Left in Fermenter for over 2 Months

[annapolisftw]

Hi,

I left beer in my primary fermenter for over 2 months (been very busy and out of town). I really want to get back into brewing, but I don't know whether I should bottle it or give up on it. Does leaving it in that long ruin the taste?

 

[Kirkwooder]

Taste it. How does it taste? I bet it's fine.

 

[ChefRex]

You're fine, what style?

 

[jtp137]

A Lot of people do that on purpose and they never complain about bad flavors from dying yeast

 

[beergolf]

No problem. Bottle it up and brew more.

 

[mrgrimm101]

No problem. Bottle it up and brew more.

Exactly. You're fine, there shouldn't be any off flavors from leaving it too long. Just curious..what style?

 

[edroberts]

2 months is no concern. If you're absolutely insistent that you need to pull your beer off in a week or two, you're probably limiting the yeast's ability to clean itself up post-fermentation anyway.

 

[joshesmusica]

i'm actually very interested how this one turns out.
what style was it? are you bottling or kegging it?

 

[sikkingj]

This happens to me all the time, 2months is not that long. Bottle and enjoy!

 

[BigFloyd]

I'd not hesitate to bottle or keg that.

 

[RM-MN]

Only 2 months? I think you should wait at least another month.

Seriously, your beer could sit in the fermenter for another 4 to 6 months without hurting it.

 

[Bk2X]

I have read this quite often that you can leave your beer in primary for quite a while after reaching FG. However, I was at a local pub not long ago and asking their main brewer about some of the processes as I was trying to diagnose an off flavor I was having and one of my questions was how long they leave beer in primary. He said they take it off immediately as it is just as important as leaving it in primary long enough. I didn't get the impression he had been their main brewer for very long but he made it seem like commercial brewing was a totally different animal with regards to issues like this.

 

[tnance1337]

As long as you've controlled temperature conditions, you should be fine. One of the bigger concerns with leaving beer in primary for too long is autolysis, but this typically takes a while to occur without extreme temperature issues, or other serious outlying issues, that are unlikely to occur. In short, 2 months isn't an exceptionally long time, and should be no cause for worry.

To add to the previous poster: commercial breweries operate under similar, but different, assumptions and constraints. Ideally, they need to optimize primary and secondary (some refer to it as main fermentation and maturation/condition) fermentations, along with filtration and yeast propagation. It's a delicate balance between time, temperature, and production needs. The homebrewer's experience will vary because of less constraints.

But, to echo advice given, taste it. Is it good? Package that **** and enjoy!

 

[Chadwick]

I've left beers in the primary for 4 months and more. As long as the airlock isn't dried out, you should be good to go. If it did dry out, taste it first. If it tastes right, you're good to go.

EDIT: lol, if the airlock dried out and it tastes bad, bottle it anyways. The beer bums that come around will be good to go! lol

 

[RM-MN]

I have read this quite often that you can leave your beer in primary for quite a while after reaching FG. However, I was at a local pub not long ago and asking their main brewer about some of the processes as I was trying to diagnose an off flavor I was having and one of my questions was how long they leave beer in primary. He said they take it off immediately as it is just as important as leaving it in primary long enough. I didn't get the impression he had been their main brewer for very long but he made it seem like commercial brewing was a totally different animal with regards to issues like this.

He's right, the commercial brewers do have to take the beer off the yeast at the right time but it has to do with collecting yeast at the bottom of a large conical that they brew with. That large amount of yeast will heat up and that will cause yeast autolysis. You won't have that in a bucket or carboy and probably not in a smaller conical.

 

[DwightCD]

Donate the batch to me and I'll let you know!