2 year old Oud Bruin questions

[DarthMalt]

A couple years ago I brewed JZ's Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin and, as it goes, life happened. The beer was left sitting in my parents' basement in secondary (after pitching bugs) for a very long time. I have my own place and periodically stop by for an airlock top-up, but sometimes months went by without even thinking about the beer.

Getting to the point... My father has been nagging me to dump this thing for several months now and I finally made it over there to take care of business. When I uncovered the beer, a thick, white crusty pellicle greeted me and curiosity took over. I pulled a sample and tasted the beer. Surprisingly, it isn't half bad. I expected it to be vinegar at this point: it definitely has a strong vinegar nose, but the taste isn't very sour. It is very dry, which I'm not totally happy about, but it doesn't taste bad. In fact, I finished the whole sample.

I am considering bottling the beer now and have returned for some advice. Do you think the dryness will take away from the finished product? There is little/no malt taste. I haven't taken a final gravity (I'll probably be instructed to do so) Will I need to repitch yeast in order to carbonate? There is a small bit of sediment/yeast on the bottom of the carboy, is it dead? Will this beer continue to carbonate indefinitely in the bottle because of the bugs (will I need to drink it in a timely fashion to avoid bottle bombs?)

Should I even bother with this thing? Jamil mentions in the book that it should be done in about 8 months or so and its been over 2 years!

Advice appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Arrheinous]

FG would be the only way to safely gauge whether or not you can bottle it. Something low is needed since Brett can carbonate a bottle with just a 0.002 drop.

If you're not satisfied with the beer then one of the ways to exhibit more control over the bugs is to blend it. Make up a full-bodied brown ale or something similar and mix the two to fit your tastes. Pasteurize the old portion to better stabilize the final product if you want.

 

[DarthMalt]

All right, I'll get on the gravity reading... I knew that was coming, forgot to take it yesterday when I was over there.

 

[Arrheinous]

It's quicker than mopping.

 

[dinnerstick]

it's more work, but you might consider blending your old beer with a new version, to get the sweet/sour combo that makes these beers really special. some things i have done to try to get the final flavor just right with a well aged red/brown that tasted a bit flat:
1. make a smaller batch of the same wort and ferment with an english yeast (for a bit of malty sweetness), blend with the old beer. 2. make a mini sour wort (something like 1/10 to 1/20 the volume of the beer; make a 1.050ish wort with extract, inoculate with raw malt and hold at lacto temp for a few days, boil it and ferment with cal ale) and blend that in for a sharper lacto punch, or even
3. make a malt vinegar and blend a few drops per liter.

 

[smokinghole]

FG would be the only way to safely gauge whether or not you can bottle it. Something low is needed since Brett can carbonate a bottle with just a 0.002 drop.

If you're not satisfied with the beer then one of the ways to exhibit more control over the bugs is to blend it. Make up a full-bodied brown ale or something similar and mix the two to fit your tastes. Pasteurize the old portion to better stabilize the final product if you want.

Its done and you can bottle I promise. You need to consider a lower than normal residual co2 level with this than most priming calculators will. So even if you go with 5oz total you will likely hit low because the residual dissolved CO2 is pretty low in your beer after sitting for over a year with little to no fermentation CO2 generation.

 

[sweetcell]

Will I need to repitch yeast in order to carbonate? There is a small bit of sediment/yeast on the bottom of the carboy, is it dead? Will this beer continue to carbonate indefinitely in the bottle because of the bugs (will I need to drink it in a timely fashion to avoid bottle bombs?)

after 2 years any sacch in there is dead. brett will eventually carbonate the beer but the bugs might also digest part of the priming sugar. to have control over carbonation, add a little champagne yeast at bottling.

Should I even bother with this thing?

i would give it a try. it might not be a classic oud bruin but sounds like you have a decent sour brown on your hands. carbonation might perk this beer up with a little carbonic acid. you could try adding fruit. or blending.

1. make a smaller batch of the same wort and ferment with an english yeast (for a bit of malty sweetness), blend with the old beer.

as someone else pointed out, you need to pasteurize the old beer or the bugs will just chew down the new beer until it's very similar to the old. you could also store the bottles refrigerated, the cold would decrease bug activity.

 

[DarthMalt]

Thanks for all the responses everyone, I've been away for a while. Finally made it over to the house to check the gravity, though I'm sure it's finished after sitting for over 2 years...
Ok, so FG is 1.013, a bit more dry than the JZ recipe but I did miss the OG by a few points. Tasted it again and it really isn't bad; the aroma is great, quite appetizing. I'm going to go ahead and bottle it up, worth a shot.

I'm considering pasteurization, but would rather avoid it... Regarding the refrigeration: I assume I would let the beer carbonate as normal, then pop it in the fridge when all is good? Of course, I won't be able to cellar the beer, but it has been bulk aging for the past 2 years so I'm already ahead of the game. I guess the bugs will continue to carbonate while in the fridge, just very slowly? Any idea how long they will keep in the fridge before they pop?

 

[dinnerstick]

the suggestion of pasteurization was based on the suggestion of blending in new beer. if you are only bottling the 2 year old stuff unblended you won't need to worry about slow overcarbonation. the flavors may change over time still but the drop in gravity from here on should be minimal.

 

[Arrheinous]

Was this an extract version? FG of 1.013 seems high.

 

[DarthMalt]

Was this an extract version? FG of 1.013 seems high.

Partial mash. Target FG is 1.012 per Jamil's recipe. Seems fine to me.
I was mistaken in my earlier post thinking it was much drier than the recipe, it's actually quite close.

 

[DarthMalt]

the suggestion of pasteurization was based on the suggestion of blending in new beer. if you are only bottling the 2 year old stuff unblended you won't need to worry about slow overcarbonation. the flavors may change over time still but the drop in gravity from here on should be minimal.

Ok, great, thanks much. I'll go ahead and pitch a bit of champagne yeast at bottling and hope for the best!