Worth bottling?

[soot]

I've had a batch (American Amber) that has been in the secondary/dark closet since March 7th of this year. At one point when the power went out for a day, a ring of sediment (presume yeast?) occurred at the water level and near the bottom (see attached pictures). At first I thought it was mold but then some thinking and research has me to believe that it is just dead yeast.

I never got around to grabbing the kegging equipment necessary to keg this batch and since I'm moving out now I can't invest in the equipment. I'm looking for the best solution to get this beer into its drinking stage, or if I should just ditch this batch and try again at the new place.

My concerns are if the beer is even still worth the time to bottle and age traditionally since I need to move out ASAP. Another one of my concerns is that this started as a 5 gallon batch but the secondary is a 6 gallon glass carboy.

Do you think the beer is still good in terms of possible oxidation or contamination? Is that merely yeast that has settled to the side? Can I still prime it for bottling if the (presumed) yeast is dead and gone?

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

There will still be yeast in there for bottling, don't worry. I've had a stout sit in secondary for nearly 2 years that still bottle conditioned with no problems. Oxidation is a concern, but you won't know until you taste it. My suggestion is spend the time bottling it. It'll be much easier to move and in 3-4 weeks, you'll have 2 cases of beer to drink at the new place...

 

[soot]

There will still be yeast in there for bottling, don't worry. I've had a stout sit in secondary for nearly 2 years that still bottle conditioned with no problems. Oxidation is a concern, but you won't know until you taste it. My suggestion is spend the time bottling it. It'll be much easier to move and in 3-4 weeks, you'll have 2 cases of beer to drink at the new place...

Doing some searching on other threads, it seems that this is a general consensus for most beers. While talking to a guy at the local specialty wine/beer shop, he said that the yeast may have died and would require priming before bottling. If I try it the traditional method of bottling, would no yeast be disastrous, or would it just not carbonate and I would have to retry later?

I was wondering if the sudden spike in temperature during the power outage may have done something (that is when the lines appeared around it, but the temperature was still relatively cool and it was stored in the darkest/coolest place of the house).

There are more pictures found at http://soot.hackjunky.net/beer/

 

[JetSmooth]

It is always worth bottling. Worst case, you have wasted time and effort if it turn out to be bad. Best case, you have beer.

If you dump it now, you have definitely wasted time and effort.

The rings are likely yeast that's settled on the ridges in the carboy. This happens from time to time with my batches.

There's a lot of head space in there. My only concern is oxidation. Was it sitting pretty still the whole time? Airlock on and not dried out?

 

[soot]

It is always worth bottling. Worst case, you have wasted time and effort if it turn out to be bad. Best case, you have beer.

If you dump it now, you have definitely wasted time and effort.

The rings are likely yeast that's settled on the ridges in the carboy. This happens from time to time with my batches.

There's a lot of head space in there. My only concern is oxidation. Was it sitting pretty still the whole time? Airlock on and not dried out?

Yeah, I moved it ever so gently to inspect the rings. My room mate had me scared by saying it was moldy while I was traveling. After some research, it seems that it most likely is (what I thought) yeast.

The airlock has been diminishing but is just barely keeping a (imo) sufficient seal. The head space is pretty big and I didn't realize it until later that it was a six gallon carboy. Even a so-so home brew would be better than a commercial brew and cheaper than a tasty micro.

I think I may try bottling it for the hell of it. Hopefully it turns out well.

 

[Homercidal]

It looks just like yeast to me.

Tossing it is an option only if you want to waste 5 gallons of beer. Either spend time bottling it now (if it's ready), or take it with you if you can and bottle it when it's cleared up again in a few weeks.

There is plenty of yeast floating around in suspension to not worry about bottling. Yeast actually LOVE temps in the 90s. But they give off some funky flavors at that temp (mostly during the initial fermentation period). Most likely the rise in temps has only helped the yeast clear some of the extra by-products from the earlier fermentation period.

Bottle if you have time, or take and bottle later if you can get to it in the next few weeks.

 

[Homercidal]

If you live near me, I'd gladly let you store it in a keg in my kegerator for a month or so.

 

[soot]

It looks just like yeast to me.

Tossing it is an option only if you want to waste 5 gallons of beer. Either spend time bottling it now (if it's ready), or take it with you if you can and bottle it when it's cleared up again in a few weeks.

There is plenty of yeast floating around in suspension to not worry about bottling. Yeast actually LOVE temps in the 90s. But they give off some funky flavors at that temp (mostly during the initial fermentation period). Most likely the rise in temps has only helped the yeast clear some of the extra by-products from the earlier fermentation period.

Bottle if you have time, or take and bottle later if you can get to it in the next few weeks.

I figured the transportation (aeration, light) would ruin the beer anyway. I would never intentionally throw away a batch unless its deadly.

And I wish I could have had kegged it like I had planned. I gave my friend my old mini-fridge to use as a kegerator for his beer and our schedules conflicted so I could never get it kegged or the fridge back. I've been hounding him for the past month or two to keg but its all in storage for now.

 

[beersydoesit]

I wouldn't worry about oxidation. I secondary in 6 gal. better bottles. There is usually enough CO2 in suspension to fill the head space... in my experience anyway. If the airlock bubbled for awhile after you racked to secondary, that was CO2 coming out of suspension to protect your beer.

 

[soot]

Sounds good. New question: trip to the LHBS to look at options. Since most of my kitchen has been wiped I was looking at using priming tabs. As for bottles, can I use the swing-top kind for carbonating (using the right amount of tablets as recommended by the package)?

They have a couple brown glass Growler and some slightly larger or about a pint clear glass swing-tops.

I guess the advantage is less bottles, less time, ease of transportation.
Disadvantage would be putting all my eggs in one basket (or several bottles) if it bombs.

 

[Homercidal]

Growlers are not for carbing in. Just don't.

Nothing wrong with swingtops or carb tabs if you like. I personally use sugar and a bottling bucket, but if you are going to try and bottle straight from the fermenter, that might be the best way to go.

 

[JetSmooth]

Growlers are not for carbing in. Just don't.

Nothing wrong with swingtops or carb tabs if you like. I personally use sugar and a bottling bucket, but if you are going to try and bottle straight from the fermenter, that might be the best way to go.

I thought swing-top growlers were okay. Screw top "jugs" were not. I have one of both but haven't planned on using either yet.

 

[Homercidal]

I thought swing-top growlers were okay. Screw top "jugs" were not. I have one of both but haven't planned on using either yet.

Sorry, I took your post to mean they had growlers and clear swingtops.

I have no idea if a swingtop growler is ok to carb in. Sounds expensive though.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Not sure how much searching you did, but some threads on here talk about beers that had been left in the fermenter 6 months to over a year and its their BEST Batch they've tasted! The worst case scenario here is that it won't carb and you would have to add some yeast in a few weeks, but like others have said that probably won't be necessary. Just get ready to have some potentially delicious beer after you move :rockin:

 

[LaurieGator]

You should be OK for bottling. Your yeast are ok.

I had 2 batches sit in the carboy for over a year and they came out great! I did add yeast to the bottling bucket since the consensus was the yeast were likely pooped out after 14 months.

 

[jeffmeh]

Definitely taste a sample, and if it tastes like beer bottle it.