Beer Forum

Well, I recently got back into brewing after a 14-16 month hiatus. The last 2 batches I made back then were a Tripel and a christmas fruitcake old ale (Mosher), which was brewed before last Christmas. I got lazy and complacent. I dumped the fruitcake from the ferm bucket about 4 months ago when I got sick of looking at it and realized it wasn't very salvageable, judging by the 4 inch mat of moldy fruit floating on the top. I still had the tripel in a glass secondary carboy, and it looked fine, except for the inch of yeast it had been sitting on for so long.

Well, I figured I'd reacquaint myself with bottling. I bottled it about 12 days ago, and just had my first test bottle. While not quite carbed all the way, I am completely shocked to find that it is not a festering autolytic cocktail. It's actually drinkable! It does seem to have an exaggerated, plasticky tang that I associate with extract, but for a belgian that I did little to control ferm temps and then neglected for the last year and a half, I can't believe that I am actually enjoying it. There is a pronounced fruitiness that is a little stronger than it should be, but it is nice. Almost a cherry/honey thing. For a total write-off to turn into 2 cases of semi-decent tripel is pretty amazing. My desire to brew was rekindled recently, but this definitely restores my confidence.

With as much caution that is prescribed in the homebrew community, it is suprising how often a completely neglected and disregarded beer can come out being pretty decent. Keep on brewin'.
mark
www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com
www.thebackyardbrewer.com

nice to hear that the brewing bug is back. and don't wait so long between batches now that you want back in. the trippel will be gone before you know it. happy brewing.

mbird wrote:With as much caution that is prescribed in the homebrew community, it is suprising how often a completely neglected and disregarded beer can come out being pretty decent. Keep on brewin'.
mark

It's not difficult to make good beer, but it can be to do so consistently. I put my stuff away for a couple of years about 10 years ago. When I got around to bottling, my wife told me it tasted like prune juice.