Too long before racking

Northern Brewer General
1

I brewed NB Pumpkin( added 1/2 cup chocolate syrup) on 8/27 during hurricane Irene. I did not rack it until 9/21, one thing after another got in the way you know. Upon racking the beer did not smell all that appealing and wonder if this batch is ruined before I waste time bottling it. This is my 5th batch since starting this past winter and every batch has been good so far. Any thought.
Thanks

2

3-4 weeks in the primary will usually improve the beer, and certainly not ruin it (yeast autolysis is really not a worry unless you let it sit for a really long time). Smell it now that it’s been sitting another two weeks and see what you think. Carbonation can radically change a beer, too, so unless it actually smells and tastes awful, you should go ahead and bottle it.

3

I brewed NB Pumpkin about a week after you and due to some unexplained slow fermentation, I was just able to rack it a week ago. I added a pound of dark brown sugar during the boil.

I also made a tea of some extra spices that I just added last night. I plan to keg this early next week. I will say that the aroma of the beer was not outstanding. Of course with no activity in the airlock, if you take a wiff after removing the airlock, you are smelling whatever has been released and is just sitting there for quite some time. I have no concerns about mine at all. It is going to be great, I can tell. Planning to keg next week and have it ready to go for Halloween, per my original plan.

Very related, I brewed the NB Black IPA kit (cannot remember if extract or PM) and when I racked it to secondary it was very harsh. It has an OG of close to 1.08, I believe. I was strong tasting. I kegged it about a week ago and sampled it after 3-4 days. I was pretty concerned that this beer was simply going to be too strong tasting to enjoy (I like strong beers too). However, I tried it again last night (about the 6th day) and it was definitely turning the corner. I even went back for a second sample. I will go to bigger samples next week and figure it will be really ready in about 2-3 weeks.