Left 2nd ferment sit for 3 months. Beer still good?

[olographio]

Hi, I left my beer second-ferment for 3 months due to being busy. There's a dozen small spots of white moss on the top, but the beer tastes good. It's a German ale.

I was wondering if it was safe to bottle/drink and if I can expect carbonation to occur.

Note that the yeast has never dropped which was what pushed me to forget about it at the first place. There seems to be a decent amount of alcohol present though.

 

[Brewenstein]

Do you mean you racked it to a secondary vessel? Unless you added something, there really is no "second ferment". Regardless, there should still be plenty of yeast in suspension to carbonate your beer. The white spots would concern me more, if in fact they are mold. I would rack the beer from underneath the "mold" into your bottling bucket and bottle. Make sure to use a priming calculator for the correct amount of sugar. After bottling, let them sit 2-3 weeks and have one to see how the carbonation is. If it good, which it should be by then, I would put them all in the refrigerator in case the white spots are infection starting. Otherwise you may have some bottle bombs on your hands.

good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Kent88]

White mold at the top? That could be floating yeast rafts, but it might be mold. If you could get a good photo of it and post it, we might be able to help with that.

So you transferred it to another vessel after it fermented for a while? If so and it turns out not to be mold, then it should be fine to bottle. Did you keep the airlock topped off?

What yeast did you use? If it was something like Wyeast 1007 German ale, than that is normal. I think there is even a dry wheat yeast that is labeled as a german ale type strain. Some strains just don't drop clear for months.

 

[olographio]

Do you mean you racked it to a secondary vessel?

Yes

Unless you added something, there really is no "second ferment".

It's been so long I forgot the basics.

I would rack the beer from underneath the "mold" into your bottling bucket and bottle.

OK, anyways, it automatically stuck on the sides when I moved the vessel.

Make sure to use a priming calculator for the correct amount of sugar.

I used a beginner's starter pack so thanks to that I know the exact quantity to put.

After bottling, let them sit 2-3 weeks and have one to see how the carbonation is.

OK so 2-3 weeks not refrigerated?

 

[Brewenstein]

Yes - 2-3 weeks around 70 degrees to carbonate. Then try one and if good put them all in the fridge.

 

[Addiktion]

You can always take a sample and send it in to white labs. They will analyze the beer and tell you everything that's in it. They charge 30 bucks so I would only sample if your worried.

 

[Bishop]

You can always take a sample and send it in to white labs. They will analyze the beer and tell you everything that's in it. They charge 30 bucks so I would only sample if your worried.

For $30, I would rather just brew another 5 gallon batch of beer.

 

[VladOfTrub]

"Do you mean you racked it to a secondary vessel? Unless you added something, there really is no "second ferment"."

In one way you are right and in another way you are wrong and neither have anything to do with adding something.

Home made beer produced from grain or syrup is glucose laden and due to being glucose laden there is no need for transferring the beer into a second fermentation vessel. Yeast, during primary fermentation rips through glucose and for that reason the beer has to be primed or artificially carbonated.

When grain is used along with a maltose rest, Beta converts glucose which is released when Alpha liquefies amylose, converting it into maltose and malto-triose. The non reducing end is glucose. From the reducing end sweet tasting, non-fermenting, sugar is released. Starch does not convert into sugar. The idea has misled many, the true term used in the brew house is mash conversion. Simple sugar is converted by Beta into a more complex type of sugar, disaccharide and trisaccharide. Enzymes hydrolyze (liquefaction) starch. Starch is only the container which holds the sugar and enzymes release the sugar by liquefaction. During the high temperatures that many all grainers use, the wort becomes sugar imbalanced. For enzymes to work harmoniously during a single temperature, single pH, single rest period method, the malt would have to be enzymatically balanced and malt of that nature does not exist. High modified, high protein malt is less rich in enzymes and low in sugar content. The enzymes that work during low temperature are kilned out or are very weak and at high temperature the enzymes denature rapidly. The single infusion method works because the malt is enzymatically depleted and to purchase expensive, high quality malt and use it with the single method is a waste of money. To use enzyme deficient malt with the tri-decoction method is a waste of time.

During second fermentation a type of conversion takes place. Yeast absorbs maltose through the cell walls and from within, maltose is converted into glucose. The yeast expels the glucose which becomes fuel and gravity decreases. During conditioning the yeast absorbs malto-triose and coverts it into glucose and natural carbonation occurs. Since, the beer is void of oxygen, the oxidizer is bound within the molecular structure of the sugar.

The white stuff is Gram N bacteria. Gram N strikes during second fermentation. A white ring or oil slick in the bottle is an indication of Gram N bacteria. Gram P bacteria settles in during primary fermentation.