What's the most vile thing you have brewed?

[Deadhead]

So vile that you ended up dumping your bottles, emptying the keg, etc?

I'm a known regular to my local shop that sells some homebrew stuff, mostly winemaking and kit beer stuff, but I can get cleaners, caps, bottles, corks, wine enhancer, buckets, DME, etc from there, which is what I use them for, because their yeasts, extracts and few ingredients they have are on the shelf far too long for my liking. Case in point, they were getting rid of a whole bunch of beer kits for cheap prices because they were expired. One of the sales folks chucked me a pilsner kit that had expired for no cost at all.

At this stage, I wasn't an all grain brewer and I had only done two beer kits (loads of wine making though, which is why I was known at the shop at the time) and so I didn't know too much, but I gave it go. Bad idea!!
I don't think it was a great kit to start, but being expired, I'm sure it was worse. Fermented fine though, well I thought it had. Actaully had krausen within a day and gravities were okay. Following the kit instructions, I went into conditioning when it said to put it there, but the beer had a strangish green colour. Thought it needed a fair bit of conditioning, put into secondary carboy, conditioned for about a month and bottled it up. Had cleared mostly (definitley not pilsner clear, but ale cleared). Tasted it when I bottled and thought it was 'off' but couldn't quite tell how. Few months later, it had carbed okay, gave it a pour and went "YUCK"!!! Every bottle!! Had that wet dog/wet cardboard/something soggy and mouldy - oxidised or infection taste. I was good with sanitising from all my wine experience, but without any beer experience I couldn't save it. With my experience now, I may have been able to save that kit with better yeast and fermentation temperatures, but who knows. Maybe it was just a gross bag of extract.

What's the worst thing you've brewed?

 

[klaus]

I must say I never brewed anything vile in more than 20 years homebrew career on and off, kits and AG. Once even discovered a few bottles of pineapple lager (!) which were about five years old (!!). Tasted perfect. I try to keep things simple, don't worry too much about the science and stick with what works. I also use out of date kits and materials if they are available, again no issues really.

 

[VW911]

I've made some leek wine for my boss at work. (Long story...)

Can't bring myself to botttle it as it smells so vile!
Guess it'll just stay in the DJ for ever.
It looks really good, but smells like a dead arse...

 

[BeerCat]

I've dumped a few brews down the sink i dint really want to drink and was short of bottles. The worst though by a long show was the 50% Rauchmalz Pale Ale. Was like sipping on a bonfire.

 

[Robin54]

I must say I never brewed anything vile in more than 20 years homebrew career on and off, kits and AG. Once even discovered a few bottles of pineapple lager (!) which were about five years old (!!). Tasted perfect. I try to keep things simple, don't worry too much about the science and stick with what works. I also use out of date kits and materials if they are available, again no issues really.

Same here...never had a bad brew

 

[BeerCat]

I've made some leek wine for my boss at work. (Long story...)

Can't bring myself to botttle it as it smells so vile!
Guess it'll just stay in the DJ for ever.
It looks really good, but smells like a dead arse...

You've just reminded me i did a wine kit with half a jar of Madras Curry paste and a tube of minced garlic in years ago. Someone drank that though. Maybe bottle it to give away to someone you don't like much. :)

 

[Sandimas]

Had a series of infected brews last summer/autumn, all bottled, that had to go down the drain. The infections took some months to take hold, so the early bottles were drinkable, then they got a slightly off taste, and they finally had a :sick: taste. Found a few bottles at the back of the garage last week and, yep, they were horrible.

 

[YeastFace]

Peach Berliner Weisse. Smelt like death. And ****.
Binned the lot.

 

[GHW]

You've just reminded me i did a wine kit with half a jar of Madras Curry paste and a tube of minced garlic in years ago. Someone drank that though.

WTF?

Three I recall:

Student days: attempted a cider kit, made cider vinegar that wasn't even fit for salad dressing

Mid twenties: attempted a ginger beer (of the beer flavored with ginger variety), all the bottles burst in the kitchen, releasing their foul contents everywhere

Last year: attempted a ginger beer (of the alcoholic old Jamaica style). I think my description on the thread here was 'hot acid piss like a cat wth cystitis might do'. I wouldn't have wished it on my worst enemies.

 

[Covrich]

Only my first ever HB which was a milestone IPA kit, now to be fair from reviers I have read everyone has disliked it and said its not very nice at all.. My first HB was a bit mistake riddled and it was brewed a bit too high.. I think I made a not nice kit even worse.. it was a harsh aftertaste on it....

Still drank it though.. :lol:

 

[cornyandy]

I've had the odd one or two. firstly anything in the Dave line books (sorry but true). I had a lager that I tired to make but was vile however I do suspect that the lager malt was slack and not my fault. Also an extract brew. There was a company that produced a range of extracts and enhancers in tins I seem to remember it being "Morgan's" but I could be wrong I did a rice lager and ended up with something like a well known antiseptic. The only other ones were the few that were done after I dropped the plug into my enamel boiler and cracked off enough of the surface to reveal the metal underneath.

That's about it really

A

 

[FatCol]

Can't say I've produced anything vile, but my most disappointing kit was the Evil Dog Double IPA which was very poor. Considering these kits are circa £25 I would have expected better.

My crab, peanut, marmite and honey porter on the other hand, is a thing of beauty...:whistle:

FatCol

 

[dad_of_jon]

the worst thing i've ever brewed??


:hmm:


a fart!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

a fart!

I don't think anyone will beat that DoJ, for me it was Green Tea it may be good for you but it is :sick:

 

[dad_of_jon]

I don't think anyone will beat that DoJ, for me it was Green Tea it may be good for you but it is :sick:

true story alert:

a guy in my team at work had a taste for fruity & herbal teas.

one day I saw some green tea sachets in the kitchen.

I tried one.

shortly after my head was spinning, I felt very dizzy and sick. I've never felt that weird ever.

I mentioned some considerable time later once i'd recovered, to my tea loving colleague, to avoid the green tea sachets unless you want to experience a bizarre assault on your senses.

His reply - yeah, they made me feel strange so I fetched the rest into work.



I should explain that it's common practice to fetch stuff you don't get on with into the office, because one man's meat is another man's poison.

At least I don't THINK my colleague was trying to poison me. :lol:

 

[MyQul]

In my kit days I brewed a geordie winter warmer. Think I put some molasess in it as well. I must have brewed it too hot as it was fusil city. It was horrid. Still drank it though - I made it.I'm drinking it!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Orange wine, awful stuff, we finished 12 bottles as it was the first wine we ever made. (never again)

 

[GHW]

true story alert:

a guy in my team at work had a taste for fruity & herbal teas.

one day I saw some green tea sachets in the kitchen.

I tried one.

shortly after my head was spinning, I felt very dizzy and sick. I've never felt that weird ever.

I mentioned some considerable time later once i'd recovered, to my tea loving colleague, to avoid the green tea sachets unless you want to experience a bizarre assault on your senses.

His reply - yeah, they made me feel strange so I fetched the rest into work.



I should explain that it's common practice to fetch stuff you don't get on with into the office, because one man's meat is another man's poison.

At least I don't THINK my colleague was trying to poison me. :lol:

You sure it wasn't skunk?

 

[Notlaw]

You sure it wasn't skunk?

I remember trying to smoke tea back in my youth as someone said you could get off your **** on it. It did nowt and tasted like a teabag on fire.

 

[dad_of_jon]

You sure it wasn't skunk?

whatever it was it wasn't worth a repeat attempt!