Interesting experience using amylase enzyme...

Greetings,

I'm hoping that some homebrewers with experience using amylase enzyme may be able to provide some feedback on their experience, and whether it is close to mine...please read on...

On 6/19, I brewed a winter warmer w/spices, thinking that if I brewed early in the year, I would be able to let it age sufficiently before the winter. Everything went well with the mash/boil/etc, but the fermentation stopped at 1.030 after about 4 days of fermentation and didn't budge after about 2 more weeks in the primary. (OG=1.087, est. FG=1.020). I had a previous beer (imperial stout) that also stopped at 1.030 as well. On that one, I bottled it at that point. It was good, but very thick and sweet. I was hoping not to have this one to turn out quite like that.

So, I conducted the typical ministrations...roused yeast, pitched more yeast, brought to a warmer room, all to no avail. Still stuck at 1.030. I know many will say it's best just to chalk it up as a learning experience and bottle at that point. Perhaps another option would have been to let it sit for another month or so to see if it kicked back in. I did that the last time, as mentioned above, and so I wanted to try something different on this one. I then started reading some posts on amylase enzyme, and decided to give it a shot (no, I did not use beano).

So, with beer temp at about 70 deg. F, I swirled in 1/2 tsp of amylase enzyme and let it sit. About 24 hours later, I had some action on the airlock. This was on 7/9. Lo and behold, it kept going...and going...and going. I measured gravity on 7/14, 1.024...wow...noticeable improvement! So I let it keep going. I was getting a burble in the airlock at about every 5-6 seconds at this point. Another reading today measured 1.016. This is well below the estimate. My winter warmer is now at about 9.3% abv ...oh my!

Now, for me, the abv increase isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm pleased that the gravity is getting down to a more desireable range. The airlock is slowing down (yes, I know this isn't a substitute for the hydrometer, but it's a quick visual sign of activity), so that's nice to see. I imagine I'll need to leave it alone for another couple weeks or so just to make sure it's finished before bottling.

What I'm most concerned about is what might happen to the flavor, mouthfeel, etc... since fermentation has been so active after this addition. I really didn't expect FG to get this low. I didn't see in my forum searches that there was an outcry regarding negative experiences with adding this enzyme, so hopefully I didn't miss anything. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, how did the addition of amylase enzyme affect the end result? Any unwanted flavors? Did it require a longer time to mature? If not, then I suppose I'll just wait and see for myself in a few months

Thanks in advance...

I've used amylase a couple times when an IPA or IIPA finished higher than I wanted. In all cases, I got between 5-10 extra gravity points and it finished around 1.010, which is where I wanted it. In these cases the premature FG was around 1.018-1.022.

All of these beers turned out great, but in my case, the amylase took them down to the FG that I wanted, not past it in your case.

Different temps of mash water result in different amalayses being selected for in a way.

Beta-amylase - 140 - 149*F -> more fermentable wort
Alpha-amylase - 149 - 160*F -> less fermentable wort
*above taken from Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher

Could that have lead to the residual sugars that were not being digested and the gravity stalled at 1.030 even with new yeast pitched as well? What amylase did you add?

Well for starters, I mashed at 154, so I know I should expect a bit higher FG from that already, but not 1.030. As for the amylase, the bottle says "Amylase Enzyme Formula" from Crosby and Baker. It doesn't state whether it's alpha or beta....maybe it's a blend of some sort, hence the word "formula".

I don't know how much it would matter, if at all, but I did add 2 lbs of honey toward the end of the boil (this being a spiced winter warmer and all...). I assumed the yeast would eat through that like crazy, but I could be wrong. I guess that begs the question of "why did amylase work so well in this instance"?

@ damdaman - glad to hear that it worked out for you....I don't mind if the finished product has a low FG...I just don't want it to taste like crap.

check out this page http://brewery.org/brewery/library/enzymes595.html

From my limited understanding, amylase enzymes help break down unfermentable long chain sugars and starches into simpler sugars that are more easily utilized by the yeast.

It's possible mashing didn't convert all the sugars leaving to many unfermentables. That page also mentions that adding to much easily fermentable sugar can effect the yeasts ability to process some higher sugars, so the honey may have added to the problem.

Unfortunately, the amylase will burn through those drying the beer out and taking some of the body/flavor with it.

Thanks for the post...great article. I also added some honey malt to the mash, so hopefully not all of the honey flavor will be burned up.

beowulf said:

Thanks for the post...great article. I also added some honey malt to the mash, so hopefully not all of the honey flavor will be burned up.

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I think it's going to end up pretty "hot" and dry and thin, since it's going to finish much lower than intended. Since it's a winter warmer, though, you've got plenty of time to age it.

Agreed....smelled rather hot when I took the lid off to take a gravity reading. If it turns out that way, hopefully it'll simmer down a bit after a few months of aging. I'll post the results...

