Please help - brews left too long in fv

[Personal91]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen

I was having a very hectic month or 2 and then before I realised it I had 4 fermenting vessels that had been left to they're own devices ( too long by even my standards)

There was a ginger beer which I made from scratch myself
A coopers stout kit
A on the rocks blueberry cider kit
And A St. Peter's ruby red kit

Before putting them in barrels (all apart from the coopers stout were put into king kegs)I have given them all a taste and they seemed alright so put some extra sugar in the kegs and left them too it

The coopers stout is still in the fermenter and as I 'sampled it' hehe I added some more sugar to it so I could bottle it when I had the time

None of them taste as they should, is there anything I can do or am I totally screwed

 

[IainM]

How long have they been in the fv?

 

[Covrich]

If they all taste okay that then that is at least some consolation..

You could dry hop in the keg or add hop teas

Why would you add sugar and then not keg it?? Surely that will dry it out more and then you'd have to prime it again? (unless I misread)

 

[Personal91]

How long have they been in the fv?

Since the 22nd of October ! I'm happy leaving a brew a4-8 weeks but it seemed a it much this time round !

 

[Personal91]

If they all taste okay that then that is at least some consolation..

You could dry hop in the keg or add hop teas

Why would you add sugar and then not keg it?? Surely that will dry it out more and then you'd have to prime it again? (unless I misread)

I did prime the kegs with sugar apart from the stout which is still in a fermenting vessel

The problem is that a week or so later none of the brews tasted anything like they did before priming - that and the fact there's no pressure ! Are the yeast all dead ?

 

[IainM]

Two months isn't too bad, and there should still be some yeast in there even if most has precipitated out. However, with less yeast in suspension it will take longer to carbonate, and I would give it more than a week. What temperature have the kegs been kept at? If they are too cold then carbonation would be slowed or halted. I've had beers take longer than a fortnight to carbonate, so a low temperature and low cell count could be working against you. You can always bring them in and keep them not too far from the radiator. The other possibility is that it is carbonating but your kegs aren't sealed. You'll have to check with the keg people on how to see about how to check and fix this - I've found plastic kegs to be a pain in this regard, which is why I've given up on them and wouldn't recommend them.

 

[Personal91]

Two months isn't too bad, and there should still be some yeast in there even if most has precipitated out. However, with less yeast in suspension it will take longer to carbonate, and I would give it more than a week. What temperature have the kegs been kept at? If they are too cold then carbonation would be slowed or halted. I've had beers take longer than a fortnight to carbonate, so a low temperature and low cell count could be working against you. You can always bring them in and keep them not too far from the radiator. The other possibility is that it is carbonating but your kegs aren't sealed. You'll have to check with the keg people on how to see about how to check and fix this - I've found plastic kegs to be a pain in this regard, which is why I've given up on them and wouldn't recommend them.

My king kegs ( 2 of them were try' and tested and the other was 1 that was in a horrible state full of black mould that someone had dontated to my local home brew and I bought off them for a 10er which took more work then it was worth but I do like a challenge) are not to worry about, especially as I test them before putting brew in them and then Vaseline the seals

I will move to corner kegs soon but I think getting an AG rig (probably a BIAB) going first is more important as I already have a decent bench capper and bunch of bottles waiting to be cleaned before storing my next experiments (hopefully something mango flavoured) xD

 

[Covrich]

Has the flavour deteriorated?

Not saying it would be but it could be maybe some Autolysis crept in releasing off flavours, in an ideal world you would have racked off to secondary if you want to keep it for that long, I think a max of a month on the larger yeast cake is recommended.

 

[Personal91]

Has the flavour deteriorated?

Not saying it would be but it could be maybe some Autolysis crept in releasing off flavours, in an ideal world you would have racked off to secondary if you want to keep it for that long, I think a max of a month on the larger yeast cake is recommended.

I think if it's happened it won't upset me as I have already considered pouring away the brew - I will give another taste again soon though!

 

[cheapbrew]

Most of the yeast will have dropped so its gonna take some time time for the remaining yeast to chomp through the priming sugar.

 

[JapanBrew]

For sure the stout will be fine. I let mine go for a long time. At least 2 months then in the bottles for more months.
I think they'll be fine.