7 months in fermenter?

I brewed a Helles Bock on May 31, 2010. I let it ferment in primary for 28 days and then racked it to a secondary. I let it sit in secondary until today. I'm wondering if this has damaged the beer or not. I got lazy and I have never let a beer sit that long in the fermenter. I primed and bottled it this afternoon and I guess I'll find out in a few weeks if it's any good or not... Any thoughts?

All grain recipe
OG 1.068
FG 1.012

(Notty Yeast) ... not the best choice but i had it on hand...

It will probably be one of the best beers you have ever made. Sitting that long to condition usually does wonders for a beer. I have never left a beer for that long, 10 weeks maybe, but not 7 months.

what kind of fermenter? how was it sealed?

True Brew plastic bucket with a sealed lid and an airlock that, oddly enough, maintained the water for that length of time. The beer smelled wonderful and there were no visual cues indicating problems...

shaking head. next time use glass or a keg.

what i would do, and only because your a member of this forum, is send it to me when its about ready (dont even open one). i will test this batch against all details of your recipe, brew day and following fermentation and lagering specifics. give you a detailed report on my findings, a couple of pie charts and a nice pareto diagram of any differences that i find from bottle to bottle.

and if i find it necessary ill include a couple members from my Quantity Control dept to assist myself in the testing procedure.

with my reports you will be able to discern what, if any significances there are from lagering for the extended period.

and ill provide this service pro bono this first time.

please PM me for address...please.

but in reality -

i would only be suspect of using Nottingham in a lager. im a bit suprised you acheived your gravity goals provided it was in primary at a "typical" lager temp.

youll more than likely hate sharing this beer because its probably great...

Isn't Nottingham an ale yeast? Isn't the benefit of lagering due to the characteristics of lager yeast? I'm not being sarcastic, I actually am wondering if aging an ale is at all beneficial. I noticed in a recipe thread that a brewer aged several batches of strong Imperial Stout for long periods and decided 3 months was the sweet spot.

I don't mean to rag, but it puzzles me a bit when people give lager names to ales. Commercial breweries especially.

I don't have the means to control temperatures for lagering. I'll often make a lager recipe and ferment it with an ale yeast at higher temperatures. I guess you could call them hybrids. I dunno... but they are usually pretty good beers

I might be way off, but might there be a chance for a little of bit oxygenation due to the plastic be oxygen permeable?

jyda said:

I might be way off, but might there be a chance for a little of bit oxygenation due to the plastic be oxygen permeable?

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Technically, yes, but as a practical matter I cannot imagine the amount of oxygen permeating the hdpe in 7 months to cause any issues. If the vessel was sealed, or maintained a positive pressure differential, it should be fine.

Disclaimer: I did not work out any oxygen permeability equations, and am just stating my opinion.

I left two beers in the primary as long as the OP did. I got really busy with a toddler who is hell-bent on assassinating my hobbies.

I went ahead and bottled them. Both beers were heavily oxidized...one (American Wheat)had an acetic astringency and the other (Yooper's Dead Guy clone) had a strong sherry note mixed with cardboard. I can't bring myself to dump the bottles.

All that said, I think OP will be fine...

so its an ale.

JMSetzler said:

I don't have the means to control temperatures for lagering. I'll often make a lager recipe and ferment it with an ale yeast at higher temperatures. I guess you could call them hybrids. I dunno... but they are usually pretty good beers

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I can absolutely relate, I would love to brew a quick fermenting stout right now. My basement is a cool 48F, so I'm kinda hosed. I end up using lager yeast but don't really lager my beer at lagering temps. As soon as they are drinkable I'm right into it. That said I did a version of someone's Octoberfast Ale. But I wouldn't call it a lager. Maybe I shouldn't call my lager lager either since I drink it green. On the other hand , who cares.

JMSetzler said:

True Brew plastic bucket with a sealed lid and an airlock that, oddly enough, maintained the water for that length of time. The beer smelled wonderful and there were no visual cues indicating problems...

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That's 2 out of three.
Now the real test is how does it taste?

dzlater said:

That's 2 out of three.
Now the real test is how does it taste?

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Dunno... I won't taste it for 3 or 4 more weeks. I don't often taste beer before bottling unless it smells or looks funny at bottling time. If it's rancid when i open the first bottle I'll dump the rest of it and brew the recipe again.

Well report back in 3 or 4 weeks then.
Personally I would have tasted it before I bottled.
No reason not to, then you'd know what to expect.

dzlater said:

Well report back in 3 or 4 weeks then.
Personally I would have tasted it before I bottled.
No reason not to, then you'd know what to expect.

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+1 to tasting it. It's the best way to know what to expect. I woulld speculate though that as long as the airlock stayed filled with fluid, and there was still some CO2 pressure in the bucket covering the beer, it shouldn't be a total loss. My biggest concerns would be oxidation and loss of hop flavor.

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