Weird stuff in aged homebrew bottles

[lukemarsh]

I homebrewed like crazy from around 2009 to 2011 then stopped for a while when I went traveling... I dug around in my cellar to see what I had in the stockpile and found that a lot of my really old homebrew (from around 2010 and 2011) had some strange light tint to the top surface of the liquid in the bottles. I never had that in the bottles straight after making them and while drinking them... only once or twice I had chunky white stuff floating on the top of my beers in the bottles (probably due to infection or something), but these were fine to begin with. I'm guessing I'm just being paranoid and it's just the yeast mixing in or something?

 

[mattdean4130]

I have no idea, but why not crack one and have a sniff/taste....

I'd say if there's no off tastes or smells, it might be alright, although i wouldn't know as i'm lucky to have a batch last me more than a couple of months....

Although this month i've gone crazy and put down 5 batches, so i might end up in the same situation.
Looks like it's going to be a boozy winter for me :beer:

 

[lukemarsh]

Yeah I've got a couple in the fridge chilling... I think it could be that some of them were lying down on their side, or I rolled them around too much getting them out of the boxes, so the yeast has just risen to the top. It can't really go off in the bottle can it
I'm hoping to put down a few more batches this winter too, I've slacked off far too long! The main reason I didn't drink much of my homebrew last time was because I always got that shitty homebrew metallic taste... never knew how to overcome it. I've heard that smashing it with hops can mask the gross homebrew smells/tastes... With age some of them have lost the bad taste, but retained the bad smell haha

 

[Yob]

Brewing with better process will achieve what you need… if it was shit when it was bottled… a prize goes to whomever can guess what it will be like now…

Quality ingredients, good process and temp control with a decent yeast = quality home brewed beer / craft beer, pay attention to all of those (and sanitation) and it's a done deal.

 

[Yob]

+ maybe a good balanced recipe…

 

[mattdean4130]

Brewing with better process will achieve what you need… if it was shit when it was bottled… a prize goes to whomever can guess what it will be like now…

Quality ingredients, good process and temp control with a decent yeast = quality home brewed beer / craft beer, pay attention to all of those (and sanitation) and it's a done deal.

He didn't say it was shit he just said there was something floating in it, probly just stirred up sediment.

 

[lukemarsh]

Some of the brews I did were shit to begin with... but I was advised to resist from chucking them all out, as ageing can 'improve' them (so I was told by my local homebrew specialist). I dunno how long that would take to make them good/better, or if he thought my definition of "shit to begin with" was the standard of a drinkable session beer... The main thing that I always hated about homebrew (mine and other people's) is that is ALWAYS has a 'homebrew taste' and/or smell. Only on occasion, when it's been hopped to the max, have I found a homebrew that doesn't have that smell or taste. I have also never had a homebrew that tastes even close to a craft beer... there always seems to be something stopping it from getting there.

BTW I'm talking kits/extracts here... you could probably get real close to a craft beer using all grain

 

[mattdean4130]

So how did said brew end up tasting?

 

[lukemarsh]

Cracked it just the other night... bloody hell! I remember making a few decent batches toward the end of my brewing rampage, but I still ended up forgetting about them after I went traveling. This one was an attempted copy of a James Squire Golden Ale type thing... smells and tastes excellent! I was very pleased to find it's aged well... the crap in the bottle must have just been sediment that floated to the top from rolling around or something, didn't affect the taste or smell at all. I think I was just paranoid haha. Only thing it lacked was head retention... fizzled out pretty quick to a pathetic froth

 

[mattdean4130]

It's not the be all and end all though! I've had plenty of Coopers Pale schooners end up with no head only a third or so in...
Glad it turned out alright for you!