Drain pour. Ouch. That is the only thing I can say on how I feel. It hurt. I just dumped the remainder of an experimental home brew from a few years ago. Why do we sometimes strike out?
Drain Pour #2
This batch of Super Witty Vital Tango was the second experimental beer 3 gallon batch I made with a local non-carbonated energy drink. It was a tangerine wheat beer with a major caffeine kick. During the fermentation, I had several blowouts, had to transfer to a new carboy, many messes to clean up, and probably over taxed the yeast. With an abv of over 10% and no starter used, I probably simply killed the vitality of the yeast. It never carbonated. I kept opening bottles over the last two years every once in a while to see if anything changed. Nope. Today, I dumped all the remaining bottles. I ripped off that band-aid and let go. The kitchen smells a bit strong right now…. Lesson learned from this one? Make yeast starters. Pick a robust yeast.
Drain Pour #1
Another batch that I had to drain pour years ago was the only other one. It was my FIRST five gallon batch. It was a red ale. Plain and simple, I missed something in the sanitation arena. The first bottle I opened tasted horrible. It was a vinegar taste…soured….and that was not what the style was supposed to be. Some rogue bacteria made it’s way in. I may not have sanitized my bottles enough. There may have been something with my fermenter. Not sure. I am just glad that not another full 5 gallon batch has headed south. Lesson learned from this one? SANITIZE, SANITIZE, SANITIZE! I send all my bottles through a sanitation cycle in the dishwasher, high temp wash and dry. I soak all my tubing and containers longer than what is really needed. I soak the bottling caps while bottling before capping.
Have you ever had to do a homebrew drain pour? Leave a comment below about it. Help others with your defeats!
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