Extending the life of bright beer...

[Maysie]

This weekend we had a barn dance party and had loads of bright beer that was left over. We had to have bright beer as the venue wouldn't allow us in until 1.5hrs prior to start up, so there was no time for the beer to settle.
I just couldn't stand to see perfectly good beer get wasted, so gently decanted it from the brewery casks into some (many) of my spare sterilised bottles (approx 120 pints worth) to avoid oxidising the beer as best I could.

My friend has a seperate party this weekend, and I hope to offer him the beer if It survives that long. As I only have a week, I dont have time to reseed & recarb it before the party, so I am hoping it will just about survive until then (6-7 days).

Has anyone ever tried this or done something similar before?
Am I wasting my time trying to delay the inevitable outcome of ruined beer?

Any opinions/experiences would be very welcome. I could potentially look like a right nob arriving at the party with 120 pints of rank beer, so will try a few samples the night before just in case......

[Blackaddler]

I'm pretty sure that it'll be flat.

[Maysie]

Agreed, it's already flat as a pancake, but doesn't yet seem oxidised.

What do you think to my chances of adding half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle, adding a dribble of yeast starter and recarbing the bottles?
Am I flogging a dead horse?

I have a fermentation fridge, so can control the recarbing temp if that would help.

I am also about the rack a batch of Muntons Imperial Stout, so could use some spent yeast if that is better(?)
TIA.

[boingy]

Yeast is not going to carb it in the few days you have. Either leave it be, sample it on the day of the party and decide if it is OK or get it into cornies or similar and force carb it.

I'd say there is a decent chance it will be OK as-is. If there is a next time, beg the brewery to keep their kegs/casks and dispensing stuff for an extra week!

[Maysie]

If there is a next time, beg the brewery to keep their kegs/casks and dispensing stuff for an extra week!

Oh dear. I think I may have stuffed up then, as the reason I bottled it was to prevent it from oxidising in the barrel as it was racked bright, so (in my brain) had no way of maintaining the CO2 blanket when vented/tapped. We just had knock in wooden peg style taps and a top peg. The brewery isn't in any hurry for their barrels back and they are just sitting in my dining room.
Have I stuffed that up?

How will the bottles recarb themselves without priming sugar and such little remaining yeast, or have I missed something?

[6470zzy]

Yes you have missed something. The bottles do not have time to re-carbonate. If you have corny kegs you could force carbonate them but it sounds as though you haven't any.....................as they say, Live and Learn

[Maysie]

OK, thanks.

- I will abandon plans to recarb in the bottles as there isn't enough time for the yeast to do its work.
- You are right, I don't have corny keg's so that isn't an option for me either.

Apologies for asking yet more questions, but just so I am clear in my head, if I had more time would the half teaspoon of sugar and dribble of yeast starter in each bottle have worked, ie would it recarb the beer and extend the life of it in the bottle? If so then maybe I should abandon plans to take it along to the party and just store it on my shelves for 'personal use'!

[Derek1]

Hi Maysie

I guess that adding the yeast and sugar would have worked, though you could end up with more sediment than is desirable! Additionally, it would be good if the dribble of yeast was the same as the original....

[asd]

A contrary opinion!

Do the yeast and sugar thing, but keep it rather warm! 25-26 degrees. Even 28!!That will excite the yeast into action, but the heat will not affect the taste of the beer in any significant way. Crack a bottle open Friday morning, if it's OK chill it all down Friday night. It might be a bit hazy, but it may have some condition. You've nothing to lose - if it's not right, it''l be right for your personal consumption soon enough.

Don't think it would matter too much which yeast you used, and also, make a yeast and malt extract wort starter mix,let it get running for an hour or two, and pour a bit of that in to each bottle, rather than seeding each bottle with a bit of yeast and a bit of sugar.

But the main thing, is to get on and do it NOW!!!!

Also, make sure the lights are dim at the party, and, if it's not quite up to scratch, wait a bit and serve when everyone is well libated. The opposite of what Jesus did.

[jaroporter]

yup, what asd said

godspeed!

[Maysie]

Also, make sure the lights are dim at the party, and, if it's not quite up to scratch, wait a bit and serve when everyone is well libated. The opposite of what Jesus did.

Love that!

Thanks for the opinions and advice guys.
I have decided to leave the final decision (regarding whether to serve the beer or not) to my friends who are having the party. That way I am not to blame if we have crap beer/no beer if they are reliant on my supply.

If they don't mind flat beer then we will all be OK. Otherwise it will condition in time on my own shelves at home.

Thanks again.
M

[paulg]

just as another aside
from what you described about a wooden tap and peg .you were serving from a cask not a keg.the beer was probably bright beer but would not have kept anyway in the cask as you would have let air into the cask when originally serving it(I assume the peg(spile) on top of the cask was removed when serving.after one week it most likely would have been oxidised as you assumed.
by bottling it and reseeding etc you will have most likely drinkable beer but maybe not very fizzy by next week as stated it may take a little more time to carb up .
if you had served keg beer using co2 then the beer would keep ok in the keg but it is not such good beer to start with(in my opinion)

ps where in suffolk are you ,what beer was it

[Maysie]

from what you described about a wooden tap and peg .you were serving from a cask not a keg

Spot on!
I apologise if I have used the wrong terminology between cask and keg and confused people. There was no CO2 associated with the original serving vessel, it was a top vented cask with a wooden peg style tap.

ps where in suffolk are you ,what beer was it

I am near Debenham, so the beers came from the local brewery there, they were:
Earl Soham Brewery - Albert Ale
Earl Soham Brewery - Victoria Bitter
Cliff Quay Brewery - Tolly Roger

[paulg]

nice I remember the earl soham beers including my favourite one the mild gannet, but cliff quay hadnt started when I left in 2004 although I know its history

[Maysie]

Cliff Quay and Earl Soham have merged and the combined brewers have moved into new premises in Debenham.

Apparently the two will remain to exist as 'seperate breweries' with their own identities and recipes, despite the merger.
The last pint of Gannett I supped was way past its best, so I have avoided that one for the past few months.

Albert is by far my favourite ES brew, but is VERY hard to find nowadays. Interesting that, as that was the cask that was hammered by our guests at our party...?!