Oh God... It burns.

Hey guys.

So I f***ed up. Big time.
17 days ago, I brewed a batch of an Imperial IPA that I concocted the recipe for. I still have some crystal at home of which I was supposed to add 1.5lbs of it along with the 14 lbs of base malt I bought at the store.
Well, I just went to the fermenter to take out a sample and said to myself
"self, this looks really really light in color"
I took a sip and it has a vodka burn to it.
The fermentation took it down from about 1.088 to 1.009
Needless to say it's strong.
But there's only a 1/2 lb of non base malt in it from the stuff I added at the store.

Is there any way to save this? Can I make a tea of crystal malt and add it to tame it down or something. I'm assuming not.
Right now, it's sort of like a Imperial SMaSh recipe.
Except with 6 oz of assorted hops so ... actually it's not at all like that.

Oh the panic *_*
Dave

Oh yeah.
I didn't write the main part. I forgot to add the 1.5lbs of crystal I had at my house.

It sounds like you have some fusel alcohols, what temp did you ferment it at?

Normal temps. Used a chiller and everything. Sat in the fermenter between 62 and 70 degrees. I'm kind of exaggerating the burn, but it feels like there's no maltiness to counter the high alc % in the brew atm.

You could steep the crystal malt, boil it briefly, chill, and then add to the fermenter if you really want to.

That's kinda what I was figuring since the sugars in the caramel are unfermentables, but I wanted to make sure. Not sure if I'd make it worse or better.

first thing you wanna do is head over to Dave's Bar and Grill and have a beer...

then... you could try to the whole crystal tea deal but I would just dry hop the holy hell outta it and give it some aroma to knock down the hot.

I think that would be bettah than the cyrstal tea idea cause with that, then you gotta referment. Nah... rack it off the yeast into a secondary, let it sit for a month to cool off a little and then dry hop the hell out of it.

it'll be ai-ree

In the future I would really recommend adding some Munich or Vienna to your recipes. They add a nice toasty/biscuity depth that crystal malts don't add.

I don't do a lot of crystal in my DIPA. Sounds like you need more hops!

10.88% ABV if those numbers you gave are correct. Wow. What yeast did you use? most yeasts don't attenuate over 80%, I'm surprised it went down that low.

to me, this seems like a case of RDWHAHB...
my very first sip of my very first brew was exceptionally alcohol forward. and i nearly panicked. but. i let it sit, for another week. sampled again, it got better. then another week, even better. by then i forgot about worrying, and just brewed more beer until i'd forgotten my first batch wasn't awesome at the beginning.
then i went back and tried it (about 6 weeks after bottling) and it was delicious.

i don't think 1.5lbs of non base malt are going to cause you that much trouble. plus, it didn't change your OG (1.088 isn't a "small beer" to begin with), i'd say move on to the next batch, and when you're ready to sample the next batch, try this one, i'd bet it's way more mellow, and way way way tastier.

Thanks guys.
I had planned on transferring and dry hopping soon. I have 2oz of cascade and an oz or columbus to add.

I guess I'll have to RDWHAHB =) like right now.

othevad said:

Thanks guys.
I guess I'll have to RDWHAHB =) like right now.

Click to expand...

i like this one... (it's 4:15 here and i'm still stuck at work...)
but 5:00's comin!

If it's that high in alcohol and you brewed it just over two weeks ago, I really don't think there's anything to worry about. Once you keg it or let it condition properly in the bottle I think everything will be just fine. Of course with that alcohol content there is almost always going to be some alcohol taste present, but it should balance out.

Either age it, tasting along the way until you feel it's ready, or made a smaller beer and blend the two.

I've never blended. Is that a common practice?

flushdrew42 said:

i like this one... (it's 4:15 here and i'm still stuck at work...)
but 5:00's comin!

Click to expand...

That's what hidden coolers are forrrr.. shhhhhhhhhhhh

Think black and tan. Just blend in small amounts with a beer that you think will complement the flavors until you find a ratio you like.

blend like said above

I would soak some oak chips in Bourbon/Whiskey/Scotch or even a dark Rum then secondary onto the hops and oak chips.

:rockin:

Zamial said:

I would soak some oak chips in Bourbon/Whiskey/Scotch or even a dark Rum then secondary onto the hops and oak chips.

:rockin:

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yum =D