An infection right?

[fg12351]

OK, this is my third batch of beer. The first two came out great. This one due to moving, work on new home, job changes etc. has been fermenting for basically a year. I know, sad and pathetic, . I have had no time to brew.

I use a plastic ale pail as a fermenter with the plastic air lock that plugs into the hole. The air lock had sterilized water (starsan) in it but it's basically all gone.

The pic is attached. Should I dump and run? I vow to not do this again.

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

 

[eastoak]

bottle it and see what you got, might be good.

 

[duckmanco]

A year in a bucket? Not sure what a beer should or would look like after a year in primary, so it's hard to say its infected based on what that looks like.

Heaven help me from Revvy, but I'm thinking even he might think a year long primary might be too much. What's it smell like? After that I'd have to taste a flat warm sample just cuz.

 

[fg12351]

It's a Belgian Ale kit from my local homebrew shop if that helps. I am soo ashamed.

Should I just bottle it?

 

[kh54s10]

If it smells like beer and not a landfill, give it a careful taste. If it does not taste bad go for it. After this long you will probably have to add yeast to get the bottles to carb up.

 

[BOBrob]

Taste it & how does it smell? I am curious.Was the air lock a three piece?

 

[fg12351]

Three piece air lock. It smells sour.

 

[donjonson]

Taste it & how does it smell? I am curious.Was the air lock a three piece?

Why is that significant?

 

[Jwood]

plastic ale pail for a year? Does it taste oxidized in any way? Might as well check the gravity and give it a taste (if the gravity is extremely low, there are other organisms besides Saccharomyces at work).

Either way, it won't kill you...could actually turnout to be alllllright.

 

[beerhound28]

Bottle it and prank your friends with it ..tell them its a tasty fresh beer..JK..if it smells sour i would toss it..but bottle and carb it up first , give it a go before you dump..you never know it might turn out ok and you can brag about the year old vintage haha..cheers

 

[Seven]

Taste it and report your findings back to home base.

 

[Butter]

Unless you paid a few hundred bucks for the ingredients, I say dump it. You're out what, $30? Although pranking you're friends with it is a good idea.

 

[damnitbeavis]

Taste it taste it!

 

[fg12351]

It was like $30 or so....it smells sour and looks suspect and it's been a looong time in the fermenter with a suspect airlock. I am apprehensive to bottle it.

I will taste it tonight, if it tastes bad I am dumping it. It should taste like a flat belgian ale correct?

Safe to dump down the sink drain? I've never dumped a batch before.

 

[H-ost]

If it smells sour it is probably infected but a year of conditioning might have turned out a delicious lambic brew... which are supposed to be sour.

 

[TyTanium]

Fun experiment. Interested to hear the results.

If it tastes sour/funky, just toss some oak chips in for a week or so, bottle it, and call it "Tired of brewing mainstream" or something hipster like that.

Your product may not be that different from craft breweries aging in old barrels with brett/wild yeast, etc.

Haha, but if it tastes funky to the point of having no desire to drink it, then there's no marginal benefit to bottling. Everything else is a sunk cost and should not be factored in.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

The real problem is , you're going to bottle it, condition it and it's gonna taste wonderful. Then you're gonna have to do 12 month primaries forever anon.

 

[fg12351]

Ok, I will taste it tonight and report back.

If it's nasty then it's getting dumped.

 

[BOBrob]

Why is that significant?

I figure with a three piece air lock the nasties have two caps to pass and have to travel up hill to do it, instead of a curved slide to get in. I also use cheap vodka because it evaporates very slowly. When I read later that it`s a Belgian ale, I thought" Lambic"....... Now I really want to know how it tastes! It may be very tasty if siphoned under the crud and bottled. Cheers

 

[fg12351]

Hey all,

Well I just tasted it and it actually starts tasting like beer but then the aftertaste turns pretty sour and very lambic indeed. The flavor really fills your whole mouth and not in a good way...almost whiskeyish (I'm not a whiskey fan though). Anyway, I think I'm going to dump it, I don't see this turning around and I don't want 2 cases of it that I have to drink...

I appreciate all the feedback and no one beating me up for forgetting about this thing for a year, that will not happen again.

Happy brewing,
FG12351