Drying out a beer, amylase, beano, sugar?

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ericd

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Hi, I have a beer that's done fermenting but it's still a little sweet for my tastes. What's the best way to dry it out at this point, amylase, beano, sugar or something else?
 
Before anyone can help, what is the recipe, OG and FG?

I can definitely tell you to stay away from beano or any enzyme post boil. If you add them to an already fermented beer, there is no way to denature them. Sugar could be an option depending on the FG.
 
The only way to "dry out" a beer with sugar is to replace an equivalent amount of malt with sugar in the recipe. Adding additional sugar to an already fermented beer will add ABV - assuming the yeast hasn't given up the ghost - it will not lower your FG.

GT
 
The only way to "dry out" a beer with sugar is to replace an equivalent amount of malt with sugar in the recipe. Adding additional sugar to an already fermented beer will add ABV - assuming the yeast hasn't given up the ghost - it will not lower your FG.

GT

um, yes it will. How will basically adding alcohol which has a lower S.G. than the beer not lower the overall gravity?

although my vote on the issue goes to try again and change some things.
 
is it still in primary? if the temps have been low, my first try is always to swirl it a bit to resuspend some yeast and warm it up.

after that, you could repitch, or add some sugar. or blend it with a more bitter beer during bottling/kegging.
 
um, yes it will. How will basically adding alcohol which has a lower S.G. than the beer not lower the overall gravity?

although my vote on the issue goes to try again and change some things.

It will lower the SG and probably thin the mouthfeel a bit but it won't remove any carbohydrates which happen to taste sweet.

I'm not particularly advocating for any solution here but just to toss out another, isomerized hop oil extract may help to balance the beer.
 
The best way to make a drier beer is to start before the boil.

Replacing malt sugar with table sugar will result in a lower FG. Adding sugar will result in a similar FG but higher ABV which makes it seem drier. The difference between alcohol and water is pretty small so the effect on FG of additional alcohol is minimal.
If making AG mashing at a lower temp will result is more fermentable wort.
Amylase can be used pre boil to help break down complex sugars to more fermentable ones. Boiling halts the process allowing for controllable fermentability.

Adding Amylase post boil does not provide any way to denature the enzyme. The reaction can take a very long time resulting in either bottle bombs or a very long ferment. Not recommended.

Your best options is warmer fermentation temps and swirling the fementer to rouse the yeast. If that is not sufficient then i would suggest bottling the beer and enjoy a sweet beer and start planning how you will change things next time.

Craig
 
I've got an Imperial Alt going that had an OG of 1.10. It went down nicely to 1.036 and stopped. It actually didn't taste too sweet, but I want it to get lower. I added some fresh yeast of the same kind and that did nothing, so I picked up a vial of the White labs super high gravity strain and added that after a couple of days I saw renewed activity and it has been slowly chugging away for 3 weeks now. I need to check it one of these days soon.
 
The best way to make a drier beer is to start before the boil.

Replacing malt sugar with table sugar will result in a lower FG. Adding sugar will result in a similar FG but higher ABV which makes it seem drier. The difference between alcohol and water is pretty small so the effect on FG of additional alcohol is minimal.
If making AG mashing at a lower temp will result is more fermentable wort.
Amylase can be used pre boil to help break down complex sugars to more fermentable ones. Boiling halts the process allowing for controllable fermentability.

Adding Amylase post boil does not provide any way to denature the enzyme. The reaction can take a very long time resulting in either bottle bombs or a very long ferment. Not recommended.

Your best options is warmer fermentation temps and swirling the fementer to rouse the yeast. If that is not sufficient then i would suggest bottling the beer and enjoy a sweet beer and start planning how you will change things next time.

Craig

+1, CBBaron.

I know this doesn't help the OP now, but hopefully it will help you in the future. It all starts with recipe formulation. To really dry out a beer, I mash in the 147-149 range and I mash for 90 minutes. I often times will also add Sucrose.

As CBBaron mentioned, if you're not doing AG then you could also add Sucrose.

Another important step is to use a highly attenuative yeast. I would recommend Nottingham. It's cheap, and I've had it reach well over 90% attenuation before.
 
I give a +1 to trying a higher attenuating yeast. It is all somewhat of a crap shoot at this point. As others have pointed out, your dry vs. sweet is determined long before this step. But to give some advice to the OP regarding his specific situation in addition to providing alternative preventative measures, I would try pitch more yeast of a different strain. I don't know if I would go so aggressive as a champagne yeast, but at least more attentuating than what you used. Recipe would be of good help.
 
Here's the recipe, a Double Wit. Used wild yeast.

1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 6.8 %
5.50 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract 37.4 %
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 14.7 %
2.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 14.3 %
2.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 13.2 %
1.00 lb Raw Wheat (1.0 SRM) Grain 7.1 %
0.75 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4.8 %
0.25 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 1.7 %

1.20 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (60 min) Hops 27.7 IBU
0.90 oz Williamette [5.50%] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
0.65 oz Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU

0.50 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items BrewVint (Primary 3.0 days) Misc

1.00 oz Lemon Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.30 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.36 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min)

My target FG is 1.020 and it's at 1.022 just a little I know, but it would be nice to get it down to what I am shooting for. OG was probably around 1.100. Added extract after fermentation started.

What do you all think about adding some vodka to bring it down?
 
um, yes it will. How will basically adding alcohol which has a lower S.G. than the beer not lower the overall gravity?

although my vote on the issue goes to try again and change some things.

You are correct! But the point remains he will still have the same amount of unfermented sugars/dextrins - the FG is lowered artificially by the presence of the increased alcohol.

I agree with the posts about how to fix the problem - next time. For this batch I would chalk it up to experience, drink it and plan for an improved version in round 2.

GT
 
Here's the recipe, a Double Wit. Used wild yeast.

1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 6.8 %
5.50 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract 37.4 %
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 14.7 %
2.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 14.3 %
2.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 13.2 %
1.00 lb Raw Wheat (1.0 SRM) Grain 7.1 %
0.75 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4.8 %
0.25 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 1.7 %

1.20 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (60 min) Hops 27.7 IBU
0.90 oz Williamette [5.50%] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
0.65 oz Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU

0.50 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items BrewVint (Primary 3.0 days) Misc

1.00 oz Lemon Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.30 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.36 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min)

My target FG is 1.020 and it's at 1.022 just a little I know, but it would be nice to get it down to what I am shooting for. OG was probably around 1.100. Added extract after fermentation started.

What do you all think about adding some vodka to bring it down?

See my post above

GT
 
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