Defining "Sour"

12pups

Lifer

Feb 9, 2014

1,063

2

Minnesota

• Mar 10, 2014

• #1

A few have written they sweeten their pipes weekly. One guy wrote he did it after a single bowl (rotation was that big). He set it aside for weekly cleaning and sweetening. But another wrote, "I've smoked the same pipe for years. Don't know what you'r talking about, 'sour.' Pipe ever goes 'sour' on me, I'm not smoking it again."
I'm wondering if there is variety in how "sour" manifests itself to an individual, or in an individual pipe, even.
Someone once wrote in a forum here, "Tastes like a dirty sock."
What is the signal that a pipe has gone sour? Just lack of its previous pleasantness? Or something that, when you describe it, everyone nods and says, "That's it, exactly!"
Other than, "You'll know it when it happens" -- can anyone put it words or compare it to something? That moment when you recognize, "Whoap. This pipe's gone sour."

 

cosmicfolklore

Lifer

Aug 9, 2013

33,977

75,654

Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC

• Mar 10, 2014

• #2

sniff it, if it smells sour, it's sour. Not a big deal or anything worth losing sleep over, just clean it when it sours.

 

pipenscotch

Starting to Get Obsessed

Jul 19, 2012

116

0

• Mar 10, 2014

• #3

sniff it, if it smells sour, it's sour. Not a big deal or anything worth losing sleep over, just clean it when it sours.

Click to expand...

+1 cosmic. I find it really depends on everyone's personal taste. Some will realize right away that their pipe tastes a little different, while others can't until it gets really bad, some won't even notice or care at all. If you think it tastes or smells different, give it a thorough cleaning, that's the best way to do it. The nose knows!

 

seagullplayer

Part of the Furniture Now

Jan 30, 2014

500

129

Indiana

• Mar 10, 2014

• #4

When something starts to smell and taste like an ash tray, it is.

 

aquilas

Starting to Get Obsessed

Dec 3, 2013

212

1

• Mar 10, 2014

• #5

While you're smoking, if you notice an off taste that makes you squish your face together, then you know the pipe has gone sour.

 

apatim

Can't Leave

Feb 17, 2014

497

0

Jacksonville, FL

• Mar 10, 2014

• #6

Hmmm... if someone told me their pipe tastes like a dirty sock, I would have to seriously question their dietary habits. ;-)

 

cortezattic

Lifer

Nov 19, 2009

15,147

7,638

Chicago, IL

• Mar 10, 2014

• #7

I've never had a pipe taste sour in the sense that vinegar or lemon is sour. I think the term sour just means "gone bad".

I know that my pipes need a cleaning when they start developing an acrid taste -- like an ashtray smells, as Seagullplayer said.

 

bryanf

Part of the Furniture Now

Jul 16, 2013

742

8

• Mar 10, 2014

• #8

I've had a pipe go sour. It's a pipe I have (and love) that has the mortise drilled about .800 too deep. This causes a moisture chamber. If I were to disassemble and wipe it out each time, it probably wouldn't have soured.
Anyhow, it went sour. Smelled and tasted like crap. I cleaned it out with alcohol, let it sit for a week, and tasted great again. Very simple problem to solve.
I smoked it daily for years, before it went sour, so it took a very long time to happen. Now, I only smoke a few bowls out of it per week as I am a lazy bastud when it comes to my pipes.
I have actually scribed the pipe, and was about to take a hacksaw and shorten the stem by the .800 so the mortise and tenon mated properly, but I just couldn't do it....I like the looks too much!

 

S

slightlywittynickname

Lurker

Mar 3, 2014

24

0

• Mar 10, 2014

• #9

I got a finnish friend and finns are very straight to the point kind of people. They call it 'spitting piss' when the pipe goes sour and then you get an idea what its like. Just keeep it dlean a give it a rest once in a while and there shouldnt be any problems.

 

adam2

Might Stick Around

Jun 8, 2013

69

0

• Mar 10, 2014

• #10

What is the signal that a pipe has gone sour?

Click to expand...

When the birds start falling from the sky

 

latbomber

Part of the Furniture Now

May 10, 2013

570

4

• Mar 10, 2014

• #11

Had my workhorse Peterson go sour after a year of just pipe cleaners. Pulled it apart and it was nasty! A good clean and it was back to great smoking again though.

 

phil67

Lifer

Dec 14, 2013

2,052

7

• Mar 10, 2014

• #12

As others have so aptly explained... you'll know it when it happens. Bottom line, if it just doesn't taste right, as in foul, musty, etc. then simply clean the pipe. Better yet... preventative maintenance is better served to avoid the so called 'sour' taste. Either way, and as I said, you'll most definitely know when and if it should happen.

 

F

frozenchurchwarden

Lifer

Mar 1, 2014

3,647

4,916

• Mar 12, 2014

• #13

I think my pipe went sour after the first smoke (didn't clean it quite properly). It actually had a bitter flavour on both the stem itself and a little in the air you draw through it.

I've been rinsing it out after using the pipe cleaner ever since, the fishtail bit on that pipe is too small at the end to accept a pipe cleaner and going from the other end you can only clean the middle. I have a feeling there was stuff building up in the corners of the bit.

I don't actually view this as a downside since it looks like Vauen actually has the air path widen fairly early in the stem, which is good because that means the air stream will actually be flat by the time it gets in your mouth, as opposed to other bits that just have a slice taken out of the end of what would otherwise just be a small round hole.