poor, forgotten beer: left in carboys too long?

Due to some excessive travel and work commitments this summer, I had to leave 2 beers to languish in the fermenters. RDWHAHB and all that, but I'm wondering if I'd be likely wasting my time to bottle them at this point.

The victims:

AHS Budget IPA (this one's dry-hopped w/ 1/2 oz of Falconers)
5.25 gal batch
1 week in 6.5 gal glass, 19 weeks in 5.5 gal glass

AHS Cantankerous Ale (no dry hop)
5.25 gal batch
19 weeks in 6.5 gal glass

Since I was traveling, I don't believe the temp ever got more than 80º, but could've gotten as high as 88º in the house.

So my question: do I bottle and see or is it a lost cause?

[EDIT: *could've* gotten as high as 88º, not couldn't]

Add some fresh dry hops to the first one and bottle both of em. I bet they'll be fine.

^^agreed, plus you can always snag a sample before bottling to ensure they are delicious!

JonM said:

Add some fresh dry hops to the first one and bottle both of em. I bet they'll be fine.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

Taste them first, then decide it they're still worth investing in any rehab

Cheers!

Thanks for all the feedback. I've never left beer that long, but I'm pretty new to this (these are my 20th and 21st batches, respectively). But the idea of just dumping the beer seems sick and wrong and I'm glad the advice here supports that.

I'll give these suggestions a whirl and report back.

After all the hubbub, I almost forgot to post the results.

Short version: as y'all predicted, they turned out fine. The AHS Budget IPA definitely would've benefitted from an extra dry hop addition, but I didn't' have a chance to get to the store. Still it was pretty decent, very drinkable.

And in other left-to-long news, the other night I bottled a stout made from ingredients that had been in the fridge (hops in the freezer) for ~5 months and it tasted great, even warm and flat. So I'd be another voice in the chorus of commenters here who say you can actually let ingredients sit much longer than you'd think.

Glad it turned out alright
I had some mt hood hops in my freezer for 8 months and they made a great single hop Oktoberfest ale.

I have botttles that are a year old, they're not in their glory, but they're definitely good and drinkable.