does a beer with a high final gravity still need sugar added when bottling?

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rhythmiccycle

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I wanted to make a strong batch, so I added a lot of extra sugar to the wart. I started with s.g. of 1.12, but I think it was even more case it was still pretty hot when I measured. After 16 days its at about 1.039. Its time to bottle, but do I still need to add sugar? I think there is still a lot of sugar in there .
 
Is your gravity stable there? If you are only at 16 days - let it sit at least a week and check again.

A beer that big usually needs lots of conditioning time - 3-6 months or more before it tastes best. So there is no rush to bottle - aging in bulk for a month or two in primary is fine.

It is also possible that you've hit the tolerance of your yeast and it's stuck - you might want to rouse it a bit a consider adding some champagne or high gravity ale yeast.
 
A beer with an OG of 1.12 is no where near done after 16 days. You cannot put the yeast on your timeline, it has it's own and will finish when it wants. It needs time to finish and for the yeast to finish. Sugar will ferment out completely so the sugar added to the wort will not be left when you bottle. Give it at least another couple of weeks to finish and then check the gravity again. You want it fully finished and stable before you even think about bottling.

What kind of beer was it? and what yeast did you use? Did you make a starter?

And to answer your question, yes you do need sugar at bottling time.
 
That gravity seems high, but it totally depends on your malt bill. You could have a lot of unfermentables in there. I would still add the corn sugar for bottle conditioning.
 
Did you adjust your hops for the extra sugar? But yeah as everyone else said you are going to have to give that beer some time.
 
Please do not bottle your beer. As was said, the yeast do not care about your time schedule. It's possible they have conked out but we definitely need more info to help you determine what to do. What I can tell you for sure is that if you bottle now you are running an incredible risk of exploding bottles. Wait a week at least, or better yet 2 weeks, and recheck the gravity.
 
This is one of your first few brews? Big beers (high starting gravity) offer several challenges. One of those challenges is keeping the yeast active as the alcohol content rises.

I'd be interested to see your full recipe and description of your process.
 
thanks for the advice.
I didn't adjust the hops. should I have?

i check the gravity every few days and it hasn't really moved in 4 days. I think its stable.

attached is a graph and table of the measurements I took.

the beer is winter ale i used a can of HME, and a bag of LME, then added alot of raspberry syrup and white sugar.

the yeast is Safbrew T-58, bought it cause it said it can handle stronger ABV, it says "Final Gravity: high" on the bag of yeast.

SGchart.jpg
 
Post your recipe, process, and fermentation temps. As said before, definitely do not bottle! At the very least, this beer will be way too sweet and won't taste good. You also need to be sure to give the yeast at least a week to clean up after themselves. If you bottle now, you will be disappointed.
 
Part of the problem is that you've used extract to make a beer so large. It's going to finish higher and be very sweet. I would do a starter with WLP099 and add that, then wait a few more weeks.
 
higher mashing temperature would produce more non-fermentable sugars, thus higher final gravity.
You don't want to start bottling it however until it stable AND more or less cleared (which only will hapen after all fermentable sugars are gone).
 
1.120 to 1.039 is already 10.8% abv. Your yeast only handles up to 11.5%. Sounds like it's too alcoholic to continue fermentation with that yeast.
 
I never used a starter before, I don't have a flask, or any of the other I saw when I watched videos about making a starter.

I just have a 8.5 liter "mr beer" keg.

is WLP099 yeast?

should I Aerate ?
 
I wanted to make a strong batch, so I added a lot of extra sugar to the wart. I started with s.g. of 1.12, but I think it was even more case it was still pretty hot when I measured. After 16 days its at about 1.039.
I think when I make wine, the staring gravity is 1.090 and it ends up 12% ABV using wine yeast (whcih is more alcohol tolerant)

1.12 for the beer is insane, it will never gonna clear because the year will never going able to finish its job at such high alcohol percentage
 
Also, what temp did you ferment at? Raising the temperature several degrees can get the yeast active to finish up their work, too.
 
higher mashing temperature would produce more non-fermentable sugars, thus higher final gravity.
You don't want to start bottling it however until it stable AND more or less cleared (which only will hapen after all fermentable sugars are gone).

This is an extract batch, so mash temps aren't a variable. I would, again, say you need to add more yeast, one that can handle higher alcohol and is good for bring the gravity down. I doubt you'll get much below 1.030, you may get it down to 1.025, but that would be lucky I think.

Definitely add more yeast, or wait. Your choice, but I think these are your only options.
 
rhythmiccycle said:
I never used a starter before, I don't have a flask, or any of the other I saw when I watched videos about making a starter.

I just have a 8.5 liter "mr beer" keg.

is WLP099 yeast?

should I Aerate ?

I wouldn't aerate- aerating after pitching your yeast will only oxidize your beer. Have you read Papazian or Palmer? If not, www.howtobrew.com is a nice place to start.
 
