Strange find

CornyKegs 728
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I heard the X-files theme in the background looking at this.

Moulder- "Scully I think I found the alien incubators from the roswell crash"
Scully- "Stevea1210 take me...I mean Moulder it is obvious this is a home vintner operartion"
 
So if your boss' company is legally responsible for the contents left in the house at this point, why not attempt to get whatever information you can about the carboys from the family who owned the house, maybe even the old man himself? Obviously I don't know the details of the situation but why take a cloak and dagger approach?

Just sayin'...
 
Pretty awesome ass fine....but, here is my take.

I think I would feel kind of wierd drinking this old dude's wine, especially since he is still alive. I mean it is entirely possible that his family is forcing him to give up his house, and subsequently, his wine. I would look into maybe getting in touch with the guy and seeing what he wants. At the very least, see if he wants some of it. On the other hand though, the wine has been sitting down there for quite a while. If he wanted it, he probably would have consumed it.
 
I'm ready with all my vinegar-containing recipes if it's turned. (Hope it hasn't!) :D
 
Hell MF'ing Yeah! Look at all that wine. I feel bad for the old man, but dang, that could be some awesome wine.
 
Intriguing. I am glad to end my day to this and go to sleep with dreams of fantastically aged carboys of joy and goodness.
 
We have worked for this guy for a couple years but neither my boss nor I have ever met or spoken to him. He is wealthy enough to have a company that manages all his assets and we deal with them. I am going to make sure they ask him if he minds. I'm pretty sure that this is the last thing he really cares about. He will probably be glad to have someone who will take care of the stuff properly.

First stage will be to check the condition of a couple of them. There are at least a half dozen empty carboys in the corner out of the picture. We are going to be there for a month or so my newest plan is to do a quick sample, rack to clean and purged carboy, stopper, transport home, and then bottle at my leisure. I would do maybe 4 a day. that will allow me to clean and sanitize the freshly emptied ones at home and take them back to be refilled. We are on a time line so I can't screw around with it too much there at the house.
 
Ooh! Can I be subscribed too?

I agree with the people that said contact the old guy. He probably will give you the carboys and the wine if you bring him a few bottles! I bet he would be REALLY happy to find someone that shares his interest to give his wine too since he obviously can't care for it anymore. It is kind of sad to think that he put all that work into those and might not even get to taste the fruit of his labor. If you can't get a hold of him, at least give his asset managers some bottles to pass onto him! :)

Cool find!
 
Holy poo, i just realized you are in Portland! Let me know if you need any help disposing of those carboys/wine :) This is really cool. Cant wait to hear about the end results!!! Subscribed!
 
That is a great find, I'm glad you'll be able to siphon it off and take it back to your place if it is still good. I also would recommend adding crushed campden tablets to keep any oxidation at bay. Prost!
 
Chester said:
We have worked for this guy for a couple years but neither my boss nor I have ever met or spoken to him. He is wealthy enough to have a company that manages all his assets and we deal with them. I am going to make sure they ask him if he minds. I'm pretty sure that this is the last thing he really cares about. He will probably be glad to have someone who will take care of the stuff properly.

First stage will be to check the condition of a couple of them. There are at least a half dozen empty carboys in the corner out of the picture. We are going to be there for a month or so my newest plan is to do a quick sample, rack to clean and purged carboy, stopper, transport home, and then bottle at my leisure. I would do maybe 4 a day. that will allow me to clean and sanitize the freshly emptied ones at home and take them back to be refilled. We are on a time line so I can't screw around with it too much there at the house.
Click to expand...

He might also be wealthy enough to have employed someone who liked to make wine who hasn't been around there since the 70's. Never know!
 
1) I don't find this creepy at all, but very very cool.

2) Understanding the need for speed, I would just stopper them and move them. Let them settle for a few weeks, then transfer, if need be, or just bottle.

3) If they have all (or some) turned to vinegar, I bet it's damn good vinegar. Granted you have a lot of it, but Portland is a culinary town. Bottle some and sell it to local restaurants as vintage boutique vinegars.

4) Are they labeled? They look like they may be...or are they just dated?
 
I was at the house for a couple of minutes today and I found this:
IMG00214.jpg


anybody need some really old EKG for a lambic? :mug:

I still can't figure out why anybody would let this stuff sit for this long. It was more explainable as wine, just letting it age and never got around to bottling it... but that is a lot of beer to give up on.

[Sorry for the bad blackberry pictures]
 
Found this earlier today at work. WOW!

Thats even more crazy that its beer! Did you get a chance to taste it, or are you assuming because of the hops? Anyways, I can't wait to hear the results
 
I had this weird daydream last night about a son going off to war and leaving behind his brews telling Dad not to worry, I'll be home soon. Son dies, room is left as cleaning would be too painful. Maybe I will write a novel about it.

I guess it being beer lowers the likelihood of it surviving as drinkable... Maybe a barley wine or the random something that came through.

I would still be trying it all, I guess.
 
chefmike said:
I guess it being beer lowers the likelihood of it surviving as drinkable... Maybe a barley wine or the random something that came through.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking. The dates were late 60's early 70's (my favorite Grateful Dead years!). The quality of brewing ingredients couldn't have been good back then. I've heard accounts of stale hops and sketchy cans of malt extract.

Did you find any more beer paraphernalia around? I still think it could be wine. Who would leave 100+ gallons of beer sitting around to age for that long? Update please!!!
 
It's beer?!?!? Ewww! Is there a chance that the dates taped on the airlocks are from old batches? Maybe he was lazy about cleaning the outside of his carboys. Still... Probably not so good. Maybe it is a very fine soured beer?

I still think you should get in touch with him. That way you can ask, "Why the hell would you ferment beer with little plastic baggies over it for 40 years???"
 
rhulbert said:
"Why the hell would you ferment beer with little plastic baggies over it for 40 years???"
Click to expand...

I figured the baggies were to reduce evaporation. There are airlocks under them, correct? Which gives me hope that someone was thinking long term.


Ed is right on two counts... quality of ingredients is questionable.

and it was GRATE years, deadfully speaking.
 
The OP's restraint is stellar, I would have been in there with a thief that day!
This is my first subscription, I must know, also what sort of "special" batch is in those 1 gallon jugs?:ban:
 

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