Had an idea but not sure just how insane it is...

[BerkshireBadger]

One of my brews stalled a while back. I bottled it anyway without using any priming sugar (seemed dangerous for a brew stalled at 1.016). I did the bottling a month ago.

I cracked one of the bottles open today. It hasn't cleared at all and still tastes strongly of yeast. The thing is that it is also hellishly lively - as in extremely well carbonated. I don't want the other bottles to start exploding so I was thinking of cracking them all open and re-capping them.

Would it be a good idea when I do this to empty all the beer back into my bottling bucket and re-bottle it - so I can get rid of the sediment that has already dropped?

Would this help the brew to clear?

...or am I just wasting my time trying to salvage it? In which case the brew will have a date with the drain!

Cheers.

 

[abeyptfc]

pouring all the beer out the bottles will oxidise it all and theres a chance of picking up an infection aswell, which is a bad idea. what did u do after bottling? how many weeks in warm/cold? I would stick it somewhere cold and give it time to be honest.

 

[BerkshireBadger]

It's had two weeks warm and two cold. There's a hell of a lot of sediment dropped in the bottles and the beer is still very cloudy with no signs of improvement since it was still in the warm.

I hadn't thought about the oxidisation risk - was more concerned about probable explosions!

Not sure what to do now...

 

[BrewDan]

I have never had this problem, this may be a silly idea, but if you are really worried, why not keep half in the cold somewhere to condition (and hopefully not explode)and with the other half try your uncap and recap idea.

As I said, just a suggestion, probably a silly one, at least that way you should save half the batch, they may be fine though.

I wouldn't pour them out and refill the bottles though, for the reason that's already been mentioned.

Let us know what happens

 

[BerkshireBadger]

I might just put half the bottles in an explosion proof corner of my shed and ditch the rest - I get the feeling it'll be easier (and quicker) to brew a new beer than try and save this one! :?

Here's a photo of one of the bottles taken only a couple of days after bottling - the neck had cleared already but since there's been no improvement at all!

 

[wilsoa1111]

i wouldnt bin it (unless u really need the bottles), i reckon if u have an shed bung them all in there, the cold weather should clear them in a month-by lively do u mean it spurts out the bottle when uncapped? if so then yeah may need a recap methinks, if just lager fizzy i wouldnt be too fussed myself and cold store till clear and pour carefully-probably only a minimal explosion risk if not spurters but dont quote me on it...

 

[Sean_Mc]

Be safe what ever you chose, gloves and eye protection highly recommended :thumb:

 

[BerkshireBadger]

I named the brew Unexploded Badger (to be opened in the garden at arms length!) It's on the fizzyer side of lager fizzy, not actually spraying but way too much for an ale.

It would be good to free-up the bottles to get the storage space back - I have an almost unlimited supply of empties but only limited space for the finished beer which I'd rather not have taken up by an undrinkable brew.

I'll try to salvage some - the hops that manage to come through the taste of yeast are quite good!

Thanks for the advice! :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

the cold weather should clear them in a month

I agree. Once the yeast has cleared you could have a nice drink on your hands. A bit fizzy maybe but well worth keeping regardless.

 

[Rwilts]

I did a Pear cider kit and it took two months in the garage to clear. Every other kit has been very quick to clear, normally after two weeks of secondary fermentation its clear but not this one.

Hang on to it if you can and try in 6 months :

 

[Dave1970]

When I did Brewferm's Grand Cru kit that took a good 3 months to clear, it was a lovely pint in the end. Popping the caps and recapping would reduce the pressure a bit....don't throw it away though, the beer gods would be angry :twisted:

 

[BerkshireBadger]

I opened them to release the pressure and recapped the ones that didn't escape from their bottles - some were a LOT fizzier! :shock: I'm left with 24 bottles out of 42 so the survivors will get shut in the shed for a couple of months to see if they'll clear.

 

[RokDok]

If I were you I think I would want to taste it now just to make sure it's OK.

RD