adding sugar after/during fermentation?

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Shiest

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OK so I am making my first belgian white and the OG was pretty low. I just tasted the wort (is it still considered wort?) after 6 days of fermentation. The airlock is still bubbling so its not done but it does taste a little weak on the alcohol side. So my question is... is it possible to raise the alcohol content this late in the game. Other than that it tastes great. I think it will be a great batch and I'd hate to have it ruined by low alcohol content. Thanks in advance.
 
let me give you a little more info and ask another question. first off the ingredients:

3.3 lb wheat extract
2lb extra light DME
8 Oz. White belgian candy sugar
1 Oz German Hallertau @ 3.9% AA ( I actually used a little less because I thought 3.9% was a little high)
1tsp crushed coriander
1tsp bitter orange peel.
Wyeast belgian white yeast

Here is the thing: the recipe called for 2.25 lbs of DME and .25lbs candy sugar... since the only sold 2 pound bags of DME... the guy at the store said just substitute .25 lbs of DME with .25 lbs of candy sugar. Could this have f'd up my OG? Does DME give more sugar per weight than candy sugar? did I add too much sugar? too little?... trying to relax but I dont have any homebrew! lol.
 
At this stage I would say add some vodka to up the alcohol. You could boil and add sugar or extract, but you will definitely change the taste as well. And there's always a chance for infection.
 
Shiest said:
Other than that it tastes great. I think it will be a great batch and I'd hate to have it ruined by low alcohol content.

First I just wanted say congrates on a good beer that tastes great. I would say that the term "ruined" is a far cry from what you have here. It, at the moment, is not as alcoholic as you had wanted. But again, tastes great so its far away from ruined. You are certainly tasting qualities in the beer because the alcohol is on the lower side.

That being said, I wonder if what I had just experienced would help you. I made a wheat beer. I put cherry puree in the secondary and it went through a pretty active second fermentation. It is certainly a bit more alcoholic then before I added the fruit. I'm not saying to add fruit, but perhaps adding more malt would keep the fermentation moving along.

As always, ideas await the commends of the more experienced:)
 
IMHO, if I were you, I would take 2 gal of what you have and put it in a secondary then bottle it since it tastes great, as you said. Leave the 3 gals in the carboy for another 3 weeks.

I would make another batch (and up the alcohol in the new batch), ferment in a primary then secondary THEN mix them both in the bottling bucket.:D
 
what do you think about that substitution of .25 lbs candy sugar in place of .25 lbs of DME... could that lower my OG significantly?
 
Hi there!
I am a newby in this, so no comment based on experience. But I was introduced to recipator in this site and used it with your recipe.


Comments: I assumed some of the info you didn't give above.
1) Used FG of 1.006 for alcohol (lowest of the style, recomended by recipator)
2) Used Ligth DME 'cause XL was not available.
3) Boil vol. 2 gal. Final vol: 5 gal.

Results:
The finished volume is: 5 gallons Low High
The original gravity is: 1.047 1.044 1.050
The alcohol is: 5.3% v/v (4.1% w/w) 4.8% 5.2% v/v
The color is: 4 HCU (~4 SRM) 2 4 SRM
The bitterness is: 9 IBU 15 25 IB

With your recipe (more candysugar less DME): same results.

Now, this is theory, I'd love to see any comments from people with hands-on experience.

and a question for you, Shiest, do you have a measure of OG so we can compare to this predicted value of 1047?
 
yeah well thats the thing... my OG was really low. It was 1.026. Now I cant see a change like that happening with the changes I made. The only thing I cant think of was I left a little bit of wort in the pot when I was pouring it off the trub. Then I forgot to add less water ( I still brought it to 5 gal). Now I know that this can and probably did affect OG... but 1.026 down from ~1.050!? I didnt think it would do that!

dont get me wrong alcohol is not my goal here... but I also dont want to have beer flavored water, alcohol definitly adds something to the taste. :p
 
I kind of doubt that your OG was really 1.026. Likely you didn't stir well after topping off and before taking your sample, so you ended up measuring a diluted sample. My personal opinion...just leave it alone. Uncarbonated beer always tastes thin and weak...after two weeks in the bottle you'll be amazed at the difference.
 
I've only been posting here a few days... but you always seem to calm me down el pistolero...are you a counselor in real life or something? :D
 
Shiest said:
I've only been posting here a few days... but you always seem to calm me down el pistolero...are you a counselor in real life or something? :D
I'm raising three kids...does that count? ;)
 
Shiest said:
OK so I am making my first belgian white and the OG was pretty low. I just tasted the wort (is it still considered wort?) after 6 days of fermentation. The airlock is still bubbling so its not done but it does taste a little weak on the alcohol side. So my question is... is it possible to raise the alcohol content this late in the game. Other than that it tastes great. I think it will be a great batch and I'd hate to have it ruined by low alcohol content. Thanks in advance.


If the airlock is still bubbling then you are still converting sugars into alchohol and CO2. Let her sit for a bit longer. At least until the fermentation stops. And I also will second what EL P said, carbonation will change the beer.
 
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