do it's work. When you're bottling things can go bad in the carbonation/conditioning phase, but if you keg you can catch things before any stray organisms make the beer taste off and keg, force carb and chill.
 
I threw out a batch just yesterday it was my porter i brewed awhile back i racked it ontop of 4 lt of starsan i just couldnt bring myself to drink it:oops: especially when ive got a delish choc coffee stout to take its place in that keg:).

As that beatles dude said LET IT Be Let it be you will find the answer Let it bee ee ee eeeeee! That your brew that is lol:D.
 
Never tossed a batch. Any chance your bucket isn't sealed well and the co2 is escaping around the lid instead of the airlock.
 
I've tossed two through the years of brewing: One because I believed frozen strawberries are sanitary (they aren't) and another because too much hop mass in contact with the beer for too long made it taste like onion soup. But I can generally get people to drink what I'd call a marginal beer (I'm a picky old SOB when it comes to my beer, particularly my own beer) so I rarely throw anything out. And if I do, I have some friends who distill, they'll take every gallon I can produce, bad or not.

Your yeast is likely fine. Or let me put it another way: Rehydrating early didn't harm it significantly. It won't starve in a few hours. Take a gravity reading (or just look at the sample - if it's bubbling, it's fermenting). The seals on buckets are notoriously leaky and if you're leaking gas, you won't see anything in the airlock. My bet is your beer is doing fine.
 
What was your wort temp when you pitched the yeast?
 
oddly enough, the one batch i fully dumped also had frozen strawberry in it. not sure what went wrong, but it tasted nasty after a few weeks in the bottle.

i did have to choke down a braggot i made a while back. i used hibiscus (i believe) and left it in for way to long in the secondary. Sooo astringent. But it was strong enough that after half a bottle (I used mostly 22 oz bottles) you kinda forgot about it
 
I’ve had my share of dumped batches but I’ve been brewing along time but only because of badly stored hops this last time, 3 10-gallon batches, for many years I was proud of only dumping one batch of badly oxygenated beer, I can fix anything mildly off but lately I’ve been blessed with a perfect routine and equipment that insures great tasting beer
 
If you have brewing a while you will eventually brew a bad one, s@#t happens. I have dumped my share and then some. It's not a complete waste if you learn something from it.

I have been at many home brew club meetings where someone brings in a beer for others to taste that they are happy with that should have been dumped.

It's okay, let it go, set it free and dump it. It will go back to mother earth and fertilize the next harvest of barley, giving you a second chance to redeem yourself.
 
Albeit only a dozen brews to date, haven't had to dump any yet. The Gruit could have been dumped as I just didnt care for the style, but my wife liked it. So... Nope, no dumped beers yet (knock on wood).
 
Hey and the tomatoes love that beer I bet hops would too and strange thing is my chooks love to get into my trub :eek: yep anywhere I swill and dump my fermentor their onto it like flies on the perverbial :p.

Last brew they knocked em selves out on cocoa nibs and coffee in the trub and they love beer too....
 
J A said:
Your yeast is fine. It's working. Leave the bucket alone. Your beer will be fine, assuming that it's fermenting at a reasonable temperature.
I threw out a batch once that had sat in secondary too long and gotten a scummy skin on the top of it but it would have made a fine beer if I'd left it longer and let the lacto or brett do it's work. When you're bottling things can go bad in the carbonation/conditioning phase, but if you keg you can catch things before any stray organisms make the beer taste off and keg, force carb and chill.
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That's a big problem I have. I tend to get over paranoid.
 
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BoomerBrian said:
Never tossed a batch. Any chance your bucket isn't sealed well and the co2 is escaping around the lid instead of the airlock.
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That's what I'm beginning to think. This afternoon i was pushing on my lid to make sure it was sealed and I started to get "the bubbles" (trying to quote Beer Fest). I stopped pushing, no bubbles.
 
Nosybear said:
I've tossed two through the years of brewing: One because I believed frozen strawberries are sanitary (they aren't) and another because too much hop mass in contact with the beer for too long made it taste like onion soup. But I can generally get people to drink what I'd call a marginal beer (I'm a picky old SOB when it comes to my beer, particularly my own beer) so I rarely throw anything out. And if I do, I have some friends who distill, they'll take every gallon I can produce, bad or not.

Your yeast is likely fine. Or let me put it another way: Rehydrating early didn't harm it significantly. It won't starve in a few hours. Take a gravity reading (or just look at the sample - if it's bubbling, it's fermenting). The seals on buckets are notoriously leaky and if you're leaking gas, you won't see anything in the airlock. My bet is your beer is doing fine.
Click to expand...
I'll probably take a gravity reading when I transfer to secondary next weekend and see where I'm at.
 
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I usually pitch my 05 on 65-70 degree wort and ferment at 66.
 
Gunny1775 said:
That's what I'm beginning to think. This afternoon i was pushing on my lid to make sure it was sealed and I started to get "the bubbles" (trying to quote Beer Fest). I stopped pushing, no bubbles.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem the other. I started fermenting in a keg and wasn't getting any bubbles in the blow off but could smell beer when I opened my fermentation chamber. Put a little co2 on it and found a leak in the lid. Replaced the gasket and all is good.
 
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