Left in secondary for 2-3 months NEED HELP

[Chocolatey_Stoutz]

++++ I need to know if I've ruined my beer by leaving it in secondary, on top of fruit puree and nibs, for approximately 3 months. The beer has been in indirect sunlight for months. I want sweet cherry taste, not bitter. +++++

This is my second attempt to make a quality batch of beer.

I started with an extract brew kit for an 8.1% ABV stout. I added about 4 oz of sweet baker's chocolate, 6 oz of semi-sweet baker's chocolate and about 6 oz of unsweetened organic cocoa powder to the boil. I also added one pound of lactose milk sugar and a "BrewVent" alcohol boost kit supplied by Austin Homebrew Store.


After two weeks in primary, I racked onto 49 oz of Oregon sweet cherry puree and 8 oz of organic Guana cocoa nibs. After about 5 weeks in the secondary better bottle, the krausen has thickened and the beer smells funky. I am afraid the fruit has rotted and will now create a sour cherry stout. This is far removed from what I had initially envisioned when I set out to create what I Christened "Milk Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout."


Additionally, the nibs and cherry puree has remained almost completely at the bottom of the carbory since shortly after racking.


The final step will be to add 2 oz of black cherry extract with the priming sugar at bottling.


As always, thanks for the help. And, if someone can get that Revvy guy to post on my message thread, I would be honored.

 

[BlackGoat]

I would just take a sample and see how it tastes? That is the only way you're going to really know what is going on there. Just pull out a half pint of the brew and give it a go, if it tastes fine to you (or close to it) then bottle that sucker up. With 8.1% abv you can age it for a long time in the bottle, so even if the flavors are a bit overwhelming, those flavors may tone down a bit with some extended aging. You will probably want to avoid adding additional cherry flavoring considering how long the beer has been in contact with the fruit, but that is entirely up to how it tastes to you. I'd be concerned that with the extract you'd be getting dangerously close to making a cherry-flavored wine cooler.

 

[dcp27]

those cans are aseptic so the fruit shouldnt be rotted, either way sour cherry stout sounds great

as always, ignore how a beer smells during ferment (most lagers are noted to smell like 'rhino farts'), those aromas off-gasing won't be in the final product. the only way to truly know is to taste it. id definitely skip the black cherry extract. i wouldnt foul it up with artificial flavor after adding the real thing

btw, that sounds like way too much chocolate. it's likely going to be quite bitter