opinions wanted: me thinks i have garbage

i brewed an irish ale last october, yes october 2007. racked it to secondary and shortly after that went through a separation. needless to say i fell off the homebrewing wagon and haven't touched anything since.

to the point, the ale has been in secondary, in the basement in a secured cabinet since october. surprisingly, the air lock has had water in it the entire time. there are some small white floaties at the top, smaller than a red pepper flake in size, about 6-8 count. i sampled the ale and it doesn't have an overpowering cider taste, but not a strong ale taste, it's there, just not strong.

should i even attempt to use this beer or should i just flat out dump it? i just established a kegging set up so i would only be wasting the time to keg it and carb it, not bottle. were i bottling, i wouldn't be asking, it would already be dumped.

thanks for the recommendations.

I'll let the others chime in on this one.......but if it's not drinkable on it's own, you may be able to blend it with another to make a sour beer. Maybe?

i can't tell...did you say it tastes sour or not? if so, sounds like a flanders red, which could be mighty yummy. keg it up and drink it fast. i've had beers in secondary for over 6 months no problem.

The time to force carb a beer, wasting time. So an hour to start to clean and getting that beer carbed then wait a few days. Man, dont be lazy, you might have good beer. That beer is almost a year old so it might have started its decline but hey you never know. Those spots are most likely just yeast that rose to the top. After that long in secondary you will be fine, it isnt infected, and if it is then it has already mellowed and you have a killer sour beer.

If it's drinkable, keg it and drink it.

I went through something similar, under worse conditions (sitting in a hot garage for a long time) and it all turned out fine. Keg that sooker and drink it!

absolutely try kegging it! I have found that chilled and carbed is entirely different than a warm flat samle from a fermenter!

Keg it. Nothing you've said indicates there is a problem. You can always dry hop it a little to freshen the nose.

thanks for the advice.

in response to posts:

i tasted it and it was not super sour if at all.

i said i had no problem with the time to keg it even if it was bad, but wouldn't waste the time to bottle (read into this, i hate bottling)



i actually transferred it to the keg last night anticipating it wasn't all bad. i have to pick up my co2 bottle (getting tested and filled) today after work so it will be carb'd later this evening, i'll report back tomorrow after work in regards to whether my intestines blew up or not ... i kid i kid.

drank some of it last night and i've been coughing up blood ever since .... just kidding. it actually tasted pretty damn good surprisingly. i need to re-force carb it, seemed a bit on the flat side, but i can do that when i get home from work and drink my self silly tonight.

awesome!