August 24 I brewed 10 gals of my house IPA. On October 28 I kegged 5 gals and dry hopped it. It was really good, great body, bitterness and hop expression in both aroma and taste.
Around Thanksgiving I kegged the second 5 gals which had sat in the bucket on the yeast almost 4 months since brew day. So now almost a month later that second keg seems like it’s suffering from oxidation. It hasn’t cleared, has little to no aroma and tastes like bitter cardboard.
I’ve left beers sit on the cake in a glass carboy from 4-5 months before with no problems. Only time this bucket was opened was to rack to the keg and the airlock never dried out. I have no notes or memory of issues racking that might have caused excess exposure to 02 and I always purget he kegs with CO2 prior to kegging.
May have been too long for being in a bucket. After CO2 production ends the head space will soon equalize with the atmosphere through the airlock. Oxidation can occur more rapidly in a bucket versus a carboy because of the larger surface area.
I use buckets exclusively but would not leave a beer that long in the bucket. I probably wouldn’t leave it in a carboy neither. I secondary in kegs. No light no o2 no problem
You guys may remember I’ve just made the switch in the last year or so from glass carboys to buckets. As I said I’ve left beers in carboys much longer. I can understand a bucket is more porous to begin with and with wider lids that don’t seal as well as a rubber bung in glass…
Guess I have to adjust my process, aka, stop being so frickin’ lazy…I had available kegs just didn’t feel pressed to transfer it…
Sad note to put so much into brewing to end up with a stinker… I do like to primary ales in the plastic carboys…. Give it almost 3 weeks… again, at the end to chill … Then to a keg… Sometimes you have to… just have to… Sneezles61
Think I would have been worried about that much time in plastic and racked to a glass carboy or kegged. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I’m the king of lazy with stuff like that so don’t feel bad Danny.
Tonight we should have a candlelight vigil and raise a pint to your fallen beer. It really does suck when you have to dump out a batch.
I’m kind of going back to buckets also because they are lighter, not breakable and not very expensive when you need to replace them. This will be a lesson to me not to procrastinate
Well I poured out 4+ gallons of this one last night. I figured I’d give it time and I pulled a half pint a few days ago that showed promise…seemed to have a little more hop aroma even though the oxidation aroma was the most prominent. It didn’t taste half bad either. I pulled one last night and it was just about as badly oxidized as any beer I’ve ever tasted. Down the drain it went. Even the bag of DH hops (3oz worth) didn’t have a nice aroma…
The scent of bad beer and under achievement hung in the air for hours after… Honestly I’m not sure I’m over it yet…
Ah geez Dannyboy, you broke me heart into a million little pieces…. Find a way to disperse of that awful, no good , rotten odor? Like grilled lindbereger cheese sandwich? Pork and beans? New fermenter in the works? Sneezles61
