What say you about this situation?

In October of 2009, my LHBS hosted a Big Brew. All of us brewed a RIS which was to ferment in 55 gallon bourbon barrels for one month before being transferred to our individual secondarys. I noted in an early post in which I believed we under pitched this batch here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/did-my-lhbs-underpitch-147961/

I still (10 months later) am not able to bottle due to the gravity being 1.033. I am out of ideas to get this beer down.

The O.G. was in the 1.110 range, fermented in the bourbon barrels for 1 month. When I picked up my secondary, I was informed me that I may want to let it sit in the carboy for a while and possible pitch some additional yeast with nutrient as they were measuring a gravity of 1.045. I myself did not take a reading for a few months and when I did in February it was 1.033/1.035. I brought the carboy upstairs to slightly raise the temp, rehydrated some Nottingham and pitched. No signs of fermentation and the gravity reading verifyed that. Next I tried adding some yeast energizer and pitched two packs of EC-1118 wine yeast a day later. Still nothing and the gravity still reads 1.033. The sample is tasty with the exception of strong/harsh solvent like alcohol presence. I do not detect any sweetness.

I don't feel I should bottle at this gravity. Unless I can find an alternative to lower the gravity, I may try and keg. I don't normally keg my beers so this will be a challenge as I don't have a kegerater. I would simply put the keg in my beer fridge with a picnic tap.

Any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated.

If everyone else is seeing similar gravities, only adding some alpha amylase will help. 70% attenuation isn't bad for a RIS.

Jenks829 said:

I don't feel I should bottle at this gravity.

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Why?

Who is the maroon that decided to rack it out of the barrel at 1.045?

FWIW
As was stated above 70% isnt bad for that beer.

David.... This is the type of idea I was looking for. I will do some reading and consider trying the alpha amylase powder.

Papper.... I don't want to bottle at that high a gravity for fear of bottle bombs.

babalu..... No clue but it doesn't make much sense to me. I feel they put their (our) beer on a time line instead of letting the yeast do their thing and produce great beer. I was excited for this big brew but the half-a$$ness of it made me question if I'll participate next year.

Thank you for all your input!

Jenks829 said:

Papper.... I don't want to bottle at that high a gravity for fear of bottle bombs.

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You'll only have to worry about bottle bombs if fermentation isn't complete. I'd guess that it is.

Denny said:

You'll only have to worry about bottle bombs if fermentation isn't complete. I'd guess that it is.

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+1
If the gravity hasn't moved in 6 months, I think it's safe to say that it's done.

A beer that starts at 1.110 isn't one that's likely ever going to get down to a "normal" FG reading. Depending on the recipe, 70% could be as much attenuation as you'd expect. I'm guessing, as well, that since this was a RIS (designed to be sweetish and thick and chewy), there was probably a decent percentage of crystal malts (less-fermentable) in the recipe?

My RIS is being bottled at 1.037 this weekend. I saw a recipe in a book that finishes at 1.043.

When it's done, it's done! If there are a lot of unfermentables, it's going to be a high FG!

No way around it. Just enjoy it.

I'd be more worried about the hot solventy flavors. I did an RIS last November that's still too alcoholey to enjoy. I'm close to just pouring it all out. I've read that the hotness doesn't dissipate with any surety or regularity and there's a only small chance of it ever going away.

Any specifics on the temps in the mash/primary? They could both lead to the hotness. You could always toss some Brett in there and hope for the best, and call it a wild RIS.

David.... This is the type of idea I was looking for. I will do some reading and consider trying the alpha amylase powder.

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Dude SERIOUSLY don't add amylase enzyme to an RIS...that will not turn out well IMO.

indigi said:

I'd be more worried about the hot solventy flavors. I did an RIS last November that's still too alcoholey to enjoy. I'm close to just pouring it all out. I've read that the hotness doesn't dissipate with any surety or regularity and there's a only small chance of it ever going away.

Any specifics on the temps in the mash/primary? They could both lead to the hotness. You could always toss some Brett in there and hope for the best, and call it a wild RIS.

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I made a IIPA and it was hot all over. Aged it a while, and it was smooth as silk. Those flavors can and do mellow out!

Maybe I'm confusing fusels with the solventy taste? All I know is that my RIS is still hot as hell 8+ months out from brewing it

I have some stout I made 15 years ago that fermented hot and had lots of fusels. Tasted the same today as it did back then. Actually it tastes kind of like acetone smells.