Should I just give in or bottle up?

[menace2sobriety]

About a month and a half ago I tried brewing an IPA to aerate it I swashed it between two buckets. This of coarse caused it to foam and make me think I had more beer than I actually did. ( I now realize I should make sure to have my 5 gals before aerating) anyhow during fermentation I noticed I only had about 3 gallons. I freaked out and without boiling I simply poured the filtered spring water carefully into fermenter. Only the to realize that I hadn't boiled said water. I got discouraged and have left the brew in the fermenter now for well over a month. Should I just throw it out or do you think it would be worth bottling and taking up the space and bottles or just try from a new?

[spiderwrangler]

Taste a sample, bottle it if it's ok. In the future, don't freak out. Usually people end up over correcting so much they screw something else up...

[BDawg]

Taste a sample, bottle it if it's ok. In the future, don't freak out. Usually people end up over correcting so much they screw something else up...

+1 Try it and you may have lucked out. Not all water is loaded with bacteria. Just don't repeat the mistake in the future, regardless of whether this one turns out ok.

[Ozwald]

Definitely taste it before bottling. Odds are pretty good that it's fine. If the sample really tastes funky, sour or just rotten then you can dump it. If it just tastes sweeter than what you were aiming for, bottle it up. If there's a flavor that's just a little off, bottle it anyways. Even if it doesn't turn out well, you can at least take that knowledge/experience with you to your next batches.

[BrewerJ]

Taste and bottle, most likely with an ipa load of hops its fine. Even if there was a little bacteria they couldn't make a hoppy beer sour. Its harder to make a beer get sour than you think.

[menace2sobriety]

Thanks guys for the confidence booster I bottled the beer and it came out fine!! Drank a couple last night. Think I will brew today!! almost time to go all grain a couple more partial extracts and build a mash tun. I think I am getting there!!

[Ozwald]

You do realize for all this advice you're required to send us some samples to confirm your findings, right?

[menace2sobriety]

You do realize for all this advice you're required to send us some samples to confirm your findings, right?

You send me the address and I will send it! Any how I have had a couple other brewining friends and beer lovers drink some of it and a couple asked me if it was a Belgian or if I used a belgian yeast. One friend said it tasted of clove a little. Does anyone know what would cause this?