Is it possible to actually get sick because of bad sterilization when making beer or is the only real danger losing a batch of beer? Don't get me wrong, losing a batch sucks, I'm lost two batches and I think that was the reason for it.

Basically, I have this batch that I made and turned out really bad. It was supposed to be a pale ale. I've kept it for the last two years in a closet and tried a bottle the other day. Suprisingly enough, it tasted OK. Certainly better than a year ago. Would that be ok to drink?

I've only brewed wine, and havent brewed any beer yet, but from my experience with wine making, the products of bad sterilization are easily identified. You will most likely see growth on the top of your fermenting must, and the smell will be extremely putrid. This is not something that you will end up bottling...ever.
When you say that your pale turned out "bad", what exactly do you mean? There are many times (especially dealing with wine making), that once your fermentation is complete, the resulting wine tastes kinda funky. This wine has not gone "bad". It just takes a year or more of aging in order to get a drinkable product. From what I gather, this isnt usually a problem with lower gravity beers. However, if you didnt ferment at the correct temperature, your beer may have off flavors that could mellow with age. It may not be the sterilization, but something else in the beer making process.
Tell us what you mean when you say your beer turned out "bad". That information is pretty crucial to the advice you're likely to get. But, if I had to make a blind stab at the problem, I'd say that you are just experiencing the wonders of aging. If it tastes good, it likely is good. But the other school of thought is "when in doubt, throw it out".


Dave

The worst it would do is make u sleepy & poop alot!!
Drink it, yull be fine!
Put v-8 & tabasco in it.

I have been quite retentive about sanitation but after putting the finings into my current batch it has aquired some moldy growth on the top. I'm wondering if all the beer has been ruined or whether I could still bottle it, because the fermenter tank drains from the tap in the bottom it would be quite easy to avoid getting any mold in the bottles just by leaving some beer in the tank. Has anyone persisted with mold on the top of the beer? What were the results?

Hmmm. You made it all the way to the fining stage with no problems? I would certainly bottle it, leaving the moldy growth in the bucket. Taste will be the deciding factor, of course. If it tastes good, go with it. If its funky, leave it alone.
As an aside, what kind of finings did you use?

Cheers
Dave

Normally finings are put in the last bit of boil. Mody doesnt sound good.
You can always bottle it & see how it tastes. It wont kill you so if u can drink it then go for it.
If its moldy on top i would guess its not gonna taste too good.
The 2 year old beer i would drink for sure.
It will smell & taste bad if it is bad. If it smells & tastes good then its good.
If it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck, then it shouldnt be in your beer!!

jeepguy wrote:Normally finings are put in the last bit of boil.

Actually, other than Irish Moss and Whirlifloc tabs, I know of very few finings that would go into the actual boil. If you know of others, please let me know. Finings that would go into your secondary fermenter range from Isinglass to Gelatin to Egg Whites (I aint kiddin!). There's a thread on finings right here at the brewers roundtable, thats worth looking into, and quite a few nice articles on the web worth googling.
I asked about finings because the moldy growth might just be some form of floating garbage left over from the mixing of the finings. Of course, chances are equally good that its just plain ole mold.
For sure, it cant kill ya. I dunno if thats any kind of consolation or not! Definitely give it a taste, but as jeepguy says, if it IS INDEED mold, it'll probably not taste too good.

Cheers
Dave

I used Isinglass finings, and added them a little bit later than I should have, but I needed to leave the beer in the fermenter tank for a little bit of extra time (three weeks in total) because I put honey in it which takes a while to ferment out, being a more complex sugar.

What worried me about the mold like stuff was that the airlock started to bubble again even though the second bought of fermenting where the yeast wakes up again for the honey was over - meaning some other activity was going on producing gas?!?

The beer tasted fine though so I bottled it, it certainly wasn't infected and all the sugars had fermented out if the taste was anything to go buy. Unfortunately the Mold seemed to sink into the beer while I was bottleing, though I didn't notice any getting into the bottles. I'm optimistic about it.

All i ever use is whirfloc or irish moss. I dont like the idea of messing with my brew after i stick it in the fermenter.
Hope it is good brew!!