Is it bad to leave in seconday fermenter too long?

kryznic · Jul 19, 2010

I brewed a batch of beer and after I racked it to the secondary I kinda forgot about it, vaca, hot weather, bbq's and car shows got the best of me. It has been in the secondary for a 4-6 weeks.

Is it still good or should I just ditch it and start over?

Thanks!

-Chris

BigB · Jul 19, 2010

It's probably fine. Some beers actually thrive with long secondaries. However, that being said, it really depends on the recipe, temps, etc. But overall, 4-6 weeks isn't that bad regardless. Now if it was a hefe and it was 6 weeks and the temp was close to 80, that may not be the case!

kryznic · Jul 19, 2010

It's a IPA and the temps have been pretty consistently mid 70's with a 80 or more once in a while (when my AC broke for a day or 2). I guess I will give it a try anyway and see what happens.

Malticulous · Jul 19, 2010

If you can keep all oxygen away from it it will last as long as it would in the bottle/keg.

goose1873 · Jul 19, 2010

taste it. you may need to give it a quick dry hop to restore the hop profile as hops mellow over time. Some IPA's are better aged, but if it were me I'd toss another ounce in there for 5-7 days and keg/bottle.

kryznic · Jul 19, 2010

goose1873 said:
taste it. you may need to give it a quick dry hop to restore the hop profile as hops mellow over time. Some IPA's are better aged, but if it were me I'd toss another ounce in there for 5-7 days and keg/bottle.

Good idea! I wouldn't have thought of that. Thanks!

lumpher · Jul 19, 2010

i'd dry hop it also, but otherwise, it'll benefit from the aging as long as it's sealed good, and oxygen stays out of it. an ipa is good for longer than that, since they were developed to stay good for long ocean voyages

Is it bad to leave in seconday fermenter too long?

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