High Gravity Ipa Needs Help

This is my first time experimenting with a high gravity beer. I took a typical IPA recipe and added about 6 lbs of DME and added additional yeast. I dry hopped with Cascade in the secondary fermenter and just transferred to the 3rd fermentation .... it's been about 3 months now and the alcohol by volume is around 9%.

I tasted a little of the beer when I was racking to the 3rd fermenter and it tastes very good, but it's very thick, very sweet and has little carbonation.

Any suggestions on what I can do at this point to clarify the batch a little and add additional carbonation before I move to the bottles?

Not sure what you mean by transferring to the third fermentation.

What was the OG and what is the gravity now?

Any carbonation it has now is incidental; you'll have to add priming sugar to the batch and it will carbonate in the bottles.

Be sure it's done fermenting before you bottle it (the reason I asked for gravity readings).

OG was 1.090
Current reading was 1.022

thanks for the input!

Sounds like it's probably done fermenting... that's a little more than 75% apparent attenuation.

If the gravity has been the same for at least the past few days, it's safe to go ahead and bottle it.

Here's a guide to priming:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Packaging_and_Carbonation

You'll want to use about 119 grams of corn sugar to prime 5 gallons at 70 degrees F. (This will carbonate to 2.4 volumes.)

if you added that much extra DME to a balanced recipe - but didn't add any hops or bittering, you have something that's not an IPA anymore.

I actually added additional hops during the boil and dry hopped during secondary ...

Another question about priming sugar. I'm planning on serving the beer on New Years, but I'm too lazy to go through all the effort to bottle. Is it possible to add the priming sugar to the carboy and let the whole batch carbonate until then?

woodstix said:

Is it possible to add the priming sugar to the carboy and let the whole batch carbonate until then?

Click to expand...

No. You need to carbonate in the bottles or a keg or other closed vessel.

In the carboy, the co2 will not stay trapped in solution.

Carbonating beer is a matter of introducing CO2 under pressure, so you'll either have to use priming sugar and bottle, use priming sugar and keg, or force carbonate in a keg.

woodstix said:

Is it possible to add the priming sugar to the carboy and let the whole batch carbonate until then?

Click to expand...

No, because:

A. If you leave the airlock on, those bubbles are your precious CO2 escaping into the air...

and, B. If you remove the airlock in order to cap the carboy and trap the C02, you're creating a bomb.

Carboys are not intended to contain pressurized beverages.