Bottle it or Dump it? That is the question.

I need some help and or advice. My son and I brewed an IPA in April. Did gravity readings and was ready to bottle after a few weeks. About 6 weeks out we were going to bottle it and I got all the bottles cleaned and sanitized and my son never showed up and we kept putting it off. Putting it off, and putting it off.

Now it's been 5 months. Does anyone know if it is any good still? It's been sealed up and unopened the whole time except for the two or three times I opened it up to take a reading early on.
Also it's been in a little cooler environment than it probably should have been for an IPA. ( It's been in my basement which stays at about 60 degrees all the time.)

So, has anyone ever brewed an IPA or similar type of beer and let it sit in the primary fermentor for that long and still bottled and drank their beer? I hate to throw it away after all that work but I'm also very Leary about drinking it. Please help!

Take a sample and see! Worst that happens is it tastes horrible. I would bet its still good though.
Was it in a secondary, or still in primary?

Bottle it!!
If you spent the trouble of brewing the beer, why not just bottle it?
I've had a beer in primary for 4 months, kegged it and it turned out great...
Igotsand

taste it, if its ok i would dry hopped it again for a week or so then bottle, if it doesnt taste good dump it

Bottle it. Maybe do a quick dry hop on it though to bring some of the ipaness back?

Dry hop it for a week and bottle it.It will probably be one of the best beers you've made.

Agreed with revvy, I had an IPA last winter that didn't get bottled until about the 3 month mark due to christmas and the early arrival of my daughter. Easly the best beer I have ever made.

Oh man I am so happy to hear that it still may be good. Thank you all for your input. I was half-expecting to get a bunch of replies saying to dump it. I will try the many suggestions to dry hop it for a week before I bottle it but, . . . I don't exactly know how to go about doing that. It is as it sounds? Add some dry hops to the batch? Do I dare stir it?

I'll post my question in the beginner section too if I can't find out how to do it by reading a little bit. Thanks again to you all. I will be sure to get back to you in a few weeks to let you know how it turned out.

Kirk

There are a few ways you could dry hop depending on the type of hops you have available. Pellet, plug, dry-whole, fresh-whole, hop oil. I've mostly used pellets and I usually put them into a muslin hop sack, with a stainless steel ball bearing for ballast, that has already been boiled for a few minutes and then sanitized in star-san solution.

Yeah just add some dry hops to the beer. For an IPA I'd add 2 to 3 ounces and use a hop similar to the aroma hops.

I like to use dry whole leaf hops for everything. I think they have a nicer flavor than pellets. If you dry hop with whole leaf make sure to dry hop in a bucket. They're a PITA to get into and out of a carboy.

I'd say bottle right away, don't let it sit another week, the risk of autolysis is still there.
Instead, you could make a hop tea and use in your priming solution. Add a few grains of dry yeast to ensure you'll get some carbonizing fermentation in your bottles, in case your original yeast didn't make it.

olefattguy said:

I'd say bottle right away, don't let it sit another week, the risk of autolysis is still there.
Instead, you could make a hop tea and use in your priming solution. Add a few grains of dry yeast to ensure you'll get some carbonizing fermentation in your bottles, in case your original yeast didn't make it.

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No there's not a risk of autolysis in there. People have left there beers upwards of a YEAR with no issues. The autolysis boogeyman has been largely disproven, even by the people who started the scare to begin with. (John Palmer) We don't panic, or spread that panic around here. Autolysis is not "inevitable" in beers left in extended primaries....

You may want to get up to date in your info. Read this and;

To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .

Kirk, you were asking about dry hopping earlier. It's not hard, I just chuck the hops in thefermenter. And NO you don't want to ever stir fermented beer. Fermented beer + Oxygen = Liquid cardboard.

Just drop them in, and let the hops do their thing. Bags are optional. If you don't bag, the stuff will just float, and ride the surface of the beer and get stuck in the trub when you rack to bottle.

If you bag them with ballast, as mentioned earlier, it is easier to remove them and it's a bit more effective since the hops are fully submerged and have more surface area making contact with the beer. However, it may indeed be a PITA getting them in/out of a carboy; buckets make it easy.

Revvy said:

No there's not a risk of autolysis in there. People have left there beers upwards of a YEAR with no issues. The autolysis boogeyman has been largely disproven, even by the people who started the scare to begin with. (John Palmer) We don't panic, or spread that panic around here. Autolysis is not "inevitable" in beers left in extended primaries....

You may want to get up to date in your info. Read this and;

To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .

Click to expand...

Oh. Thanks for the friendly slap on my fingers, I admit to not knowing these more recent findings. I will stop perpetuating this myth, then. Thanks!

Give it a taste. You will be able to tell if its off. Chances are if you left it undisturbed it will be excellent. I see a lot of comments to dry hop, again I would taste it before deciding to do anything. After you taste if you want more hop aroma/flavor give it a dry hop.

tedclev said:

If you bag them with ballast, as mentioned earlier, it is easier to remove them and it's a bit more effective since the hops are fully submerged and have more surface area making contact with the beer. However, it may indeed be a PITA getting them in/out of a carboy; buckets make it easy.

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Easy solution for this is to tie a length of dental floss or kitchen twine to the muslin bag, add ballast, and submerge. Sanatize the whole rig of course and leave the length of twine/floss hanging out of the carboy. After siphoning off, just pull the bag and spent hops out.