extended time in the fermenter...any good still?

possessed_haemorrhage · Friday Sep 21, 2007 12:41 pm

G'day blokes,

I did a search on this but couldn't turn anything up.

I put down a brew quite a while ago now (15/07 to be exact), and I was wondering if this is still going to be alright? I racked it about 2 weeks after the initial date that it started. The reason its been so long is it was brewed at my fathers house who lives in another city and I haven't had time to bottle it while I've been back there.

So, will this be alright to bottle still?

Cheers

TommyH · Post by **TommyH** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 1:35 pm

Given that you have racked it, I would say why not go for it. Cant hurt to try and it may well be perfect.

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 1:54 pm

i reckon it'll be fine. it's not sitting on the primary trub anymore.

have a taste from the fermenter - if it's fine now, it'll be fine in the bottle

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 2:00 pm

I did the same thing once with an IPA- 3 months in 2ndary when I moved cities. It was fine, except there was no hops left in it. You may want to check that it still has flavour, and add some if you need to.

Noodles · Post by **Noodles** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 3:23 pm

I had a brew in the primary for 3 months, obviously not an ideal situation but it turned out fine, drank the last bottle last week. I'm with Keg, taste it and if it's ok bottle away.

warra48 · Post by **warra48** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 4:46 pm

It's no different than lagering, except at ambient temperatures. I'd say go for it, exactly as advised above.

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Friday Sep 21, 2007 5:09 pm

left a Tooheys lager 1kg LDME in the tub over a month
Lovely and clear tasted superb

possessed_haemorrhage · Saturday Sep 22, 2007 1:35 pm

Well I just had a smell and a taste of it, and the smell seems to be ok but the taste is a bit strange (appleish?). I might bottle it anyway, I don't want to have to chuck out a brew

ryan · Post by **ryan** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 1:52 pm

I`d bottle it. A bloke that posts on here had one for seven months in secondary and got away with it.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 1:59 pm

Yes, but that beer was very heavily hopped and high alcohol.

possessed_haemorrhage · Saturday Sep 22, 2007 2:02 pm

Well hopefully after it's bottled for a while it turns out alright. Wasting beer certainly sucks.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 2:22 pm

Better to bottle and find out than waste 20L of potentially good beer.

ryan · Post by **ryan** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 2:41 pm

What was this beer anyway, and what was in it?

possessed_haemorrhage · Saturday Sep 22, 2007 2:45 pm

It was a James Squire Amber Ale clone.

Recipe:
Muntons Premium Blonde Kit
1.5kg Liquid Amber Malt
250g Maltodextrin
Golden Cluster finishing hops tea bag
Safale Yeast

ryan · Post by **ryan** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 2:56 pm

Bottle away- you`d hate to waste ANY Muntons product.

possessed_haemorrhage · Saturday Sep 22, 2007 3:00 pm

haha true. I'll be bottling it in the next 10mins or so.

Thanks to all who replied.

possessed_haemorrhage · Saturday Sep 22, 2007 5:39 pm

Well I had more of a taste and smell of it while bottling earlier, and I don't hold high hopes this this brew. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope it wasn't a waste of time.

Boonie · Post by **Boonie** » Saturday Sep 22, 2007 6:50 pm

She'll be right

.

Getting it off the trub was the best thing you could do..I've had one or two go off because of too long in primary, some only 2.5 weeks old, but nil zilch zero have gone off after I have racked and left for a while.

Oh, and before anyone says it may have been an infection yada yada, the few I have left for too long in the primary, have all tasted the same (off flavour/aroma).ie no coincidence.

Cheers

Boonie

ps....Another benefit of racking

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Sunday Sep 23, 2007 12:57 am

possessed_haemorrhage wrote:Well I had more of a taste and smell of it while bottling earlier, and I don't hold high hopes this this brew. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope it wasn't a waste of time.

I doubt you could attribute any bad taste of the beer to the period it was left in the fermenter. As long as the fermenter was sanitised properly, for the last 3 months you have effectively had an airtight seal on the beer i.e like a sealed bottle. You've racked so I doubt there would be any off flavours caused by yeast. Bottle it and leave it a couple of months, you will be very surprised.

MOFO · Post by **MOFO** » Sunday Sep 23, 2007 4:52 pm

Im about to see what happens to a brew left in primary for 4 weeks... It is a cider, the airlock stopped activity about a week ago. My only concern is that it might be hard to carbonate it... but I reckon it shoudl taste OK - there is very little sediment on the bottom of the fermenter - nothing like a beer brew.