Just bottled an IPA that was in fermentor for 2.5 years

[fanch75]

Tonight I think I am going to give the bottles a gentle shake by turning each one upside down a few times to "wake the yeast up." I have them on the main level of the house right now, about 70 degrees. A little warm, but again, trying to wake them up. A plan to move them down into the basement where it is about 60 degrees after a few days.

To be clear on the smell, it definitely had a weakened aroma but it smelled like beer and definitely did not smell foul. I'm getting a good feeling about this. I uploaded pics of it to the original post, but here is the beer in the bottling bucket. Look at how clear it is.

 

[peterj]

Wow, that's crazy. 2.5 years. I'm glad you went ahead and bottled them up. Should be interesting even if they end up tasting gross. Did you taste it at all before you bottled them?

Tonight I think I am going to give the bottles a gentle shake by turning each one upside down a few times to "wake the yeast up." I have them on the main level of the house right now, about 70 degrees. A little warm, but again, trying to wake them up. A plan to move them down into the basement where it is about 60 degrees after a few days.

If it were me, I would plan on leaving them as warm as you can get them for at least a couple of months since you didn't add any yeast at bottling. I think it will take a while for these to carbonate, if they do at all. Good luck though! I mostly responded just to subscribe to this thread!

 

[LandoLincoln]

Tonight I think I am going to give the bottles a gentle shake by turning each one upside down a few times to "wake the yeast up." I have them on the main level of the house right now, about 70 degrees. A little warm, but again, trying to wake them up. A plan to move them down into the basement where it is about 60 degrees after a few days.

To be clear on the smell, it definitely had a weakened aroma but it smelled like beer and definitely did not smell foul. I'm getting a good feeling about this. I uploaded pics of it to the original post, but here is the beer in the bottling bucket. Look at how clear it is.

You could always pop the cap off of one and replace the cap with a balloon to see if it's actually carbonating. My guess is that those yeasts are completely dead.

 

[MattyIce]

Super cool.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I don't know why so many homebrewers sit back and root for every possible defect in the brewing process to be disproven as myth. I guess they just want making exception beer to be easier, but it's not that hard if you take these defects and their contributing factors into consideration.

HSA might be mostly myth in homebrew circles, but autolysis, oxidization, dms, diacetyl, skunking,....these are real things. Take a sensory analysis course and judge a large homebrew competition to see, taste and smell them in action. Sitting back and hoping a stranger on the internet tells you they're not real is not going to improve your brewing.

Some groupthink, like "IPA's are ONLY good fresh" is just dogma. It's not true. It may not be what you want from an IPA, but I've had 2 year old heady topper that was absolutely amazing. I always strive to drink them fresh because the hop aroma and flavor tend to diminish over time, but that doesn't mean it's a ruined beer if it ages, it's just a DIFFERENT beer. I got a gold medal in a big contest once with an aged DIPA. I entered it as an American Barleywine. It was 2nd place best of show too.

Anyway, /grumpyoldmanrantaboutgroupthink

 

[fimpster]

Sub'd. I want to see how this turns out.

 

[1977Brewer]

I don't know why so many homebrewers sit back and root for every possible defect in the brewing process to be disproven as myth. I guess they just want making exception beer to be easier, but it's not that hard if you take these defects and their contributing factors into consideration.

HSA might be mostly myth in homebrew circles, but autolysis, oxidization, dms, diacetyl, skunking,....these are real things. Take a sensory analysis course and judge a large homebrew competition to see, taste and smell them in action. Sitting back and hoping a stranger on the internet tells you they're not real is not going to improve your brewing.

Some groupthink, like "IPA's are ONLY good fresh" is just dogma. It's not true. It may not be what you want from an IPA, but I've had 2 year old heady topper that was absolutely amazing. I always strive to drink them fresh because the hop aroma and flavor tend to diminish over time, but that doesn't mean it's a ruined beer if it ages, it's just a DIFFERENT beer. I got a gold medal in a big contest once with an aged DIPA. I entered it as an American Barleywine. It was 2nd place best of show too.

Anyway, /grumpyoldmanrantaboutgroupthink

I had an 18 month old Firestone Union Jack that I kind of wish I could replicate. Absolutely zero hop aroma that I could detect, super bitter with enough malt to back it up. Too bad there's no way a home brew is going to sit on a shelf that long at my house.

 

[Kharnynb]

I don't know why so many homebrewers sit back and root for every possible defect in the brewing process to be disproven as myth. I guess they just want making exception beer to be easier, but it's not that hard if you take these defects and their contributing factors into consideration.

HSA might be mostly myth in homebrew circles, but autolysis, oxidization, dms, diacetyl, skunking,....these are real things. Take a sensory analysis course and judge a large homebrew competition to see, taste and smell them in action. Sitting back and hoping a stranger on the internet tells you they're not real is not going to improve your brewing.

Some groupthink, like "IPA's are ONLY good fresh" is just dogma. It's not true. It may not be what you want from an IPA, but I've had 2 year old heady topper that was absolutely amazing. I always strive to drink them fresh because the hop aroma and flavor tend to diminish over time, but that doesn't mean it's a ruined beer if it ages, it's just a DIFFERENT beer. I got a gold medal in a big contest once with an aged DIPA. I entered it as an American Barleywine. It was 2nd place best of show too.

Anyway, /grumpyoldmanrantaboutgroupthink

Eh, that's exactly how the science of brewing advances, by trial and error.
If we just accept all these things like god-given truth, we'll never get better at beer making.
Autolysis is practically impossible under 3 months, especially with hops and alcohol present.
Skunking is a fact, it has been observed and there is a reason beer is mostly sold in uv-safe packaging.

