Too long in secondary?

[Thor]

On February 16, I brewed a sunshine wheat recipe A week or so later, I put in in the secondary. Then I had a ton of travel and other things come up and did not have the opportunity to bottle it. Is it too late? I haven't smelled it, and I will, but if it smells OK, is it OK to bottle?

It's in my office, where temperatures fluctuate between 70 and 80, though the first few weeks were closer to 70.

I've seen posts where people talk about a few weeks in the secondary. I am just wondering whether 9-10 weeks is toooooo long.

Thanks, all!

 

[PT Ray]

If I had to take an educated guess, it won't be the freshest but worth keeping. If the gravity is in the 1.050+ range that will be in your favor. Last year me and a friend of mine made a stout that had a gravity of 1.039. He wound up leaving it in the secondary for something like 3 months before bottling. I bugged him for the first 6 weeks to bottle the stuff and then gave up. I finally got a chance to sample the stuff and couldn't drink it.

 

[Walker]

just take a sample and taste it. two months is not that long, really. The temp thing might be an issue, but there is only one way to find out.

-walker

 

[Mikey]

It's very common to leave beer in the secondary for months to allow it clear, or in the case of lagers several months is almost the minimum.

I have no idea why someone would suggest that it might not still be good. What's the difference if it sits in a bottle for a few months or a carboy for the same period?????

 

[MrSaLTy]

I have no idea why someone would suggest that it might not still be good. What's the difference if it sits in a bottle for a few months or a carboy for the same period?????

The problem really isnt the time its the fact that it was at 70-80 degrees all that time.

 

[Walker]

It's very common to leave beer in the secondary for months to allow it clear, or in the case of lagers several months is almost the minimum.

I don't know that I would call it 'very common' to leave an ale in the secondary for months, but it certainly isn't unheard of.

I have no idea why someone would suggest that it might not still be good.

It's just beginner uncertainty. We were all there at some point

What's the difference if it sits in a bottle for a few months or a carboy for the same period?????

exactly.

 

[Mikey]

It's just beginner uncertainty. We were all there at some point

I was referring to other threads on this board where people have responded that beer is only good for a short period of time in the secondary, bottle or keg.

 

[frothy]

Fundamentally as long as its in a sealed container and the co2 pressure has been allowed to build up - this is your effective preservation. Anaerobic bacterium that could grow in these conditions are rare around the home and the only obvious source of them would be if you got some earth or dirt contamination - Clostridium is commonly found in earth all over the world and causes diseases such as botulism where there have been problems in canned food.

Depending on how high it is- your alcohol content may also act as an effective preservative - Indian pale ale (IPA) is commonly over 6% by volume because when we Brit's used to ship it over to India it needed to be high % to survive the several months on board ship and scorching high temperatures/ fluctuations of india.

I might be a newbee but I'm also Batchelor of Microbiology
Matt