Forgotten Black IPA

So I made about 4 gallons of a black IPA in April 2011... and forgot about it. It's still sitting in the carboy, and I'm sure it's lost any aroma it might have had. I'm wondering what to do with it at this point in time. It's a fairly large beer, with an ABV of 8.7%. Should I just age it like a barleywine, or attempt dry-hopping it. One major issue though is that the vodka in the air lock evaporated. While it doesn't look infected, I shouldn't take any risks. Should I drop some campden in it, wait 48 hours, and then pitch some yeast and bottle it? Any advice would be great.

I'd take a sample to taste before deciding what to do with it. It might be oxidized. More importantly, also, there may be an autolysis flavor, especially with a big beer like that, if the carboy is the primary fermenter.

Just taste it. It's unlikely even with a dry airlock that it would have picked up an infection. Especially in a high gravity beer like that. See how it tastes and then decide what to do with it. Any which way, I bet you'll find it's worth packaging. Just use a little fresh yeast if you're going to bottle to be sure it carbs up right.

I've already done just that, figuring that would be the best place to start. That's how I was able to determine the ABV (I had noted the OG on the side of the carboy). I wasn't able to detect any off flavors. I'm just trying to figure out how to bring soul back to this beast.

Dry hop it for a week or so and bottle or keg it. I bet it will be delicious!

JuanKenobi said:

Just taste it. It's unlikely even with a dry airlock that it would have picked up an infection. Especially in a high gravity beer like that. See how it tastes and then decide what to do with it. Any which way, I bet you'll find it's worth packaging. Just use a little fresh yeast if you're going to bottle to be sure it carbs up right.

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I figured as much. Too much time has gone by to dump it, and although the final result won't be what was first envisioned, the outcome should be interesting nevertheless.

onthekeg said:

Dry hop it for a week or so and bottle or keg it. I bet it will be delicious!

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A route I'm seriously considering. If the brew's salvageable, bringing some aroma back would be a blessing.

This doesn't contribute anything .. But I would like to know how you can forget about a fermenting beer for 9 months.

After reading the post I remember I started to brew 3 days ago, damn!!

Just Kidding

huge1s said:

This doesn't contribute anything ...

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Exactly.