JorgeIsKing
Well-Known Member
A little story:
So some time in November of 2008, I brew myself a Steam Beer. The specifics are not important right now, but I put it into a glass carboy to begin fermenting. A few weeks go by and I rack it into a secondary.
A few weeks later I really should bottle it, but life gets in the way and I don't get around to it. Then the "I'll get around to it soon" turns into a month later, and then that turns into another month later and eventually since it's been so long and I figure it may not even be good anymore, it becomes not so much of a priority so it turns into just a jug of crap I have laying around. Eventually it makes it's way into a room upstairs that is in no way the best place for fermenting. Every morning it gets a "healthy" dose of sunlight with no cover, and there is no real temperature control.
About a month ago, I decide that it's about time I do something with this 5 gallons of... "something."
Instead of just assuming the worst and dumping it, I decide I'll try to bottle it and hope for the best.
While bottling, I take a little sip and determine that if nothing else, at least, somehow, it didn't get skunked. So I proceed to bottle it and hope for the best.
Two day's ago came the moment of truth. The day where I could finally taste a bottle and see what came of my abandoned batch.
I pour it into a glass and take a cautious sip. I think to myself... "meh... ." After I realize that if it was going to make me violently ill, it would have done so my now, I take a real beer drinkers try at it and... It's actually pretty good. Not my best batch, but it is definitely drinkable!
Anyway, I guess the point I'm trying to make is:
After all the neglect and stupid stuff I put that batch through it still turned out alright. Now, I am the first to admit that I got lucky, but this shows that in general, if you exercise some real effort to try to make your beer turn out alright, no matter what mistakes you may have made, it always pays off to see how it will turn out, because even the most unlikely pleasant of surprises can still occur. I have living proof!!!
So some time in November of 2008, I brew myself a Steam Beer. The specifics are not important right now, but I put it into a glass carboy to begin fermenting. A few weeks go by and I rack it into a secondary.
A few weeks later I really should bottle it, but life gets in the way and I don't get around to it. Then the "I'll get around to it soon" turns into a month later, and then that turns into another month later and eventually since it's been so long and I figure it may not even be good anymore, it becomes not so much of a priority so it turns into just a jug of crap I have laying around. Eventually it makes it's way into a room upstairs that is in no way the best place for fermenting. Every morning it gets a "healthy" dose of sunlight with no cover, and there is no real temperature control.
About a month ago, I decide that it's about time I do something with this 5 gallons of... "something."
Instead of just assuming the worst and dumping it, I decide I'll try to bottle it and hope for the best.
While bottling, I take a little sip and determine that if nothing else, at least, somehow, it didn't get skunked. So I proceed to bottle it and hope for the best.
Two day's ago came the moment of truth. The day where I could finally taste a bottle and see what came of my abandoned batch.
I pour it into a glass and take a cautious sip. I think to myself... "meh... ." After I realize that if it was going to make me violently ill, it would have done so my now, I take a real beer drinkers try at it and... It's actually pretty good. Not my best batch, but it is definitely drinkable!
Anyway, I guess the point I'm trying to make is:
After all the neglect and stupid stuff I put that batch through it still turned out alright. Now, I am the first to admit that I got lucky, but this shows that in general, if you exercise some real effort to try to make your beer turn out alright, no matter what mistakes you may have made, it always pays off to see how it will turn out, because even the most unlikely pleasant of surprises can still occur. I have living proof!!!
