Is this beer even worth brewing....

[Dalymiddleboro]

Hey guys,


Came to our attention that we had 5 gallons of a an extract belgian wit we brewed 4 months ago, but completely forgot about... Still in the bucket. Our house is generally on the cooler side living in NH, so I want to say temperature wise, it's been at a consitant 65-70 degree temp. Last 5 min of the boil, we put dried orange peels in a muslim bag and finished the brew that way. Took OG, and put it in the fermenting bucket, only to forget about it for 4 months...

Is this worth bottling? Or will it just taste like garbage? Will we still get the orange hint to it? Not sure what we should do with this batch

If it's still worth it, we'll pick up sanitizer this weekend and bottle it up.

 

[Psylocide]

Muslim bag, awesome.

Why don't you taste it and see? It won't harm you, take a swig, and decide if it's worth it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

... we put dried orange peels in a muslim bag and finished the brew that way.

No wonder they are so bitter.

The beer is already brewed. Taste it, then decide if it's worth trying to carb.

 

[m00ps]

a beer like a witbier definitely wont be harmed by an extended conditioning process, just wont really benefit either. At least its not an IPA

I can never comprehend how this stuff happens. Maybe everyone else's life is just 100x more exciting than mine

 

[Dalymiddleboro]

a beer like a witbier definitely wont be harmed by an extended conditioning process, just wont really benefit either. At least its not an IPA

I can never comprehend how this stuff happens. Maybe everyone else's life is just 100x more exciting than mine

I meant to say is it worth "bottling" apologies.

I've got 2 dogs, a 15 month old, a fiance, work 50 hours a week, and also partake in hunting, video games, miniature war gaming, and have various home projects, so I kind of overextend myself in the hobby part of life... I don't like to be bored!

I'll try it and taste it, I just wanted other people's opinions on if they thought 4 months was too long to just be sitting in the fermenting bucket. I would hate for 5 gallons of brew to be wasted, but also don't want it to taste like garbage.

 

[Psylocide]

, but also don't want it to taste like garbage.

I only know of one way to verify that.

 

[Dalymiddleboro]

Another question... We're out of sanitizer, I don't want to infect the beer either. What's the best way of tasting a little, without infecting the batch?

 

[m00ps]

I wouldnt risk taking a sample without proper sanitization. Id wait till you get some. Whats another few days gonna do to hurt it?

 

[MrFancyPlants]

To answer your question, buy some more sanitizer.
You could boil some water with a big spoon in it and sample that way, but once to pop the lid off, you'll want to go ahead and bottle which you'll probably need that sanitizer and a siphon.

I think this beer will turn out fine assuming the lid was on tight enough to prohibit lots of oxidation, and assuming you haven't been popping the lid off to check on it, especially recently.

 

[Dalymiddleboro]

To answer your question, buy some more sanitizer.
You could boil some water with a big spoon in it and sample that way, but once to pop the lid off, you'll want to go ahead and bottle which you'll probably need that sanitizer and a siphon.

I think this beer will turn out fine assuming the lid was on tight enough to prohibit lots of oxidation, and assuming you haven't been popping the lid off to check on it, especially recently.

Actually haven't checked it once. The lid went on TIGHT, and we forgot about it until now... May have been closer to 5 months...

I'll wait to get sanitizer to sample it, worse case we can just brew another batch, and we'll then have sanitizer to do it...

You guys don't think it'll have lost any character?

 

[Psylocide]

Actually haven't checked it once. The lid went on TIGHT, and we forgot about it until now... May have been closer to 5 months...



I'll wait to get sanitizer to sample it, worse case we can just brew another batch, and we'll then have sanitizer to do it...



You guys don't think it'll have lost any character?

We can guess all we want. Hops have faded some, I'm sure. In a wit it's probably negligible though.

If you open it and it has a huge pellicle, it may have gained some character, however bad.

Nothin to it but to do it.

 

[Sailingeric]

Bottle it. Worse that happens is you spend about an hour of your time bottling and it turns out tasting like ass (which I doubt it will). If it is less than great beer serve it at your holiday gatherings, it will still be better than most of the swill the common folks drink.

 

[BGBC]

You guys don't think it'll have lost any character?

Maybe, but see below...

I only know of one way to verify that.

 

[bernardsmith]

Writing more as a wine maker than a brewer, if there was a great deal of head space in the bucket then your beer may have begun to oxidize. I am not sure how much CO2 there would be on the surface to inhibit oxidation after 4 months of aging if there was several inches or more of headroom...