OK, I'm new to this site and relatively new to brewing. I've made a few extract and specialty grain brews with no problems at all. However I am not satisfied with the results of one of my brews and am wondering if it's too late to fix it. I brewed an imperial stout with an OG of 1.09 and an FG of 1.03 which tells me my efficiency was a little lower than I had anticipated. I continued to bottle it anyway and they have been conditioning at room temp in bottles for two months now. They taste very good, but they are pretty syrupy. And kind of flat, although they do make a slight hiss when opened. Or maybe since they're flat, they feel syrupy? I don't know, but I'm unsatisfied with them.
If it's due to being flat, then should I...
1) ...gently poor (or siphon) them back into a bucket and add more priming sugar, then re-bottle them?
2) ...add a small amount of sugar to each individual bottle and recap?
3) ...wait until I can afford a kegging system and carbonate them with that?
Or if it's due to the high FG (and maybe residual priming sugar) then should I pour them back into a carboy and repitch the yeast? Maybe a different (but similar) strand of yeast which maybe be able to convert some of the left over sugars the original yeast couldn't? The original yeast was Wyeast British Ale 1098.
Also, the original yeast packet contained roughly 100 billion cells, but I have read in John Palmer's 'How to Brew' that an OG of 1.09 might have required 2 or 3 of these packets instead of one. Could that have been a problem? I don't entirely understand that since I thought yeast multiplied anyways.
I have had plenty of imperial stouts that had a higher OG than mine, that were a lot less thicker. I'd hate to waste a perfectly tasting, syrupy brew. Any suggestions?
If it's due to being flat, then should I...
1) ...gently poor (or siphon) them back into a bucket and add more priming sugar, then re-bottle them?
2) ...add a small amount of sugar to each individual bottle and recap?
3) ...wait until I can afford a kegging system and carbonate them with that?
Or if it's due to the high FG (and maybe residual priming sugar) then should I pour them back into a carboy and repitch the yeast? Maybe a different (but similar) strand of yeast which maybe be able to convert some of the left over sugars the original yeast couldn't? The original yeast was Wyeast British Ale 1098.
Also, the original yeast packet contained roughly 100 billion cells, but I have read in John Palmer's 'How to Brew' that an OG of 1.09 might have required 2 or 3 of these packets instead of one. Could that have been a problem? I don't entirely understand that since I thought yeast multiplied anyways.
I have had plenty of imperial stouts that had a higher OG than mine, that were a lot less thicker. I'd hate to waste a perfectly tasting, syrupy brew. Any suggestions?