fermentation - how long is too long?

[shoebag22]

I brewed a batch of brown ale and kept the temps optimal for the first 10 days,then life happened and I kind of forgot about this batch... for about 10 months. Is it doomed?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I think you're going to learn what yeast autolysis is....

 

[makomachine]

10 months? How do you forget about BEER that long???

 

[seabass07]

I can barely make it an hour before wondering how my beer is doing.

If your primary is sealed well, then it might be ok. I am curious about whether you'll have off flavors.

In for results!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I can barely make it an hour before wondering how my beer is doing.

If your primary is sealed well, then it might be ok. I am curious about whether you'll have off flavors.

In for results!

I can't see any possibility of it being okay. Smell it and you'll know if you have an issue with autolysis. If it smells like industrial grade burnt rubber, then you have a problem.

 

[ChillWill]

Would have thought your airlock would have dried out and let some nasty stuff and oxydised the beer?

 

[osagedr]

Let us know how it tastes, etc.

 

[nefarious_1_]

Wow, 10 months!!!???

What does it look like? I'd be surprised if it wasn't infected. You're airlock probably dried up a long time ago...

Oxidation; infection; autolysis; a number of things could have gone wrong.

You must report back though, I'm on the edge of my seat here...

 

[Revvy]

More than likely your beer is fine, not autolysied, not infected, not nasty. Folks have left their beers in primary, on the yeast, for a year with no issues.

You really just have to taste it to see, but I'd give it 95% that everything is perfectly fine.

I've done 5.5 months with no issues. In fact the beer did well in a comp, and some judges who tasted it socially loved it.


I would add more yeast at bottling though.

By the way, there's no such thing as "overfermenting" the beer fermented as long as the yeast took to do their job, then went dormant. They can only eat the fermentable sugars they could consume....when they were done with the sugars they could eat.

Just leaving it on the yeast isn't a guarantee that the yeast is going to automatically autolysis, nor is it a guarantee that the beer will be bad, or infected. We don't need to jump into that every time someone leaves their beer alone for a period of time.....It's like a bunch of nervous nellies crawl out of the woodwork instantly thinking the sky is falling.

We leave beers in secondary for YEARS and we don't stress about infections OR oxydation, AND we have beers that have sat on the yeast for a year with no autolysis...So REALLY there should be no need to start the fear mongering just because someone leaves a beer in primary for longer than "normal."

 

[osagedr]

It's like a bunch of nervous nellies crawl out of the woodwork instantly thinking the sky is falling....so REALLY there should be no need to start the fear mongering just because someone leaves a beer in primary for longer than "normal."

We save the fear-mongering for people who use a secondary. A bunch of nervous Nellies come out of the woodwork to talk about how the beer's gonna get oxydized and the yeast don't have a chance to "clean up after themselves."

 

[ChillWill]

Best bet is to look at the empirical evidence, i.e. try the beer! Does it tasted ok or like someone has thrown up his meal of dog turd and rubber tires into a glass for you to drink?

 

[nefarious_1_]

Well???

 

[shoebag22]

It's been 10 months... a few more days won't hurt

 

[shoebag22]

I just kegged it last night. I took a sample to taste and it was GREAT!!! I will let you know how it does post-carbonation.

 

[phoenixs4r]

2 months later, lol. Glad it worked out

 

[HomebrewMTB]

2 months later, lol. Glad it worked out

Maybe he was waiting for the 1 year anniversary.

Anyway, autolysis myth:

 

[statseeker]

I figured it would be awesome from reading the first few posts. 10 months on a brown isnt too bad. I think cold, it's gonna be great. Lucky guy to be able to leave it alone. I dont think many of us would be able to do it without brewing a parallel batch that we'd keg or bottle in the first 3 weeks.

 

[shoebag22]

beer tastes great after kegging!!!