What could have happened?

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Byron

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So, last night I entered my first competition and needless to say the judges weren't keen on my beer and some of the notes were a little harsh.

My mates were keen to take the p*** and I asked for one of the spare bottles so they could try it. Upon tasting it it definitely didn't taste like what I'd brewed (or what one of my mates who'd tasted it remembered). Very bitter, plastic like and astringent.

I have one last bottle remaining so have cracked it open tonight and it's fine, just like I remembered.

So the question is what could have happened to my beer which I submitted for the comp? Transportation? Storage? Or just bad luck

It's a mystery to me. Any ideas?
 
They chilled the beer for serving and I don't. It was stored in bottles. It was brewed in Feb and I'd not had one for a while so wondered if it had just gone off or had a slow acting infection, but the fact that this last one is fine has thrown me.

I wasn't expecting to win or come close but also wasn't expecting a 10/50 from one of the judges!
 
I had a similar experience once, an ESB which I was fairly happy with and it scored a 15. I read the feedback and it sounded like a completely different beer, and I have no clue what happened.
 
Super bitter, plastic like, astringent, phenolic

And after tasting one of the others, they were right! But the one at home was fine
 
Super bitter, plastic like, astringent, phenolic

And after tasting one of the others, they were right! But the one at home was fine

Did they store it in the light?

One thing it could be was the cap wasn't on correctly. I recently had a few bottles from a small localish brewery. 2 of the 8 tasted rank and nothing like what they style, hops etc should taste like. The one thing in common was they were more or less flat, they weren't capped correctly. On enough to provent a leak but co2 escaped and thy went off.

Rang the brewer up and he is going to look at his capper.
 
No they were fine and carbonated.

My theory is the sediment in the bottle got churned up in transportation and they may have carried on moving them about a bit and the sludge has mixed in the beer. The beer was cloudier than normal too.
 
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