How Often do Brwers Dump Beer

I know a brewpub that had an infected beer that tasted of butterscotch. It was so popular they marketed it as a butter beer and continue to make a similar tasting beer to this day.

Originally posted by 3fourths
not as often as they should!

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/de-dolle-evil-arabier/394329/

Originally posted by lithy
The one most recently (only a couple months ago) was due to a milling issue where a cellarman used caramunich in place of munich malt for a dunkel. Suffice to say, 40% cara malt was not going to taste much like a dunkel. Wort was dumped before it left the brewhouse.

We are currently brewing about 15 batches/week. In the past 5 years we have dumped a total of 4 batches. 2x 15 bbl, 1x 30 bbl, 1x 60 bbl. We have had to dump wort 3 times. Shit happens and the the good brewers dump it. Solenoids stick open, phosphoric acid dosing pumps get left unprimed, and yeah... infections do happen.

To answer the original question though, not often enough.

Not nearly enough.

I toured an AB plant in Georgia, they said their total loss front to back was only 4.2%, which is amazing and something to aspire to.

Most craft brewers will lose about 4-7% hotside, depending on the amount of hops used. Then another 4-10% in the cellar, meaning transfer to brite tank or filtration. Then another 3-15% in packaging, depending on the efficiency of the machine used.

In terms of straight dumping beer to the ground for infection or other issues, I have only seen it happen three times in my time at breweries, about 5 years professionally now. Once because a non food-grade sealant was used to plug a hole in a wood barrel, once because of infected barrels to the point that they could not even be blended, and once because of a lacto infection from fruit puree that was not aseptic. The latter was the most detrimental, 1100 BBLs down the drain.

Interesting topic. Often wondered this myself. Does QC make this decision? Are loses covered by insurance? Do you do a double batch to make up for the loss? Does FDA have to be notified?

Usually QA/QC is indeed making the decision. A certain amount is indeed covered by insurance; the stuff you straight up dump and any out of date returned beer within reason is usually covered, but the other loss just comes with cost or business. Not sure on the FDA, but perhaps waste water management.

Originally posted by 3fourths
not as often as they should!

My brother is a brewer at a well known CA brewery....he has often times told me that whenever a beer doesnt turn out like you expect, just rename it.

Greg