I've always thrown it away, or at least cut off the brown.

But from an Internet search, it seems it's just getting ready to flower and is okay to eat... unless like you say, it's turned bitter.

https://www.eatortoss.com/single-post/2018/03/15/Hey-bud-this-brown-broccoli-is-about-to-flower

I've got broccoli coming in a curbside order tomorrow so I'll see how it looks.

The few times I've successfully grown it, I would have suspected brown spots were caused by it getting a bit overly mature. That or maybe excessively warm weather making it go to seed early? I'm guessing though.

I've grown lots of broccoli. The brown spots are spoilage, not flowering. Buds elongate and stems stretch out when it's getting ready to flower. IMPE, they get sweeter, not bitter.

It's a pain, but you can trim that brown stuff off and the rest still should be OK, but needs to be used ASAP - preferably cooked.

IOW, I'm guessing that broccoli is old. Produce can be hard to get fresh these days as supply chains are disrupted and farms are having issues with getting their crops harvested.

It's weird. It started happening months before Covid, so it's not related to that. It's definitely rot or fungus of some sort, not the bud getting old or ready to flower. If it's just a single bud or 2 or 3 turning black/brown, I pinch that whole area out and the rest is okay. Most times -- yesterday the whole head tasted bitter, even far away from the spoiled areas.

Is it a problem in the fields where it's grown (where ever that is), or in the transport system? I wouldn't think anything's changed in the way my area stores handle it, because the problem occurs no matter where I buy it.

Maybe next time it happens I should take it to the store and ask the produce manager. That means I'll have to track which store I bought it from.

Managing Brown Bead and Hollow Stem in Broccoli

Maybe this will help?

Thanks ci_lantro, it might be "brown bead": Affected buds become necrotic, die, and dry up, and these flower buds easily detach from the head. The condition spreads throughout the head. Under wet conditions, the necrotic tissues can become an infection court for colonization by soft rot bacteria, leading to a rotting of the head.

Caused by higher temps especially in the five days before harvest. I hope global warming isn't responsible.

Great year of okra & peppers, lousy one for broccoli. NOAA has issued a La Nina watch so we may be in for a chilly winter.

My friend says old-timey ways are pointing to a cold snowy winter. A key one: plants are holding their flowers low down. I noticed earlier this year that my yellow daylily blooms were almost hidden by foliage, and now the ironweed is also blooming low down in its stalk. Not putting too much faith in it, but we shall see! :-)

When I used to have a vegetable garden, always grew broccoli in the fall and winter. I always considered it a cool weather crop.

I've gotten several heads that way . . look good until I start cutting it up and wow nasty!

thanks, Susan -- glad I'm not the only one!

Back when I grew broccoli I would purchase plants then cut the heads off when ready. I would leave the stalk because smaller florets would grow along it all summer then when it started to become cooler the florets would be larger than the summer ones. They were also much sweeter with a better flavor.

The small summer florets had a stronger taste and were good to add to dishes where flavor was wanted but not a large amount.