Can I save this beer

Brewed a double pilsner...yes pilsner. Odells. Its a mess...Added too much to boil so gravity was low. Boiled longer to concentrate it but forgot I should add DME BEFORE boil, not after because of the hops. Now gravity is 1.074 and I want 1.078 and it tastes sweet and with a sharp bitter finish because of the long boil with the hops. Is it savable? Have not pitched yeast yet. Grain was Pilsner malt, Carafoam, Munich and a little Crystal to add some fullness because I had read a review of how it tasted like too much hop and alcohol! Hops used were Tettnang at beginning of 90 minute (ended up being over 2 hrs...my 2nd mistake after adding too much to boil kettle) and then Hallertau at 75 mins because we didnt realize we were going to keep boiling.

Is it doomed? too many dumb mistakes: mad:

The first beer ever made was a series of mistakes that turned out to be.......... Wonderful! Toss the yeast and let us know how it turns out!

The worst beer I ever drank was better than a glass of water!

eettinger said:

it tastes sweet and with a sharp bitter finish

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I think that would describe pretty much every wort sample I've ever tasted. Yeah some are more roasty, or caramelly, etc. but they all have the sharp bitter hoppiness.

I'd just RDWHAHB and proceed as planned.

Well, it may not be the beer you intended to make and may not be true to style, but it doesn't sound like you did anything that would ruin the beer. I'd go ahead and pitch the yeast very soon (since all that wort sitting without yeast around is just asking for contamination) and see what happens during fermentation.

In my experience, hop bitterness tends to mellow pretty dramatically during fermentation and conditioning. What hops did you use, how many of each, and when were they added?

I suspect if you just forget about the brew day miscues and treat this beer the same way you would have if things went perfectly, you'll end up with something you'll be happy with.

Let us know how it goes!

All is good!

You've got a bit of a high gravity, so just make sure to pitch a good amount of healthy yeast, check your readings after 48-72 hours, and rouse them at least once in the primary.

After you hit your FG, give it a taste... and you have options; Age it in a secondary, dry hop it in a secondary, oak it in a secondary ;-)

Most of all have a great time! I would trade you a bottle of one of you mistaken ales for one of mine anytime.

ldudek said:

All is good!

You've got a bit of a high gravity, so just make sure to pitch a good amount of healthy yeast, check your readings after 48-72 hours, and rouse them at least once in the primary.

After you hit your FG, give it a taste... and you have options; Age it in a secondary, dry hop it in a secondary, oak it in a secondary ;-)

Most of all have a great time! I would trade you a bottle of one of you mistaken ales for one of mine anytime.

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I'd wait a little longer before testing the first sample. Just let it sit for a good week (more would be best) and take a reading. You keep opening the bucket/carboy and you're asking for trouble. The yeast will find their way unless it is over stressed. I was turned onto Mr. Malty (site) from here to help me gauge pitching rates and such.

Thanks for the responses. The hop bitterness isn't like anything I've ever had...definitely not pleasant and its very sweet tasting even though the gravity is lower than what we intended. I was going to reboil to get rid of any contamination and I have a big yeast starter that I did twice so it should be pretty active. Stir plate 24 hrs, fridge overnight, decant and redo DME and do 2nd starter. Its a pilsner so planning to ferment at 55, do a dylactil rest at 60 degrees then lager for 6ish weeks.

We have a newer system (Stout kettles) and hit our mash for the first time using a hot water heater blanket for insulation and then I hit the pre boil gravity perfectly but was worried we were going to come up short with 13 gallons to try and make 10 with a 90 minute boil. Thats where it fell apart...sparged 2 extra gallons, totally screwed the gravity even though I had read that you can actually increase your gravity by sparging more which is apparently wrong or I misread. Then forgot about adding the DME to the pre boil, not post. Compounded the errors by putting the hops in......train wreck...SO depressed and feel like a moron! 8 hours later and totally exhausted it tastes like crap. Like sugar water that someone dumped a bitter chemical in. I love hoppy beers, have had many double ipa's and this Odells double pilsner is so interesting because it has that big flavor...8% ABV with hoppiness even though the IBU's are low...and its lagered!