Defining "Sour"

[12pups]

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]

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]

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.

+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]

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

 

[aquilas]

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]

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

 

[cortezattic]

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]

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!

 

[slightlywittynickname]

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]

What is the signal that a pipe has gone sour?

When the birds start falling from the sky

 

[latbomber]

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]

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.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

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.