Any way to take the cloying edge off?

Two of my most recent brews were mashed with an inaccurate thermometer (12 deg off, so a reading of 154 was actually 166). So now, of course, my brews are cloyingly sweet after very poor attenuation. The nut brown went from 1.060 to 1.018 (70% attenuation's not that bad, but for a brown...). The Amber only got 63% attentuation from 1.056 to 1.021. Is there anything I can do to take the sweet edge off? Maybe some extra carbonation? Any tips at all are appreciated because I'm really bumed. These are two of my favorite brews and they're just not enjoyable right now.

If you have the time and facilities you could use the brews for blending. Just make another brew with less residual sugar and a higher hop rate. This can then be blended with your cloying brews until it it more enjoyable to drink.

You could also try adding some form of concentrated hops to increase the bitterness of the beer, thus offsetting the sweetness.

As a last resort you could use it for cooking!!! Beer braised ribs, beer marinated shishkabobs, beef stew with beer!!!

I like the first idea. Maybe a hopped up mild to balance out the nut brown.

I think blending is the way to go. But then again I'm lazy and I'd probably just get a new thermometer and make the next batch right and learn my lesson... Honestly, I'd go that route and just Brett both of them and see what happens.

You seem to be ok with blending, so presumably you keg, therefore I would add Brett to the Brown!!! And then for the Amber, I would go a different route, and add Brett!! I like Brett. Of course you might have to wait a while to drink them if you do that.

wtf is Brett?

blackwaterbrewer said:

wtf is Brett?

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Brett? I think he's a Greek guy.

Another option, tho risky, is using enzymes to break down the long chain sugars so the yeast can ferment it.

in simple terms: you crush up some Bean-o tablets and gently add it.

But beano is indiscriminate and can leave you with an overly dry, thin bodied beer.

But, some people do it with decent results.

weirdboy said:

Brett? I think he's a Greek guy.

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ha - funny

Sounds like a good time to experiment with Beano.

Serve REALLY cold and it will seem thinner.

Brettanomyces - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ?