Brewed on 10/13, Have Not Bottled Yet

Am I the Biggest Loser? The Title says it all. I think I am having bottling anxiety, sort of like performance anxiety without the embarrassing conversation. This is my first brew in many years so I guess I am want bottling to go perfectly.

Am I still okay with an ale if I bottle this week?

Did you use a secondary fermenter? If so you are all good. If not, that's quite a while but it'll be okay. Bottle it anyway soon and check it out. Generally if you are going to wait that long it's best to use a secondary.

Hell ya.

Have a taste, if it tastes good, do it. I've left beers in secondary for months.

Go for it! Just don't wait for another couple months!

In theory if everything was going against you (e.g. poorly aerated wort, really strong beer, underpitching, wild temperature swings during fermentation) some autolysis problems might be possible, but I've left beers in the primary for a month and more many times and they've always been good.

its ok to let it marinate

Taste it. If it tastes good....bottle.

Just do it. I did the same thing, kept putting it off because I wasn't quite ready. Open your dishwasher, take each clean bottle and spray the inside with a couple squirts of Star-San mixture, set them upside down and spray your bottle wand. Get to it before the sanitizer dries (if it does, spray again, no biggie).

You'll be fine!

oswiu said:

In theory if everything was going against you (e.g. poorly aerated wort, really strong beer, underpitching, wild temperature swings during fermentation) some autolysis problems might be possible, but I've left beers in the primary for a month and more many times and they've always been good.

Click to expand...

Your "theory" is several years out of date...The myth of autolysis for homebrewers has been thoroughly BUSTED. There's I would hazard 500 threads discussing this.

Just the opposite, many of us skip secondary and leave our beers in priimary for a month, if not more. Even John Palmer talks about this.

So the poster's beer is more than likely going to be the best tasting abnd clearest beer you have made. You let the yeast clean up all the byproducts of fermentation, and the yeast has compacted quite nicely, making it all that more clearer.

If you are nervous about the act of bottling, read the tips in my bottling thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

umm.... I have a beer that brewed on 10/10 and is not bottled/kegged yet. I am not worrying, I am actually doing this on purpose

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. Thursday night will be bottling night. I got some clean bottles together, did a water rinse, and they are on the bottle tree.

It would be classically funny if my procrastination created a clean, great tasting, beer!

Left my Belgian Pale ale in there for a month and a half and turned out to be the beer that everyone drinks the most including me. I usually average about three weeks in the fermenter though. You'll be fine.

Today I bottled, woohoo!

O.G. = 1.045
F.G. = 1.014

So I'm guessing 4.2% ABV. I tasted it and the taste is clean to my palate. It's pretty hobby but I think that will subside. I'm getting a slight grassy flavor which I think is the hops, Styrian Goldings and EKG. It reminds me of cask ale I have had many times in the UK. Color is slightly amber, but not too red. It's dry, not sweet. It's a little hazy but that is hard to tell until I've had it conditioned. It could have more body, but that may be tough to tell and my mouth is dry from slight congestion.

All in all, I think it will be a success when I taste it in 3 to 4 weeks. I probably won't procrastinate as much with tasting!