Too Many Grains

I brewed a 5 gallon batch yesterday. I ended up buying perhaps 20-30% more grains than I needed. I decided the heck with it and proceeded to brew anyway.

I noticed that the wort looks much darker, as would be expected. Anyway, its in the fermentation stage now.

Any thoughts on what too many grains would do to the beer?

My guess would be that it would be a stronger tasting beer. (Its a 90 minute banana ipa: i threw in the bananas as a last minute thing, well actually more like a last 10 minute thing).

hiphops said:

Any thoughts on what too many grains would do to the beer?

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Of course the obvious is a higher OG however with a higher OG did you make an appropriate starter? Also, you may need allow a longer fermentation and conditioning phase. Is the 20%-30% a base malt or is some of it specialty?

20-30% extra is a lot extra. It's gonna boost your OG. Did you talk a reading? What was the OG?

Bananas? That sounds kinda nasty to me. But whatever, it's your beer. Enjoy!

the OG was 1.054. what is an "appropriate starter?" as well, was is the "conditioning phase."

the 20-30% included both the grains and the malt.

the bananas? i dunno. it was a last minute inspiration. i remember tasting a hefeweitzen that had a banana flavoring.

A starter is basically a small amount of wort into which you pitch your yeast a few days before brewday. It allows you to pitch more yeast, which results in a healthier fermentation. I personally rarely do it, odds are you'll be just fine.

By longer conditioning, he means you'll have to let it sit longer before it tastes best. Higher OG beers normally require longer, either in the fermenter or in the bottle, before they peak.

The banana flavor in hefeweizen is normally due to the yeast used - however, let us know how that banana IPA tastes, I'm curious.

hiphops said:

the OG was 1.054. what is an "appropriate starter?" as well, was is the "conditioning phase."

the 20-30% included both the grains and the malt.

the bananas? i dunno. it was a last minute inspiration. i remember tasting a hefeweitzen that had a banana flavoring.

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bavarian hefewiezens do have a banana flavor, but that is a product of the specific yeast that is used (i.e., Wyeast 3068) and NOT an addition of bananas.

I used to amp up my recipes when I got started, then I would always wonder why the drinkability of my beers was not good. Now, after a lot of beer making, I don't do that and my beers are significantly better. Note that if you increase the grains and not the hops, your balance will be off and the beer will end up sweeter than you intended.

hiphops said:

the OG was 1.054. what is an "appropriate starter?" as well, was is the "conditioning phase."

the 20-30% included both the grains and the malt.

the bananas? i dunno. it was a last minute inspiration. i remember tasting a hefeweitzen that had a banana flavoring.

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1.054 was after you made the 20-30% increase? So without the increase you may have gotten an OG in the neighborhood of 1.043 And this is an IPA? Can you give the full recipe?

Banana flavor is appropriate in a hefe but like the others have said it comes from the yeast. However a hefe is a very different beer then an IPA. If I had an IPA and it tasted like bananas, I say there was a flaw in the beer. But, to each his won and enjoy the journey

I would not worry about it being too strong and or a long conditioning. 1.054 is not a strong beer. But if you use liquid yeast, ALWAYS make a starter. If you use dry yeast, the starter is not needed. Check out mrmalty.com for lots of very valuable info on how to make a starter and a great calculator for figuring what size starter you need for any batch of beer.

There is no such thing as too strong of an IPA. But I know now there is such a thing as crazy New Yorkers putting bananas in IPAs!

Why didn't you just hold back 20-30% of the grains for a future brew?

As a one time NY'er, I can assure you that I would never think of putting bananas in my beer. Maybe some pizza, but no fruit! LOL

Any thoughts on what too many grains would do to the beer?

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Without a recipe nobody even can give you a clue. Bananas?

Ok, so here's my no longer secret recipe . . . My grains and malt were a bohemian pilsner and victory. I used 1 oz of amarillo hops, .5 oz of simcoe hops and .5 oz and warrier hops. (i threw in a combination of these hops roughly every 10 minutes: sometimes i went over a few minutes and sometimes under a few minutes to compensate: it wasn't an exact science.) For the yeast, i used the wyeast 1099 whitbread yeast. as well, i used a teaspoon of irish moss. after about 80 minutes of boiling, i threw in about 3 bananas (maybe 4? i can't exactly remember whether i ate that one or threw it in the beer). they were ripe and decided why not? we'll find out in a few weeks how it tastes. it could either be the next best thing or a one-time limited special edition.

why didn't i just save the excess grains for a future brew? good question. i guess if i did, we would never have had this interesting post, right?

That is true The bananas should be an interesting addition and I hope it turns out for you.

Your Ugandan and Kenyan friends might really enjoy this beer. One of the main drinks in Africa is fermented banana beer.

I would imagine it would go great with a dish of Ugali!

You might expect extra haze and a diminished shelf life.
m.

Mateo said:

You might expect extra haze

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I dunno. If the OP used pectic enzyme, haze might not be a problem. DID the OP use pectic enzyme?

what is "pectic enzyme"?

Suppose not. Its an enzyme you can add that reduces haze caused by putting fruit in beer (or wine). Specifically it degrades the pectin that is set when you boil fruit.