Pages: 1
I did a bad, bad thing....
Ok so hopefully not too bad, but still I'm crossing my fingers for this one. I forgot about my beer. There I said it. I know I might as well have shot the pope, killed my girls cat, punched my grandfather in the beans. How could you do such a thing you ask? Not sure. Just kept putting it off till tomorrow and before I knew it, this happened. It still looks fine, no growth or anything and hasn't been touched, opened, stirred, agitated, etc since I put it in my basement. It's a double IPA with a substantial amount of hops so hopefully that's my saving grace.
My question to you all is, is it ok? Is there a way to salvage my mistakes? It's been maybe 2 months? Possible it's been 3. Jump start the yeast? I'm trying to get to it this Monday since I'll be away all weekend. Any help would be great.
Don't hate me. 
It's probably finished with primary fermentation after that long. I don't see a need to get the yeast going again, provided the gravity is where it should be.. It will more than likely be lower than expected, due to the long finish it had. I would recco moving it off the yeast first thing when you can, then rack to bottle or keg. Carb it up, and it should be ok.
Is this still in the primary on the yeast? That would be the main cause of concern I could see. Otherwise no biggie, give it a nice dry hop for a week or so and then bottle or keg as usual.
By no means just give it the heave ho. Let your taste be your guide.
As long as the temperature has been stable it might end up being the best beer you ever make. Take the advise of the more experienced brewers and rack it off the yeast, dry hop and bottle or keg in a week or so. Let us know how it turns out.
as long as the airlock wasn't dried out, you should be fine. since it's an IPA, I'd suggest adding a dry hop, even if you already added one, since it's been sitting so long, a second dry hop won't hurt.
Its been off the primary. The secondary is where I forgot about it. I did a dry hop when I put it in the secondary. So, its been off the yeast but still has a slight layer on the bottom of the secondary. If I do the dry hop, just throw the hops right in? Still should be good?
you could transfer again, and then do the dry hop, but I doubt that's necessary. If it's already off the main yeast cake, 2 months shouldn't be too long for it to sit. I'd add a new dry hop, since an IPA is supposed to have a big hop aroma, and the first dry hop has probably lost a bit of its punch by now.
ruralbrew wrote:
it might end up being the best beer you ever make.
Yup, you did a good thing here.
I would think it still should be good. Throw in an ounce or two of hops (or more) and bottle in a week. I don't see where there should be a problem.
could be great. likely the hops helped as they were used as a preservative. only problem as already mentioned was still being on the yeast. But i would transfer to secondary, taste it, and if you think it needs more hops it would be a good time to dry hop, even if its a second time. as long as it tastes good you should be ok.
i had made a stout butt forgot about it also, it was on the yeast for 4 months. started growing a new layer on top. i decided to dump it. but i tasted a sample and it was fine. wether it would have been that way after adding priming sugar, we'll never know. let us know how it tunes out.
DC
Pages: 1
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|