Question about adding more fermentables to secondary...

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mradtke

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First off, this is my first post on this board. I just set up a beer keg and King Cooker for brewing, so now I can brew outside all year round instead of only in the winter, when it won't heat up the house too much! :)

Well, I have two 5-6 gallon batches of a Pranqster clone in my basement at about 62-62 degrees F. The O.G.‘s are a little lower than I was hoping for( about 1.065). One batch is in a tertiary that I was going to bottle in another week (that would make a month total ferment time), but is still fermenting a bit so I may wait longer. The other batch is two weeks old and is in a secondary. There is a lot of sediment on the bottom so I was going to rack this batch into a tertiary, too. I used the same yeast for both brews, Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity.

I have read that with this yeast, more fermentables can be added during the fermentation for a higher gravity beer. My questions are: Would it be advisable to do something like this? If so which of the two batches would I try this with, what would I use, malt or candi sugar and how much? By the way, both fermentations were very healthy.

Thanks for any info!

Mike R.
 
Was your recipe designed for more fermentables? If you wish to create a great tasting, balanced beer you must consider the style, OG, amount of bittering hops, FG etc. You choice of additional fermentables will depend on what you are trying to achieve. If it is alcohol only then use plain sugar. If it is flavour, body and/or residual sweetness then add more complex, less fermentable sources of sugar such as candi syrup, molasses etc.
 
Yes, the O.G. should have been a bit higher. I was trying to shoot for something like a Tripple or Belgian Strong Ale. Not too heavy on the hops, but not too sweet, either. I really like the spice characteristics that come from this type of yeast.

I keep close records, but I usually don’t make many brews the same. I think I will try adding candi sugar to the second batch, just to see how it turns out. Would boiling 1 lb. with a quart of water, then adding to the fermenter work?


Mike R.
 
mradtke said:
...Would boiling 1 lb. with a quart of water, then adding to the fermenter work?


Mike R.
That would do it. Obviously want to cool it first. You may also want to give the newly mixed wort a bit of a swirl (no aeration though) so the yeast "wakes up" to
the new sugars.

You'll set yourself back a few weeks before the beer is ready.
 
Were they partial boil, extract brews? Sometimes with partial boils the extract gets to the bottom of the pail/carboy and the gravity reading off the top is low. While adding sugar will work to increase the abv, it will change the mouthfeel of the beer as well making it drier. Not sure on the beer you are trying to clone, that may or may not be desired. I would recommend adding it to one and not the other...see which you like better.
 
i'd only add it to secondary, and ideally the day it's racked to secondary, not 3 weeks down the road.
secondary and tertiary are for clearing the beer. adding more fermentables means more sediment and yeast rising back into suspension...so more clearing time would be needed.
 
Yep, I'll only do that to one batch only. Should be an interesting comparison.
 
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