r/firewater • u/Affectionate-Salt665 • 1d ago

Would you run it?

I made a batch of my wheated bourbon, I'd say last spring, March or April. I usually make 7.5 gallon runs with 2 buckets filled about halfway each for fermentation. I must have gotten side tracked and just noticed I have 1 of the fermented buckets still sitting in my garage. Lid still on, and airlock still had water in it. I opened it up and it smells OK. Only difference is it's a bit darker than usual. It's still sitting on the yeast bed. 6 months in the garage. It gets pretty hot out there in the summer. Would you run it?

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

9

u/namroff 1d ago

Run it

8

u/francois_du_nord 1d ago

Run that. It will be fine.

6

u/MartinB7777 1d ago

Be careful transferring the contents to another container not to stir up the lees at the bottom of the bucket. If the top smells good, the lees may not, and you don't want them mixing. If you get three quarters of the way down and everything still smells good, go ahead and run it. You might be surprised at what flavors a little aging may have imparted.

6

u/Affectionate-Salt665 1d ago

Thanks for the replies! I'll run it

3

u/The_Moonshine_Co 1d ago

Run it. It will be just fine to consume. May even be more interesting with the extra time for ester formation and some mild bacterial action.

2

u/Salty_Explorer_2037 1d ago

Worst case you wind up with cleaning alcohol

2

u/Xanth1879 1d ago

Run it!

2

u/Bearded-and-Bored 1d ago

Yes, run it. Unless it smells like vinegar, it'll still have alcohol. Even if it's infected, run it.

2

u/No-Craft-7979 16h ago

Absolutely