bubble gum beer - how long before it's drinkable?

I made a Belgian Dubbel back in July that ended up fermenting too warm and developed some serious bubble-gum flavor and smell. I used White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale yeast. It probably fermented in the upper 70's low 80's for the first day or so. I didn't really notice the flavor and smell until I was bottling, and found Revvy's thread on never dumping your beer so I just went ahead and bottled it. It's been over a month now since it was bottled, and the flavor and smell have gone down a bit, but definitely still preset. I was wondering about how long it will take for these flavors to clear up. I was hoping to have it ready by Christmas, but not sure if that's a reasonable expectation. If it's not likely I'll just put it away for a bit longer and brew something else with a higher gravity for this winter. Or maybe I'll do that anyway just to be safe...

So is this just a "wait and see" kind of thing, or is there a pretty standard length of time for off flavors to go away?

It's "wait and see," and keep sampling until you find it enjoyable/drinkable. I don't expect the estery flavors will just disappear, but they will fade some and not be quite as strident. But don't expect miracles.

If you've got the room, get a chest freezer and a temperature controller for use as a fermentation chamber. My beers took a quantum leap in quality once I took this step, and now I always ferment towards the low end of the range for whatever yeast I'm using.

I did a 'bubblegum pilsner' that I wrote off as lost. I put it aside for 5 months and when I tried it then it was very very good. The bubblegum had evolved into a very pleasant fruit background.

It might be good for christmas. Might not. But more than likely with enough time it will get to be quite drinkable if not downright excellent.

cool, I'll hide it somewhere and try to forget about it for a few more months. Maybe I'll do some sort of spiced beer for the holidays. Any excuse to brew again!

BlindLemonLars said:

but they will fade some and not be quite as strident.

Click to expand...

Don't you mean not quite as Trident?

Stickshaker said:

Don't you mean not quite as Trident?

Click to expand...

Not bad, not bad...if this were Reddit.com, I'd upvote ya!