Okay…here’s the deal. Life happened, and I’ve left a 5 gallon batch of Innkeeper Ale in a plastic bucket for about 5 months…Is this an automatic “dumper” or is worth a try (I’d be kegging it, it I don’t dump it)…anyone have any experience with this? Thanks for your help…and cheers!
:cheers:
I’d say give it a taste. After that long I would think the only thing is that oxygen could cause some stale flavors (that cardboard taste I think). But if it’s been sealed in the bucket with an airlock, it’s probably still good. Take a sample and try it out!
Thanks for that input Templar…there is even still vodka in the airlock…I guess if it tastes decent right out of the fermenter, it would be okay carbonated, right?
do NOT dump that beer before trying it. I have an ordinary bitter in a secondary that I need to blend with a less hoppy beer. Assuming I can get brewing anytime soon (we just had a baby on Friday), I am planning on kegging this one up for football Sundays.
:cheers:
Thanks for your reply Pietro…I think I’ll try this beer and if it doesn’t taste horrible, it’s going into a keg! Congrats on the baby!
If you had it in primary still, there could be a problem with yeast autolysis. Tasting it will give you your answer. If it was in secondary, the chances of getting it would be low.
I think that I left one in primary for 6 months or so once before I got more serious about brewing. It was OK, but it tasted bitter. My first guess was that it fermented out more and the hop flavor came out. A coworker and beer judge asked if it tasted like burnt rubber and upon tasting again, it did. It ended up being yeast autolysis. I have heard that yeast autolysis is not very likely, but I managed to get it with my neglect.
I have experienced autolysis. It seems to happen around the 2.5-3 month mark. But only if the beer was still in primary. If secondaried, then it’s fine. Regardless, the only way to know for sure if it’s alright is to taste it. If it tastes good, then it is good! If not, then dump.
Congratulations Pietro. I was blessed with a granddaughter Friday. And I agree, don’t dump that beer.
Don’t dump, rather taste. Congrats Pietro! I have a 1 1/2 year old girl and she is precious! Can do no wrong!
