Have I left it too long before bottling ?

ratcliffe · 11-28-2008, 07:18 PM

I make the standard beer kits which make the 40 pints in a big plastic tub. Normally after making the beer, its left for about 3 weeks, before being bottled and the final bit of sugar added, but for various reasons its been more like 10 weeks since I made this kit up. The lid has been on it the whole time, and I have just prepped to finally bottle it and when I took the lid off there are some small patches of green mold around the edges of the tub just above the water line where the froth has goen mouldy. Only a few

The beer looks pretty flat as all the froth has now gone, but the liquid itself looks OK. It this a lost cause, or is it worth bottling ???

Thanks in advance!

McKBrew · 11-28-2008, 07:21 PM

It is never too late to try bottling. I can't guarantee anything, but if you don't even try, you could potentially pour out the best beer you ever made. There have been some sucessful cases here on HBT of people bottling beer that was several months old and being glad they did.

ratcliffe · 11-28-2008, 07:23 PM

OK thanks, I know what you mean... my best beer so far was one that didn't taste great when it was completed, but after six months in the bottle it was stunning!
So I shouldn't worry about the mould around the edge

Eves · 11-28-2008, 07:32 PM

Just do your best to pick up anything you don't want when syphoning to the bottling bucket.

I haven't let beer sit 10 weeks in a fermentor. But I did let one sit 6 weeks...its my best beer yet.

JoeMama · 11-28-2008, 07:42 PM

Ive read that someone even left their beer in their in the secondary for up to 6 months and still had a tasty brew. Give it a shot and see how it turns out?

Worst case you will have 5 gallons of Coors.
LOL
-Me

nuclearguy · 11-28-2008, 08:08 PM

Probably just growing on the krasen, I would give it a try. Let us know how it turns out.

ratcliffe · 11-28-2008, 08:37 PM

OK, well I just finished bottling it. There was a little life in it when it filled to the neck of the bottle with some bubbles. When I put the sugar in it didn't have anything like the life it normally has as its normally a challenge to get the bottle top on before it froths over, this just sat there and fizzed a little.
But having topped it, I gently turned the bottle over and watched the sugar go from top to bottom and then back again, and there is definitely some life in there, so we will see.

Thanks for the quick and useful advice everyone, I will report back on how it goes. It normally takes a minimum of a fortnight to sort itself from here so I will try one in a fortnights time, and then leave another week or so before trying another

Vic_Sinclair · 11-29-2008, 04:13 AM

Fortnights?! Is that part of the metric system?

**joety** · 11-29-2008, 04:23 AM

It may be fine, but there is a world of difference between extended aging in a secondary fermenter with the beer filled to the neck and an airlock used and a big plastic tub, which is one step removed from open fermentation.

If it wasn't knocked around the CO2 blanket may have kept it from oxidizing and you could be fine. Let us know how it works out.

dontman · 11-29-2008, 04:41 AM

A couple things I wonder about. I wonder if the extra "u" that your English mo"u"ld has. It might offer some wonderful flavo"u"rs.

Also I wonder of it is mold at all. It might just be some hops junk that rose with the yeast on the krausen. I have seen some green stuff in my krauesen debris before that was not mold.

Also, you really have to look at your priming method. I" didn't think people still put raw sugar into beer bottles anymore. This is a VERY unsanitary and terribly imprecise practice. If you don't already have an infection you can easily get one from the sugar addition. Not to mention uneven carbing.