I'm just going to say it because it looks like no one else will:

Dump this down the drain now and move on with your life.

Why am I saying this? Because after reading what you've done I can conclude that you're obviously not experienced enough to have made a beer worth drinking. Dumping in sucrose and extra extract to boost gravity without contemplating hop usage, fermenting at a very high temperature (70°F, are you serious?!), not having proper equipment, not knowing WLP099 is White Labs' Super High Gravity Yeast (anyone making a beer with that high an OG should know that yeast), etc.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to be bold and doing a "big beer", but you do need to have a better understanding of what you're doing before you invest your time and $$ into it if you want to be able to drink the results.

Saying all of that I'll still answer your original question: yes, you would need to add sugar (dextrose prefereably) during bottling, and most likely a bottling yeast since your primary yeast most likely won't be active any more. For my Belgian strong ale I use dry champagne yeast that I add with the dextrose while before bottling. Of course, I also use a liquid yeast starter for primary fermentation and WLP099 for finishing.

GL with brewing, and feel free to experiment, but do so wisely lest you only end up with undrinkable beer.
 
I agree that this batched failed.

So what should i do for the next batch?

I have the ingredients for an ipa using from "mr beer" website. The provided recipe say to mix:
1 can American ale hme
1 can patriot lager hme
2 packets of yeast
1 packet of centennial pellet hops
1 packet of glacier pellet hops
1 muslin hops sack

I want to increase the abv, i have a yeast that can handle a little over 11%.

I was planing on adding a lot of honey.

What is starting gravity should i aim for and do you have any other tips??
 
If you want high abv buy 4 gallons of apple juice (no preservatives), 1 pound of sugar and a packet of Champagne yeast and make Apfelwine.....stop trying to make crappy beer
 
So what should i do for the next batch?

My suggestion is that you do a standard 5-6% beer that you make properly without using stuff from Mr. Beer. You seem pretty new at this and you should be more focused on learning how to make something like a great 6% amber ale before venturing into high OG beers. You have to learn how to ride without training wheels before you try to win the Tour de France.

I want to increase the abv, i have a yeast that can handle a little over 11%.

Why are you so focused on trying to brew a high alcohol beer? From everything you've said, it just looks like you want to make something with a lot of alcohol. If that's the case then take helibrewer's advice. If you actually want to make a good high OG beer, you better be prepared to invest months into it before you can even drink it.

I was planing on adding a lot of honey.

Honey takes a long time to ferment. Unless you're willing to give this beer at least 2 months to go through secondary then you'll only end up with an overly sweet crappy beer.

What is starting gravity should i aim for and do you have any other tips??

Again, stop focusing on ABV and focus on making something worthy of drinking. If you really want to make a high OG beer, then ditch all the Mr. Beer crap and read some threads/recipes that people have posted on here about their high OG beers. The first high OG beer I ever did was using someone else's proven recipe so I knew what to expect at each stage. Now I can design my own and be fairly confident of what the results will.
 
I'm just going to say it because it looks like no one else will:

Dump this down the drain now and move on with your life.

Why am I saying this? Because after reading what you've done I can conclude that you're obviously not experienced enough to have made a beer worth drinking. Dumping in sucrose and extra extract to boost gravity without contemplating hop usage, fermenting at a very high temperature (70°F, are you serious?!), not having proper equipment, not knowing WLP099 is White Labs' Super High Gravity Yeast (anyone making a beer with that high an OG should know that yeast), etc.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to be bold and doing a "big beer", but you do need to have a better understanding of what you're doing before you invest your time and $$ into it if you want to be able to drink the results.

Saying all of that I'll still answer your original question: yes, you would need to add sugar (dextrose prefereably) during bottling, and most likely a bottling yeast since your primary yeast most likely won't be active any more. For my Belgian strong ale I use dry champagne yeast that I add with the dextrose while before bottling. Of course, I also use a liquid yeast starter for primary fermentation and WLP099 for finishing.

GL with brewing, and feel free to experiment, but do so wisely lest you only end up with undrinkable beer.



You do realize that this is the Beginner Beer Brewing Forum right? I'm just checking because... well... you're being a dick.

That being said...

OP: Pitch some champagne yeast in it to get the final gravity down if you haven't already dumped it on the [bad] advice given above. Hopefully it gets down to the teens on the gravity. At that point, add sugar and bottle as normal. It will take longer to carb up cause the yeast are going to be a little more stressed, but the additional champagne yeast will help. Yes, the beer may be pretty much undrinkable, but how will you know if you just dump it?

As for jumping into big beers right off the bat... if I remember right, two of the first beers I brewed were a Ruination clone and the 8-8-8 Russian Imperial Stout. Don't be skeered. Making good big beers isn't the rocket science many on the board make it out to be.
 
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