Coopers kit forgotten in secondary

[Grad]

Hi everyone,
I have a question that I'm sure someone with beer brewing experience can answer. I made a coopers Amber ale kit around 4-5 months ago. I had planned on only leaving it in secondary for about 2 weeks but I forgot it for about 4 months. I know that certain types of beer benefit from long aging but I don't think this is the case for an amber ale? This is the only batch of beer I have ever made as I usually make cider and mead. I'm not sure
If it's worth it to bottle it or if the time will have degraded the flavour. I plan on taste testing it,
But I'm not sure I'll be able to tell if it's worth bottling given my lack of experience with beer brewing. Also not sure it'll carb but I figure I can just suck up a little of the sediment into the bottling bucket. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I don't wanna waste time bottling it if it's gonna end up tasting bad.
Thanks!

 

[JohnSand]

I think it will be alright. Plenty of people leave beer for years, much of it is good.
I can't always judge beer by tasting a flat warm sample. Smell it, taste it. If it isn't nasty, bottle it. Keep us posted.

 

[kh54s10]

Give it a taste. If it is terrible - toss it. If it is good you could bottle it. If it lacks hop flavor and aroma you could do a dry hop it.

Do not worry about stirring up any of the sediment, there are still plenty of yeast cells to carbonate the bottles. If you are concerned, get a pack of dry yeast and put a small pinch in each bottle.

I left an IPA for over a year. I tasted it and it was good but not very hoppy. I kegged it with an addition of hops in the keg. I am sure it was not what it would have been, but it was good.

 

[Jayjay1976]

It might turn out great. I'd definitely bottle it, though it might take longer to carb unless you pitch some new yeast as @kh54s10 suggested. I'd pitch the yeast into the bottling bucket after the priming sugar though, because adding a pinch of yeast into a bottle wet with sanitizer might kill it off before it can carb the beer, and anyway that sounds tedious and imprecise.

Glass carboy?

 

[kh54s10]

It might turn out great. I'd definitely bottle it, though it might take longer to carb unless you pitch some new yeast as @kh54s10 suggested. I'd pitch the yeast into the bottling bucket after the priming sugar though, because adding a pinch of yeast into a bottle wet with sanitizer might kill it off before it can carb the beer, and anyway that sounds tedious and imprecise.

Glass carboy?

Yes, it would be easier to add some yeast to the bottling bucket rather than trying to get a little into each bottle. What was I thinking????

 

[elreplica]

Hi everyone,
I have a question that I'm sure someone with beer brewing experience can answer. I made a coopers Amber ale kit around 4-5 months ago. I had planned on only leaving it in secondary for about 2 weeks but I forgot it for about 4 months. I know that certain types of beer benefit from long aging but I don't think this is the case for an amber ale? This is the only batch of beer I have ever made as I usually make cider and mead. I'm not sure
If it's worth it to bottle it or if the time will have degraded the flavour. I plan on taste testing it,
But I'm not sure I'll be able to tell if it's worth bottling given my lack of experience with beer brewing. Also not sure it'll carb but I figure I can just suck up a little of the sediment into the bottling bucket. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I don't wanna waste time bottling it if it's gonna end up tasting bad.
Thanks!

Lol. Reminded me that I have a Mangrove Jacks brown ale in secondary for three years. Looks fine last tine - no crazy floaties white pellicles green algae etc. I'm sure it's shyte but I will check on it one of these months [emoji23]

 

[TGFV]

I've left a coopers kits almost that long and it turned out great.

Essentially secondary is like a giant bottle with less yeast ratio, so as long as you minimized oxygen you should be fine.

Why do you secondary your Cooper's kits though if you don't mind me asking?

 

[TwistedGray]

You could always just bottle one or two, let them bottle condition for a week or whatever, and then decide what to do with the rest. That way you are not wasting time and energy; however, I'm sure it'll be fine.

What was storage temp (just curious).

 

[cubalz]

It always blows my mind when I read stories like this. How on earth do you forget about beer in a fermenter?? Hmmm, maybe it is just me. Regardless, take a sample from the fermenter, if it tastes good, keg or bottle it. Next time don't forget your beer - you will hurt its' feelings.

 

[TGFV]

It always blows my mind when I read stories like this. How on earth do you forget about beer in a fermenter?? Hmmm, maybe it is just me. Regardless, take a sample from the fermenter, if it tastes good, keg or bottle it. Next time don't forget your beer - you will hurt its' feelings.

I have forgotten a fermenter with aging apple wine in my garage for nearly a year, it had been covered by a box by a relative and I uncovered it while packing for a move. It happens rarely but still happens

 

[Grad]

Well it's in the bottles now, smelled and tasted great so I'm thinking it's gonna be just fine. I'll let you guys know how it is once it's carbed and chilled! Thanks for all the input!

 

[Grad]

It turned out really well, tastes great. It carbed up pretty fast considering I didn't add fresh yeast. Took less than a week. Glad I got everyone's input and ended up bottling it. Thanks again!