how long would you go?

[SOGOAK]

I am a busy guy.  I have let 5 gal of 1.095 beer sit for nearly 8 months.  I bottled half a few months back that came out only ok.  This is on wy-1214 chimay belgian.  It is a hopped version of the hb51 grainbill +1 lbs jaggery and a bit of spices. 

The half I bottled is super strong and a little odd with the spices.

Would you guys bottle the 2nd half?  I guess I am still optimistic since the belgian yeast should eat up the funk and sugar. But it has been while.

[MaltLicker]

I'd take a sanitary sample and let taste decide.  Life's too short for bad beer.  Or it could be better as you hoped.  The time spent packaging it and then consuming it under duress (if it's mediocre) could be better spent on your next great batch. 

[Wildrover]

this is always a very tough question.  At what point does the batch not warrant further attention.  I just recently finished an APA that turned out very mediocre in my opinion.  I really didn't want the beer but figured that since I spent the money on the ingredients and gave a weekend day to make the stuff that maybe I should see it through to the end.  But then again, as Maltlicker says, life is too short for bad beer.  I agree with this but what about okay beer, or not bad but drinkable beer, or its okay I guess beer? 

[SOGOAK]

The good news is that I only have about $10 if that in it. I had the yeast on hand, and the majority of the body of the wort was run off for free from a breweries mashtun.

I am probably mostly guilt striken.

[Wildrover]

if it isn't that good and you won't enjoy it then just get rid of it.  Of course if you're bored and have the bottles, bottle it up and store it for a really long time.  Consider it an experiment in aging.  You never know, a high gravity beer like that might be great in another year and this way you delay making the decision about whether or not it deserves to live.  My guess is in a year that decision will be made for you by virtue of that beer either having turned into vinegar or mature to the point of awesome!

I gave my father a few bottles of my first ever batches of beer several years ago.  Well, they were awful so rather than him just throwing them away and telling me he drank them he just stored them.  Several years later he gave them back to me.  The salesmen inside him tried to convince me that he held on to them for me (didn't ask for that favor...) so I could see what they were like after several years of aging. 

Well the beers went nasty and I dumped them all but I did try them.  There is a fine line between great and awful I think because they became more complicated over time.  You could taste hints of a soured Belgium in there though none of them were designed for that.  Even though over time all the beers went bad (we're talking like seven years) I couldn't help but wonder what they would have tasted like if they were a more complicated, higher gravity beer that is meant for aging.

[MaltLicker]

Consider it an experiment in aging. 

That's a thought.  Bottle up some/all and do things differently.  Simple bottle sanitizing, more thorough, and maybe bake some (supposedly sterile), and then store them differently.  Stable, variable, cool, warmer, etc.  Maybe even bottle with corn, cane, DME, added yeast, whatever. 

Have tasting session with friends and open all at same time and see what comes out.

[CR]

WELL~!!!???
Did you taste it?