I suspect that the honey ferments more per PPG than barley sugars, so 1.016 would be closer to the expected FG than 1.020.

Anyway, give it some time

That's what I'm hoping is the case. I'm not sure that Beersmith considers the different permutations of additions like honey. I also notice that it doesn't seem to change the FG as I adjust the mash temp. Perhaps 1.020 was not an accurate estimate. Oh well...regardless, I'm in no rush...

how accurate is the thermometer you are using, two batches at a stalled fg that high would have me looking at everything.

schmagy said:

how accurate is the thermometer you are using, two batches at a stalled fg that high would have me looking at everything.

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If it's a 1.087, that doesn't seem all that unlikely. Bringing that down to 1.020 is 65% attenuation, and he said the other beer that ended at 1.030 was an imperial stout.

Interested to see how low the enzymes take this. From what I understand, the enzymes wont stop working until they are either denatured or there is nothing left for them to break down.

Well, I made 2 batches of IPA just before and 1 batch of Old Ale after, and they all turned out just fine....used the same thermometer, etc... It's possible with the thick wort that aeration could have been improved. I've made some improvements in that area since this batch. Perhaps my earlier process wasn't sufficient for such heavy wort....not really sure.

I made a 15 gallon batch last week that started at 1.078. In 40 hours, it was at 1.038. I think three things I did helped it go so fast: Yeast nutrient (not a lot, maybe 1 tsp), a decent sized starter, and I aerated through a 0.5 micron SS airstone for a couple of hours in the fermenter after pitching.

At the 65 hour mark, 1.031 or so. I'll check again tomorrow, around the 104 hour mark.

The brew calculator said I should get to 1.016 - 1.020. I expect the lower end of that range. Glad I hopped the snot out of it! (samples are pretty tasty).

I used amylase enzyme in a saison I just bottled. I was expecting it to dry out to about 1.008, but it got down to 1.004. I think it just keeps on breaking down sugars until it can't anymore, but unlike Beano, it can only break certain bonds as opposed to all of them. And at 70*, the stuff works slow as hell.

Finally bottled the amylase victim about a week ago or so. FG ended up at 1.014. My brew partner insisted that we try it at a week, and it was quite tasty albeit uncarbed. Even at bottling, it was pretty darn good. I think the "hotness" I described earlier was due to the fresh ginger, which at the time overwhelmed everything else. The spices are now blending together beautifully. I'll be looking forward to this 9.4% spiced winter warmer in October. I'll post updates with the end result when it is ready for prime time.

Any update? How did this turn out?

Pretty good the last time I had one, but haven't had one in several months. I think I'll chill one and have it tomorrow.....thanks for the reminder! I'll let you know how it turns out...

I just want to say that I've used this stuff before in a Stout (1.085 OG, stuck at 1.035). i first tried all the same techniques as mentioned, but it still didn't drop. I even racked on a belgian yeast cake.

I took the plunge with the amylase enzyme powder. After a few hours of sprinkling it into the carboy, I saw krausen forming. The FG on the beer was 1.018 which is right where I wanted it to be. I also mashed on the higher end of the rage (155 for about 60 minutes).

I had a bottle of it after a year and it still tasted pretty good. The belgian yeast definitely added some funk to it.

Yeah, this stuff is great. I've used it in two summer beers. One was a 1.028 American Lite Ale. It finished at 1.008, I racked to a secondary on top of a tsp of AE and it dropped it to 1.000.

Just tried another winter warmer from last July....yummo! The hotness is gone, and seems to have more body than I remembered when I tried it last fall. Still has a nice spicy flavor. I'm pretty happy with it so far and glad I threw in the AE when I did.

beowulf said:

Just tried another winter warmer from last July....yummo! The hotness is gone, and seems to have more body than I remembered when I tried it last fall. Still has a nice spicy flavor. I'm pretty happy with it so far and glad I threw in the AE when I did.

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Sounds good, should be even better this winter.

October has come and gone....how is the beer?

Assuming you are referring to my beer, really not bad at all! It actually keeps getting better with age. I need to try another...thanks for reminding me! Must have been a lot of ginger or something that needed to mellow out. I wish it had a bit more head retention, though. Other than that, I don't the the AE affected the flavor much, just helped plow through some residual sugars.

I see you used 1/2 tsp, but what was the volume of beer you added it to? I've got 11 gallons of ipa that has been stuck at 1.030 for two months.

I've got 6 gallons of a black IPA that's been stuck at 1.035, og was 1.096. I just ordered some AE and plan to add some when it gets here tomorrow. Has any one dry hopped after adding AE?

I just added some to a triple that has been stuck at 1.020 for weeks. It started at 1.085 so I thought it was done. It still tasted too sweet so I added some champagne yeast. No effect, so I added the AE last night. I have bubbles in the airlock this morning so hopefully it's working.