Miracle Ale.. sooo many problems yet sooo good.

[kejsport]

I just drank my beer and it totally surprised me. I made a beer that was extremely hoppy. It fermented without me adding yeast. I left it in indirect sunlight for a couple of days, and then stored it for over a year... oh yeah and the plug dried allowing air in. i have no idea how long that went on for. So i unplugged it (sort of) and tried it today.It smelled great. it was hoppy in the aftertaste, but actually was quite sweet, like a bitter sweet IPA. i could still taste the sweetness of the malt. i thought, hmmm not bad, so I figured... I'm going for it... let's bottle. In two weeks we will see if Miracle Ale is drinkable. Anyone else have luck like this?

 

[lilwiggum]

It fermented without me adding yeast.

Huh, I didn't know this was possible.

Anyway, I've made beers I was sure would have some contamination issues that turned out surprisingly great. However, I've never put a beer through what you described! Just think how good your next batch will be!

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Are you sure it fermented? What was your OG and FG? It's totally possible that you got some wild yeast in there but the fact that you say it's sweet makes me think it didn't ferment out.

Also, what led to you not adding yeast in the first place and why did you keep it for so long? Where did you store it?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Are you sure it fermented? It's totally possible that you got some wild yeast in there but the fact that you say it's sweet makes me think it didn't ferment out.

This really isn't a weird practice. Hell, people didn't even know what yeast was until ~1770 and Luis Pasteur so spontaneous fermentation used to be the standard. Granted, certain cultures would have mash paddles passed down from generation to generation which would be where their special house yeast strain would culture... but as long as it tastes and smells fine, you'll be fine.

And I'm pretty sure he was saying he can taste the malty sweetness, not that the beer was actually sweet. Wild yeast or bacteria tears through sugar and will dry out any wort.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I'm just curious why someone would not add yeast to their wort, assume it fermented and then age it for a year? To me it sounds like this person bought a kit, got lazy and never finished it, put it in a closet and forgot about it for a year, then just randomly tasted it.

We need more details here.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I'm just curious why someone would not add yeast to their wort, assume it fermented and then age it for a year? To me it sounds like this person bought a kit, got lazy and never finished it, put it in a closet and forgot about it for a year, then just randomly tasted it.

We need more details here.

Again, this isn't a strange practice. That's how lambics were made for years and years and years and.... You can find information on it by doing a simple google search. Also, HBT Wiki: Wild Yeast or How To Capture Wild Yeast

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Thanks for the history lesson. I am well aware that fermentation is possible by picking up a wild yeast strain (I even said it in my first post), but it is not common. In fact, some people try very hard and fail repeatedly. There is a reason lambics are tough to brew.

If you go back and look at this guy's last few threads (from a year ago) it becomes pretty clear that his process is all kinds of wrong. He attempted a full mash with 14lbs of grain but only got an OG of 1.038 when his target was 1.066. My guess is that he did not clean or sanitize thoroughly and his beer fermented with leftover yeast from his previous batch.