658874 Mon Oct 12 11:08:13 -0700 2009 1 35 Beer 0 5097283 Okay, as near as I can figure, this is the most appropriate board to post this question. So the other day I found a mysterious, bright red leak/spill in my fridge that had me baffled. The container that was spilled on/around did not contain anything of that color, nor was anything nearby. Today, I opened the fridge and noticed a cork at the front of one shelf. Finally, I put two and two together - I had bought a big bucket of sour cherries a while back, and after freezing the cherries put the leftover juice in an old port bottle and, after trying it out in a couple of experimental cocktails, promptly forgot it was in my refrigerator door. Sure enough, I poured out a little of the juice, and it is now pleasantly fizzy and quite tasty. My question is: to those of you with more home fermentation/brewing experience than I have, is there any reason I shouldn't drink this? It doesn't appear to have any off-flavors or odors, and I can see it making some delightful cocktails, but I have no problem pitching it if there's a chance some nasty beasties got in there with the wild yeast. Mostly, I'm just stunned that all of this happened at fridge temperatures. Mon Oct 12 11:08:13 -0700 2009 139230 Wahooty 1 5097370 Some beer is fermented at cool temps - they call it "lagering." The question is what colonized the juice. Like you said, probably just wild yeast. I finally gave up homebrewing after the umpteenth batch got infected with some of the local fauna (flora?). You can only pass things off as "Belgian" for so long. All the homebrew books say that inadvertent infection can lead to off tastes or maybe a case of the runs, but that no serious pathogens survive in brewing beer. Not sure how applicable it is to cherry juice, but FWIW... Anyhow, I'd drink it. Not sure I'd serve it to friends before vetting it thoroughly, but by the time I vetted it thoroughly enough there wouldn't be any left to serve to friends anyway. Happy Thansksgiving! Mon Oct 12 11:42:15 -0700 2009 5097283 58743 alanbarnes