 

[spearmintskies]

Really curious to see how this turns out. I wish you tasted it though. Do you know the gravities?

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Tonight I think I am going to give the bottles a gentle shake by turning each one upside down a few times to "wake the yeast up."

Just so we are totally clear, most of the folks here, me included, are certain your yeast have died, and if you want to naturally carbonate the brew in bottles you will have to pop the tops and add more yeast.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Better yet, make a tasting video for your first bottle.

Even better yet, send a bottle to @Billy-Klubb so he can make a tasting video.

I second this.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Eh, that's exactly how the science of brewing advances, by trial and error.
If we just accept all these things like god-given truth, we'll never get better at beer making.
Autolysis is practically impossible under 3 months, especially with hops and alcohol present.
Skunking is a fact, it has been observed and there is a reason beer is mostly sold in uv-safe packaging.

I really don't think you understood my perspective at all. I'm all for this experiment. I'm not for people labeling autolysis as some sort of myth (especially in the context of a 2.5 year old beer) or dogmatic statements about IPAs "ONLY" being good fresh. Like an above poster I've had old IPAs that were awesome. I won a gold medal and a 2nd best of show in the Amercian Barleywine category with an aged IPA. It wasn't what most people look for in an IPA, but that's why I entered it into a more appropriate category.

 

[madscientist451]

I'm wondering why you didn't taste it before you bottled it.
Maybe you did taste it? Your posts didn't say so either way.
I'd be surprised if you actually get any carbonation. I'm thinking the yeast has pretty much all died after all that time. Ok, there is a chance that some yeast survived so maybe it will carb up.

 

[rlmiller10]

Nothing to add, just want to see the final tasting report

 

[Kee]

I second this.

The video may resemble a spit take.

 

[jfk69]

Subscribed just for the taste test!

 

[antony]

subbed...too crazy. I have beer in bottles from 2 yrs ago that I can't bring myself to dump but every time I try them, they suck. back in the closet...

 

[Biscuits]

Sub'd for taste. Good luck!

 

[Brew_G]

no, im not nuts. Pretty sure i would know what it tastes like already. It would taste like an ipa but with no hop flavor or aroma. So your left with a very bitter beer......

Yes, i am aware of how the ipa was created.

You do know that we don't dry hop ipas to prevent them from going bad right.... We arent on a boat sailing to india.

Ipas are best fresh.... And as a brewer, you should know this.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1430182223.165771.jpg

 

[Andyoesq]

I'm in - curious for taste test

 

[j1n]

I think the point is that your suggestion to "just dump it" after 2.5 years, simply because he called it "IPA", is short-sighted, unscientific, and will teach us nothing

Im not sure what exactly your going to learn other than there is a reason nobody ages an IPA.

Yes, style of beer does matter when aging. I would never age an IPA and i wouldn't mind dumping it if it were mine. its not hard to make more....

 

[orangehero]

Allowing an English IPA to mature for up to a year before dry hopping and packaging is not an uncommon technique. Not everyone prefers a superfresh American IPA nor is it the only way to make an IPA.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

moar hops! we needs moar hops!!!

 

[brew_ny]

I would have drunk it flat about 2.3 years ago

OP please remember to give us tasting notes

all the best

S_M

 

[te-wa]

is the beer drinkable? who cares! the name alone, after your daughter, is reason enough to bottle it, label it, and give it as a gift when she's old enough. she'd never drink it, but the thought is what counts.

*my dad kept a can of hudepohl lager, from Cincinnati - for about 34 years now. is the color of the Bengal's team helmets. useless swill of course, but i'd like to inherit it when the time comes.

 

[fanch75]

I'm wondering why you didn't taste it before you bottled it.
Maybe you did taste it? Your posts didn't say so either way.
I'd be surprised if you actually get any carbonation. I'm thinking the yeast has pretty much all died after all that time. Ok, there is a chance that some yeast survived so maybe it will carb up.

Tasting beer out of the primary is something I have never done. I've brewed probably ~10 batches.

Regarding autolysis: I didn't want to put any more work into the beer (goign out and buying more hops, dry-hopping etc) so my choices within those parameters were either bottle it or dump it. I knew about autolysis certainly and I expected the batch to reek when I popped the bucket open...but it smelled mellow but good! My understanding (which may be wrong) is that when yeast die, they rupture (autolysis) and a horrible smell results. I'm hoping/praying that the yeast are just dormant somehow. I agree, it is a long shot, but the good smell/lack of a bad smell gives me hope.

 

[fanch75]

is the beer drinkable? who cares! the name alone, after your daughter, is reason enough to bottle it, label it, and give it as a gift when she's old enough. she'd never drink it, but the thought is what counts.

*my dad kept a can of hudepohl lager, from Cincinnati - for about 34 years now. is the color of the Bengal's team helmets. useless swill of course, but i'd like to inherit it when the time comes.

Labeling it for my daughter: Now there's a good idea! I will have to look into that.

Are you a Bengals fan? Huge fan here, as frustrating as it is. I lived in the Ohio Valley for 22 years, including 11 in Cincinnati. We are a QB away from being an elite team. All that talent squandered by bad Andy Dalton decisions. Frustrating. Who Dey?!?!

 

[ten80]

Im not sure what exactly your going to learn other than there is a reason nobody ages an IPA.

Yes, style of beer does matter when aging. I would never age an IPA and i wouldn't mind dumping it if it were mine. its not hard to make more....

Unwrap your head from styles and try viewing this as an experiment with nothing to loose but a little free time. If that is offensive to you, then you are missing the spirit of homebrewing and experimentation.

 

[MatchstickBrewingCo.]

Subscribed, lookin forward to the tasting!

 

[Peruvian802]

Next time ......

Srsly?