Just bottled an IPA that was in fermentor for 2.5 years

[Rockn_M]

I imagine that the OP tried to scrawl out the words, "deadly beer" with the blood that was leaking from his mouth and eyes but didn't quite make it.

Kinda what I'm thinking...wonder what happened to him.

 

[SnakeRidge]

Kinda what I'm thinking...wonder what happened to him.

Maybe the beer got up out the carboy and stuffed OP in? Maybe the IPA is walking around with the dude's identity?

 

[Vamptrump]

Maybe the beer got up out the carboy and stuffed OP in? Maybe the IPA is walking around with the dude's identity?

This is why I make sure to devour beer. I don't need the beer to rise up like the machines and destroy us!

 

[theck]

I have 5 gallons that was infected with Brett over a year ago that I'll be trying to keg pretty soon... I'll sample it first before I bother otherwise it looks the same as when it was infected, no black just a brett top still.

 

[ImNoExpert]

OP has probably been enjoying his beer and sharing with his friends and family as an example of good practices and patience. Then 2.5 years form now he'll think to himself, "Hmm, I should probably update that thread on HBT and see what happens."

 

[singybrue]

Exactly, the guy waited 2.5 years to bottle, you really think he's thinking "OH, it's been a little while, I should update my post on HBT"? 😃

 

[brew_ny]

hey OP it is aged enough crack one open and give us all some tasting note

Please

 

[slym2none]

hey OP it is aged enough crack one open and give us all some tasting note

Please

Gary_Oak can do better in one week than this guy can in 2.5 years.

 

[brew_ny]

Gary_Oak can do better in one week than this guy can in 2.5 years.

even Ray Charles could see that to be true

 

[drainbamage]

Gary_Oak can do better in one week than this guy can in 2.5 years.

Well yeah, because books.

 

[beernbourbon]

Damn.... Talk about crossing threads lol

 

[slym2none]

I deeply apologise...

 

[philipCT]

Sad thing is, to make another batch and age it for 18 years I'll be 73 when it's ready.

I've been hitting these over the years. Sometimes three or four a year, sometimes none. Been interesting to taste the flavor changes it's been through.

All the Best,
D. White

D. White - you are the man. I'm going to brew up a big Barleywine sometime soon - stash the bottles away somewhere - and do this same thing. I can't imagine how cool it would be tasting something you brewed 10 years ago!

My sons are 12 and 13. Maybe I should brew a Barleywine or an Imperial Stout and stash a case away for their 21st birthdays.

Thanks to this thread and to you for the inspiration.

 

[slym2none]

Dang... double post... my bad, show's ovah.

 

[Vamptrump]

Gary_Oak can do better in one week than this guy can in 2.5 years.

Gary_Oak has infiltrated the rest of the forum. He needs to stay in his degenerated thread. We must not allow it to spread!

Everytime I see an update on this thread I get excited. To keep that excitement contained, I'm going to have to ask for everyone to cease posting until the OP returns with tasting notes.

 

[slym2none]

Gary_Oak has infiltrated the rest of the forum. He needs to stay in his degenerated thread. We must not allow it to spread!

Everytime I see an update on this thread I get excited. To keep that excitement contained, I'm going to have to ask for everyone to cease posting until the OP returns with tasting notes.

 

[fanch75]

Alright, I am back. I see a few folks are eager to read about how the beer tastes. Sorry I didn't get on sooner to type up a response, just didn't get around to it.

So on Saturday night (day 14 of in the bottle), I cracked open a bottle with a buddy of mine. I could not wait to taste it! It did fizz *a little*, not much, but there were signs of carbonation! Very little however, I poured the beer into the glass (half for me, half for my buddy - wasn't goign to waste 2 bottles if it needed more conditioning). We gave each other a salute, and drank up.

It was flat, and I can't stand flat beer (which is why I don't bother tasting out of the primary - I'd throw out every batch based on the pre-conditioned taste). No signs of hops at all, it did have a *very faint* beer aroma. No foul smell, no hops smell, kind of like light beer I guess. Drinkign it, it was hard to get away from the flatness of it and it was not very good. Extremely bitter (I love IPAs but I made a bitter-beer face) but without the tasty benefits of the hops. I don't know what beer tastes like after autolysis occurs, but the beer did not taste good, but it certainly dit not smell bad which makes me think autolysis did not happen. It did not taste sour so I don't believe the beer to be infected. I know this will probably annoy a few of you but the weak carbonation gave me hope and I am going to give it more time to see if those yeasts can reproduce some more and add some more CO2 to the beer.

