"fixing" my Smash BW

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

EndOfLine

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
157
Reaction score
21
Location
Washington DC
Hello lads!
My super high gravity yeast + starter did waaaaaaaaaay to good of a job. I checked my FG Last night (2 weeks after pitching the yeast) and its 1.004....

The beer is very dry and very Alcoholic. :cross:
I was hoping to add either more wort to the bucket,
or perhaps adding lactose to add some sweetness.
or anything you guys can think of.

Thanks :tank:
 
one time I had this issue and I improvised by steeping some grain in the high 160's for a half hour or so, then boiling it down to a good gravity and adding it. You might have some additional fermentation take place, but shouldn't be much at that high of a steeping temp. Mostly it should add dextrins, which don't ferment out.
 
one time I had this issue and I improvised by steeping some grain in the high 160's for a half hour or so, then boiling it down to a good gravity and adding it. You might have some additional fermentation take place, but shouldn't be much at that high of a steeping temp. Mostly it should add dextrins, which don't ferment out.

That sound like a quick and easy fix. You said steep, not mash? Is that what you meant to say?
Also, to get the body I am looking for how many lbs of grain vs amount of water? its a 4 gallon batch atm.
 
What temp was your fermentation? And what was your starting gravity?

Don't rush to tinker with it...heat/booziness can fade with time. tre9er's suggestion is good for adding some residual sweetness & body back, but I'd give it some time first.
 
That sound like a quick and easy fix. You said steep, not mash? Is that what you meant to say?
Also, to get the body I am looking for how many lbs of grain vs amount of water? its a 4 gallon batch atm.

Should be simple math but I don't have time to come up with it right now. Steep, mash, whatever. I called it steeping because I believe I did it in a bag. Someone chime in with a formula that would help figure out volume and gravity needed to add in order to get what he has to a specific gravity he wants.
 
What temp was your fermentation? And what was your starting gravity?

Don't rush to tinker with it...heat/booziness can fade with time. tre9er's suggestion is good for adding some residual sweetness & body back, but I'd give it some time first.

69-75 Fermentation,
Starting gravity was 1.115
 
Yikes. 1.115 to 1.004? You makin' shine? haha. Boosting your FG back up will help, but that boozy character will need some time. If it were me, I'd try to forget about it for a while.
 
Yikes. 1.115 to 1.004? You makin' shine? haha. Boosting your FG back up will help, but that boozy character will need some time. If it were me, I'd try to forget about it for a while.

LOL! That is what I am thinking, on both counts. Add something to it. and forget about it.... for a long long long time :(
 
What was your rationale for the yeast selection?

Me and my mate previously bought and milled 50lbs of Munich malt. However, we only used a fraction of it, and like 35lbs of it has been sitting in his basement for like 6 months. We needed to get rid of it. So we decided to make a single malt BW.

We had no idea how our good efficiency would be with such old grain, so we went to the LHBS to get super high gravity yeast, just in case. Did yeast starter. We crammed 24lbs of it in the mash ton, and just used the first running's.
 
I see. Malt stays good for a long time if uncrushed, cool and dry. But I hear ya.

If you know any friends with a still...
 
Mine! hahahaha. I am going to add something to give it more body, and more sweetness to balance it out.

cough* and time
 
Back
Top