High Gravity Concern

In retrospective it seems inevitable that a mistake was going to happen. Too many variables: my first HG brew, my first yeast starter, first time using my brewing software.

Plan: An IIPA with OG of 1.087
Result: OG of 1.120
Error: Entering LME extract yield for the custom DME item I created in software.

Good thing I was using a 4L starter. Managed to get final gravity of 1.024. Nonetheless, I am concerned the beer will simply be too sweet. It did taste pretty sweet upon sampling. (I effectively put in two more pounds of DME than needed because of error).

Will ABV of 10% plus, IBUs in excess of 100 (corrected for error), and carbonation offset the sweetness? Should I just bottle it? Dilute it? Blend it? Think of it as my first barleywine?

Don't imagine there is much left in there but unfermentables, so pitchin' more yeast seems like it would be a waste.

100 IBU's is pretty hefty, hop-wise, but the FG may be overpowering even for that. I would say give it at least a month in-bottle/keg, give it a taste, and decide what it should be after that. Should be a beast, irregardless.

I'm getting fat just reading those stats. That is one hell of a beer right there. You skipped Little League, High School ball and triple-A and went straight to the majors.

At this point I think it has arrived at its final destination. You got 80% attenuation out of the yeast, which is most likely the max. Bottle it up and don't expect it to be at its peak tastiness for a couple months.

Was this a full boil, something you topped off after a partial boil or what?

Also just curious, what was the recipe?

I ask all I did because it takes 18 #s of Briess LME to get to 1.123 per beer calculous. Any chance that you did the partial boil added water, and took your OG?

nanofreak said:

Also just curious, what was the recipe?

I ask all I did because it takes 18 #s of Briess LME to get to 1.123 per beer calculous. Any chance that you did the partial boil added water, and took your OG?

Click to expand...

Six Gallon recipe

9lbs DME (should have been 7)
6lbs LME
1.5 lbs Crystal 20 steeped


As for your first question, it was a full boil but I did have to top off a bit to hit correct volume - think I know where you are headed with this question - I could have corrected then - didn't think of that - at the time I was just dumbfounded as to why gravity was so off - it was midnight and my critical thinking skills were likely dulled by the Mad Hatter, Three Floyds, Bells, Dark Horse, and Sierra Nevada being consumed that evening - I looked at recipe about six times the next day before I found the error.

Yeah, that much extract would put you at 1.118. That is a pretty hefty beer. Let us know how it turns out in the end.

The alcohol should balance out the sweetness a bit if you can age it. You may be very happy with it. I had a pale ale go from 1.06 to 1.2ish and it was very good.

Age!

After you bottle it up, put it in your beer closet / cellar and fuggetaboutit

With a beer that big and hoppy, you'll want a nice long bottle conditioning for it to mellow out.

It could actually grow up to be a really yummy (but very heavy) beer that would best be savored slowly.

Thanks for weighing in - I'll bottle and age as recommended. I have dubbed it Imperial Mistake.