If you are interested in this story, please give it time. On the day I bottled it, my intent was to just throw the batch away but couldn't get myself to do it since the beer smelled fine and did not have any signs of infection. We feared the yeast would be dead to few, and it would probably take a while to condition if it conditioned at all.

Note: I updated the original post, marked 5/14/2015 update with the above posted added below that.

 

[Opiate42]

Thanks for the update! So what did your buddy think of it?

 

[itsratso]

or you could take 3 min to pop off the caps, sprinkle in a few dry yeast crumbs and recap. great thread OP and no offense, but i think we're all starting to see how it took 2.5 years for this to get bottled

 

[fanch75]

or you could take 3 min to pop off the caps, sprinkle in a few dry yeast crumbs and recap. great thread OP and no offence, but i think we're all starting to see how it took 2.5 years for this to get bottled

No offense taken. Like I said, I lost interest. There was a time when I wished the time away so the 2 weeks of conditionining would "hurry up & pass."

Is it as simple as as what you are describing? Just buy a packet of dry yeast (like the ones that come with the can kits) and sprinkle it in?

 

[Vamptrump]

I can't speak from experience on drinking a beer that was affected with autolyzed yeast. A friend of mine tried to explain it using Marmite and Vegemite as an example as these are made via autolysis.

It's says a lot that it's actually carbonating some, didn't get infected, and there are no signs of autolysis after sitting around for 2.5 years in primary. The drop off of hop aroma was to be expected.

With the surge of Austin asking for front page article submissions, I know I would love to read a full report on this unplanned experiment in a full blown article.

 

[itsratso]

yep. you only need a few grains for each bottle, others will chime in with more specific instructions or you can just search here for it.

 

[itsratso]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=156211

 

[fanch75]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=156211

Awesome! Thank you, my friend.

 

[fanch75]

Thanks for the update! So what did your buddy think of it?

He didn't say mcuh beyond "not bad." I think he was afraid to hurt my feelings.

 

[Vamptrump]

He didn't say mcuh beyond "not bad." I think he was afraid to hurt my feelings.

I know that feeling. I had multiple friends raving about a terrible beer I made as one of my first batches. I knew it was bad, floating proteins in the bottle, syrupy mouth-feel, extremely unbalanced, and at the time under-carbonated.

I've learned to no longer trust my friends in matters of beer reviewing. I need to join a home brew club in my area, at least then I should be able to get honest opinions. Although I believe it is in human nature to tell white lies when face-to-face with someone to prevent issues.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Thanks for the update! I think most of us would have been surprised if it were any good.

Hope you can give it some carbonation

 

[solafide]

He forgot he fermented some sperm and nine months later he found a baby. It'll be a other 2.5 years.

 

[Opiate42]

He didn't say mcuh beyond "not bad." I think he was afraid to hurt my feelings.

I know that feeling. I had multiple friends raving about a terrible beer I made as one of my first batches.

Ah yes.... the dreaded "Friend Bias". Have that from a few buddies. My partner is a pretty good taste tester, if she doesn't like something she's pretty blunt about it

 

[Cincyfan78]

I know that feeling. I had multiple friends raving about a terrible beer I made as one of my first batches. I knew it was bad, floating proteins in the bottle, syrupy mouth-feel, extremely unbalanced, and at the time under-carbonated.

I've learned to no longer trust my friends in matters of beer reviewing. I need to join a home brew club in my area, at least then I should be able to get honest opinions. Although I believe it is in human nature to tell white lies when face-to-face with someone to prevent issues.

What we like to do to avoid this is grab a few bottles of a similar style beer, and the blind taste test our batch along with the other beers that should be similar. That way, no one else knows which beer is which and they tend to be more honest about it. Plus, it's fun to compare and it's a good reason to get together and drink more beer!