Have you ever tasted a beer that was so bad you just couldn’t finish it?
Really, we want to know…what was it? Go further if you can. What, in your opinion, makes a beer “sink worthy?” Or are you one of those as-long-as-there’s-alcohol-in-it-I’ll-drink-it-even-if-it-tastes-like-urine beer drinkers.
Don’t get me wrong. I can drink a lot of so called “undesirable” beer. If I go to a Catholic festival here in town and all they have to offer is Budweiser, well then Budweiser it is. None-the-less I can think of two beers that met there doom in my kitchen sink rather than my stomach.
One night, shortly after we were married, my sweet, dear, well intentioned wife came home with a six pack of Ice House. (really…if you have to put a sexy girl in a miniskirt on the front page of your website, the beer is obviously incapable of selling itself) Even though I wasn’t quite the beer geek I am now, I was skeptical. I popped one open, and could only force down half. I gave the remaining five to my friend Andrew, who, while preferring tastier beer, will drink just about everything. The other was Buckeye Beer. Brewed here in Toledo, Ohio. I was excited to try it because it is brewed about five miles from my house, and is a local favorite. Unfortunately, it wrinkled my face. My wife, who has become quite the beer connoisseur, agreed…sink worthy.
For a beer to sink worthy for me, it has too:
- Taste gross (in general)
- Lack any typical beer qualities (both the beers above lacked any real bear qualities described in Mike’s What’s In Your Beer Series
- Have an overwhelming chemical (preservative) flavor
- Be brewed by Satanists
Just kidding on that last one.
Leave us a comment on this one. In the past, what beers have you been unable to finish?
Coors light is rat pee.
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even a bad beer can redeem itself in recipe or something
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You’re right Vince, a bad beer can easily find its way into chili, beer can chicken, or marinade as a tenderizer. Still, the metaphor of it being sink worthy sticks. I think that really sad question that logic leads us to ask is, “why it is brewed or still being brewed at all.” The even sadder answer is that there continues to be a demand for beer X or Y.
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Well said Dave…well said.
I’ll disagree (respectfully) Vince. I love cooking. In my experience, the better quality and flavor of the initial ingredients the better. I wouldn’t put Ice House in even a greasy batch of beer battered shrimp.
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Anyone who’s ever contaminated a batch of homebrew has had plenty of time to reflect while they sat on the throne and paid the ultimate price, in beer speak, for their sloppy efforts. Now there’s a marketable product; a sanitary, full-proof way to get the post-wert brew process completed and bottled or kegged before you invite unwanted organisms to take up residence in your drink.
You down with dlc?
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This was a tough one to think about. While I’m not one to drink anything, I’ve learned to choose my beer more carefully and tend to avoid styles that I might not enjoy so much. In the last year or whatever I’ve been reviewing, not one went down the drain.
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I’ve made it a year too Scott. The Buckeye Beer was bought for a novelty a couple of years ago. I used to buy only beer whose style I preferred. I have been trying to stretch my palette all around though, not even with beer. My palette will never accommodate the beers referenced in this post though!
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I’ve had two beers that I’ve considered sink worthy (2 out of 600 ain’t bad). One was a beer called Toleration and the other was Farson’s Lacto. I hated both of them with a passion.
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Anything coffee stout can be thrown out! Also I’m not a blue moon or shinerback fan taste like silly putty to me!
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Jason,
As far as coffee stouts go, I’m not usually a big fan. However, coffee and dark grains are roasted in very similar fashion…so I can see the two complementing each other. I think there is a difference in not liking something and it being poorly done. For instance, Shiner Bock is a variation on German Bock beers. Many people love Bocks but not Shiner Bock. Additionally, many people love a good Belgian White (Wit) but not Blue Moon. So, I think that speaking this way about Coffee Stouts as a general category is a little jaded. One can admit that something it is not preferable but still well made. In other words, saying that you don’t like something and that it is sink worthy are two quite different things. This is just my humble opinion.
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Jason,
I am not a fan of blue moon either. Shiner bock makes me want to hurl too. I dig coffee stouts though.
I did get your message in time before I headed up to Panerra. Let’s try again next week. I am stoked you stopped by my site!!!!!!
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leinenkugel sunset wheat and boulevard’s zon. disgusting!
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I know that we spoke about this last night, but I agree on the leinenkugel sunset wheat. I posted a review about their berry-weisse too.
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I kinda liked the Sunset Wheat! Anyway, just had to stop by to comment about my first sink-worthy beer since I started drinking beer semi-seriously.
Jamaica Stout. Smelled and looked OK, but I just could not finish it. I try to drink the entire beer before reviewing it and I’ve been able to do that until I had this one. Blech.
http://thebrewclub.com/2009/03/30/jamaica-stout-a-beer-review/
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Hopefully a Bourbon County Stout can get that taste out of your mouth. with the Sunset Wheat…on a hot (and rare) day I will drink one, but it is really rare that I can stand to drink a whole one. However, I can’t hate on a brother for liking a beer when I don’t.
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Hey scott! I read the review of Jamaica Stout. I haven’t tried it yet. I had a pretty crappy stout tonight myself: Harpoon’s Munich Type Dark. I was able to finish it. Just the other day I poured a pretty crappy beer down the drain. I tried to finish it, but just couldn’t. It was Rogue’s Santa’s Special reserve. It tasted like a hopped up odouls.
I am gonna search out the Jamaica Stout, but I’ll just buy a single to play it safe.
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