Blending beer... anyone done it?

[peteplus1]

Just wondered if this was something anyone has tried? I asked because I've made 2 batches of Amarillo pale. The first one I got wrong (in terms of volume/strength). It's going to be way too hefty in abv for a simple pale (probably about 8%). So I knocked up a second which will hopefully be a bit more like what I was aiming for, coming in at the 5% mark .
When they have both finished their respective fermentations would it be possible to blend them together to combine to make one Amarillo pale ? Or is this a ridiculous idea full of pitfalls?

 

[MyQul]

We've had a couple of threads on the topic

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=57844&highlight=blending

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=59978&highlight=blending

 

[Brewdoug]

One problem is if your second brew turns out good do you really want to risk ruining it?

 

[MyQul]

One problem is if your second brew turns out good do you really want to risk ruining it?

You could do it in the glass. Bottle everything, then just open two bottles of the the respective beer to be blended and pour half a bottle each in a pint glass. I've done that.

 

[TheRedDarren]

To be honest if you're not happy with the beer you made at 8% I'd either put it away for a few years in the shed or bin it.
I made a Belgian blonde about 6/8 months back when I bought my mill, after milling my own grains my efficiency jumped right up and instead of. 6.5% brew it came out at 8%... It wasn't the best tasting brew either and I had a choice, bin it or shelve it. It's now come good (relatively speaking) and I occasionally crack one open.
The brew before this I knocked up a dubbel and also shelved it in the hope it would improve (bad recipe design), after 8 months ish it wasn't great so I binned it...
Bad beer takes up valuable space and life is too short for bad beer!

What I'm trying to say is don't bother blending to try and correct a bad brew, either bin it or shelve it for an experiment. You'll have learned from your mistakes so it's still been valuable.
Unfortunately with a high gravity brew you can't have a few nice beers then session with it, high gravity imo are for savouring one or two a night every now and then.

 

[GHW]

Just wondered if this was something anyone has tried? I asked because I've made 2 batches of Amarillo pale. The first one I got wrong (in terms of volume/strength). It's going to be way too hefty in abv for a simple pale (probably about 8%). So I knocked up a second which will hopefully be a bit more like what I was aiming for, coming in at the 5% mark .
When they have both finished their respective fermentations would it be possible to blend them together to combine to make one Amarillo pale ? Or is this a ridiculous idea full of pitfalls?

I did this pretty much for the reasons you're considering it. I made the hbc English pale I won, but it clocked in at over 6%, too strong for my taste. I just wasn't drinking it, so starting mixing it with my boddingtons which was 3.8% the resulting beer was a lovely pale at about 5%

Though the bodies was lovely on its own so I've still ended up with half a pub full of the hbc pale.

I'd do as myqul suggests and mix in the glass. Of course you'll need to drink two, but hey...

 

[peteplus1]

Just to add to the dilema of chucking, shelving or blending in the glass, the brew was supposed to be towards a street party in July! Guess I could stick with the 2nd brew if it turns out ok and pass that around. Shelve the 8%er and let it sit to see how it turns out later in the year. The trials and tribulations of the homebrewer eh?. ☺

 

[nigelnorris]

Nearest I get is using cider that's turned out dry to make snakebite.