Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months

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Date: 23 Oct 2006 09:50:32
From:
Subject: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?
Thanks.

Date: 23 Oct 2006 13:12:53
From: JS
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

On 23 2006 09:50:32 -0700, thehaven104@gmail.com wrote:

>I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
>four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
>brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
>and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
>weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
>Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
>relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
>would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?
>Thanks.

You worry needlessly. Should be fine, and no yeast addition is likely
to be needed. Just to make sure, use a sanitized "thief" to draw a
sample, and smell/taste it. Only dump batch if it's obviously
contaminated, but it's highly unlikely if carboy was kept well sealed
without the airlock going dry.

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Date: 23 Oct 2006 17:22:28
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

On 23 2006 09:50:32 -0700, <thehaven104@gmail.com > wrote:
> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
> brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
> and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
> weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
> Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
> relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
> would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?

It will mostly depend on your sanitation, but it should be fine. I've
definitely heard of people keeping beers in secondary for longer than that
with no trouble. Personally, I've kept meads in carboys for several
years with no problem.

If you are going to bottle it, there is a chance that your yeast will
be either dead or too tired for carbonation. I would add some fresh
yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.
Obviously you don't need to worry about this if you are kegging and using
your CO2 tank to carbonate.

John.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 23:36:57
From: rb
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> On 23 2006 09:50:32 -0700, <thehaven104@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
>> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
>> brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
>> and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
>> weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
>> Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
>> relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
>> would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?
>
> It will mostly depend on your sanitation, but it should be fine. I've
> definitely heard of people keeping beers in secondary for longer than that
> with no trouble. Personally, I've kept meads in carboys for several
> years with no problem.
>
> If you are going to bottle it, there is a chance that your yeast will
> be either dead or too tired for carbonation. I would add some fresh
> yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.
> Obviously you don't need to worry about this if you are kegging and using
> your CO2 tank to carbonate.
>
>
> John.

what about oxidation issues?
ie transferred to secondary when primary ferment was over, some
headspace in the secondary....
or is this a little overated?
rb

Date: 24 Oct 2006 10:41:29
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

rb wrote:
> John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
>
>> On 23 2006 09:50:32 -0700, <thehaven104@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
>>> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
>>> brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
>>> and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
>>> weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
>>> Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
>>> relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
>>> would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?
>>
>>
>> It will mostly depend on your sanitation, but it should be fine. I've
>> definitely heard of people keeping beers in secondary for longer than
>> that
>> with no trouble. Personally, I've kept meads in carboys for several
>> years with no problem.
>>
>> If you are going to bottle it, there is a chance that your yeast will
>> be either dead or too tired for carbonation. I would add some fresh
>> yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.
>> Obviously you don't need to worry about this if you are kegging and using
>> your CO2 tank to carbonate.
>>
>
> what about oxidation issues?
> ie transferred to secondary when primary ferment was over, some
> headspace in the secondary....
> or is this a little overated?

Shouldn't be an issue.. CO2 probably knocked out and filled the headspace.

--
Dan

Date: 24 Oct 2006 09:24:45
From: Wayne
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

rb wrote:
> John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
>> On 23 2006 09:50:32 -0700, <thehaven104@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
>>> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good?

{much snipped}
Personally, I've kept meads in carboys for several
>> years with no problem.
>>

> what about oxidation issues?
> ie transferred to secondary when primary ferment was over, some
> headspace in the secondary....
> or is this a little overated?
> rb

The best thing to do is just give it a taste. If it hasn't been
disturbed too much during that 4 months, it may be just fine. If only a
little oxidation, it may still be drinkable considering the type of
beer. In any case, NEVER dump it without giving it a taste first. You
may be wasting a perfectly good beer.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Date: 25 Oct 2006 14:29:16
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

On Tue, 24 2006 23:36:57 +1000, <snafu_1@lycos.com > wrote:
> what about oxidation issues?
> ie transferred to secondary when primary ferment was over, some
> headspace in the secondary....
> or is this a little overated?

You may have a bit of oxidation, but there's nothing much you can do
about it now. It shouldn't ruin the beer or anything. I'd still go
ahead and bottle/keg and enjoy it. IMO, it's probably a little
overated in that you may not even notice it.

John.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 15:11:27
From: Adam Preble
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

thehaven104@gmail.com wrote:
> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I

The beer should be perfectly fine. It might even carbonate. If it was
sitting in secondary at a low temperature for any point in that, the
yeast might be dormant and unsuitable for carbonating. In that case,
repitch yeast at bottling of the same strain and brand. If you're not
near a supplier, you can try to pull off some of the dregs and make a
starter with it. If it goes active, then you're OK. However, it's
probably too much work with too much risk of infection from the handling.

> brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
> and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
> weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.

Bottle it and keep them. If your friend magically appears on the
weekend to take his share, the proper change in your brewing procedure
would be to replace your friend. ;)

Date: 24 Oct 2006 23:30:28
From: Ho Rang Moe
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

Date: 26 Oct 2006 05:40:55
From:
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

thehaven104@gmail.com wrote:
> I've got a Maple Brown Ale that has been sitting in a Secondary for
> four months now and I was wondering if you think it is still good? I
> brewed this with a friend and told the friend they needed to come back
> and bottle it. The Friend keep saying next weekend, and obivously next
> weekend has never come, so I am going to do something about it myself.
> Should I just dump it or try and bottle it or keg it? It looks
> relatively good. Is all of the yeast dead in it, so if I bottled it
> would I need to put some new yeast in it to achieve carbonation?
> Thanks.

I wouldn't toss it unless I looked it over and was sure
there was a reason to do so. You can sample it and answer that
question. At this point you may have to consider the use of some
bottling yeast but not always is that nessesary. I have done exactly
what you have yet made sure to swirl a save the minor amount of
sediment bringing it into suspension so that it may begin to work
again. Four months is not all that long. Give it a try as is. I think
it could be fine.

Steve

Date: 26 Oct 2006 05:03:00
From: Scotty B
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

JS:
> ...no yeast addition is likely to be needed...

John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> ...I would add some fresh
> yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.

I've got a similar situation at home with a beer that's been sitting in
secondary for a few months (just been busy, you know?). Can we get a
consensus as to whether or not more yeasties should be added? Is it one
of those things where it can't hurt (except the small expense for the
yeast) and can really only help?

Thanks,
Scotty B

Date: 26 Oct 2006 15:58:54
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

On 26 2006 05:03:00 -0700, <michaellasalle@gmail.com > wrote:
> JS:
>> ...no yeast addition is likely to be needed...
>
> John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
>> ...I would add some fresh
>> yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.
>
>
> I've got a similar situation at home with a beer that's been sitting in
> secondary for a few months (just been busy, you know?). Can we get a
> consensus as to whether or not more yeasties should be added?

There is no real consensus, it's going to depend on the individual batch.
Sometimes the existing yeast will be fine, other times they will not. There's
a lot more involved than just the amount of time it's been sitting. The
only way you'll know for sure is by bottling and having the carbonation
fail.

> Is it one
> of those things where it can't hurt (except the small expense for the
> yeast) and can really only help?

That's how I'd look at it. For relatively short secondaries, it's probably
not worth bothering with extra yeast. The original yeast should be fine.
Once you get into multi-month secondaries, then the original yeast becomes
more questionable. It's certainly possible that you'll be fine (probably
most of the time), but like you said adding extra yeast a few days before
bottling can't hurt. It's basically just insurance that the carbonation
will go well.

John.

Date: 26 Oct 2006 12:39:12
From: John Bleichert
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

Scotty B <michaellasalle@gmail.com > wrote:
> JS:
>> ...no yeast addition is likely to be needed...
>
> John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
>> ...I would add some fresh
>> yeast, leave it alone for a couple days, and then prime/bottle as usual.
>
>
> I've got a similar situation at home with a beer that's been sitting in
> secondary for a few months (just been busy, you know?). Can we get a
> consensus as to whether or not more yeasties should be added? Is it one
> of those things where it can't hurt (except the small expense for the
> yeast) and can really only help?
>
> Thanks,
> Scotty B
>

When we lager, we do it in secondary for several months, and never (?)
need to add yeast at the end. Why should a long-distance ale be any
different?

-----------------------------------------------
John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!

Date: 26 Oct 2006 17:40:57
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Beer Sitting in Secondary for 4 months - What's Next

On Thu, 26 2006 12:39:12 GMT, <syborg@earthlink.net > wrote:
> When we lager, we do it in secondary for several months, and never (?)
> need to add yeast at the end. Why should a long-distance ale be any
> different?

It certainly doesn't happen all of the time, but I've definitely heard of
issues with both lagers and ales not carbonating after a long secondary
or lagering phase (so I'd argue with your "never" above). There are a lot of
factors involved though. For the average beer and fermentation time it's
probably not anything to worry about. Four months sounded like a long enough
secondary that I'd at least feel more comfortable about it by adding some
extra yeast. I probably would feel differently if it were only 1 or 2 months.

John.