Using Corn Sugar after primary ferm. ???

Hey all,

Anyone ever used corn sugar after primary fermentation to increase ABV??

Long story short, I mashed too high, around 160. I assume that didn't create enough fermentables, because after four weeks my final gravity only indicates 4.3% ABV. That with nearly 16 lbs of grain! Now don't get me wrong, I tasted a chilled sample today and it tastes pretty good. I just wanted to get at least another 1-2 % ABV out of it.

Any advice??

Type: All Grain
Date: 1/23/2010
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: Bastido
Boil Size: 7.00 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
1.00 lb Carahell (3.0 SRM) Grain 6.35 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6.35 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.35 %
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
3.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 40.7 IBU
1 Pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.077 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.069 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.021 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.036 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.28 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.31 %
Bitterness: 40.7 IBU Calories: 325 cal/pint
Est Color: 25.6 SRM Color: Color

I would try adding some alpha amylase first. It works more slowly at room temperature, but give it a week and it will breakdown more of the complex sugars.

Many Belgians are fed sugar after 2/3 of fermentation has finished.

Just make sure you don't feed your Belgian after midnight.

Unfortunately if you add sugar (and you can use ordinary cane sugar - British brewerys do), it will not have any impact on the FG, and the beer will still be sweet - maybe too sweet. how does it taste?

If have the equipment, you could make a similar beer, mash in the high 140s, use a higher attenuating yeast (like Nottingham), and mix the two. Once 'blended' the Nottingham yeast might work some more on the fermentables in the original beer mixed with the second beer. You would still retain a lot of the esters of the London Ale yeast. You could possibly get the combined FG below 1.020.

If you go this route, you should think about the hop schedule. A high FG needs a high IBU count and some flavor hops in my opinion to counteract the sweetness.

david_42 said:

I would try adding some alpha amylase first. It works more slowly at room temperature, but give it a week and it will breakdown more of the complex sugars.

Click to expand...

+1. amylase works well.

Adding sugar can help you increase your ABV and help you lighten the body of the beer. I have also added sugar to the end of fermentations incrementally to help drive down the final gravity. I have found that when the yeast are going crazy on the dextrose, they also consume some of the maltose so you do end up with a dryer beer. Case in point, I had a beer finish at 1.020, it was done....I added .75# sugar, it fired back up and dropped all the way down to 1.009. Adding sugar can really help kickstart things, and I personally believe that adding the sugar incrementally after much of the maltose has been consumed to help drive down the FG is a secret of how the monks dry their beers out so well.....that and higher temps.