Dry Enzyme resulted in 1.002 FG

Hello lads, I asked the guy at the LHBS if I could use glucose syrup to dry out my beer a little bit. He said that I could do that or I could use a packet of dry enzyme. In my ultimate wisdom, I did both.

I checked my gravity last night, on my 1.063 OG beer, after it had been fermenting for 14 days and it read 1.002!

I tasted the sample and it actually wasn't that bad. Thing is... its still going. I'm still getting bubbles out of the airlock after 14 days. Its the first beer I've had that went for that long.

So my question is... should I use maltodextrin to beef it back up a bit?
If I do, how should it be used? What quantity and how do I get it into the beer?

Thanks for any advice.

I'm not sure about this, but I think the enzyme will convert the maltodextrin to fermentable sugar and then the yeast will ferment it.

Well if that's the case it would be the wrong move. Can anyone confirm what would happen? Thanks for any help.

Curious to know what the FG was that you felt it needed this action?

Extract or AG batch?

I'm not sure either what will happen but using these things to dry out beer is always hit or miss and there is really no end to what they will chew through once they get going.

It was a partial mash. I didn't wait for it to finish before adding the enzyme. Was just looking for a drier beer. Guess I should be careful of what I ask for.

Thing the maltodextrin will convert and ferment if added now?

HopZombie99 said:

It was a partial mash. I didn't wait for it to finish before adding the enzyme. Was just looking for a drier beer. Guess I should be careful of what I ask for.

Thing the maltodextrin will convert and ferment if added now?

Click to expand...

Honestly I have no idea but obviously you should have waited until it was at final gravity as it probably would have been fine

Looking through the details of what maltodextrin is and how the various amylase enzymes work (via Wikipedia)...I am now convinced that maltodextrin will be digested by the enzyme into fermentable sugars.

Maltodextrine is nothing more than a string of glucose molecules joined together through "1-4 glycosidic bonds"...and both alpha and beta amylases attack 1-4 glycosidic bonds. So, I would not bother adding the maltodextrin in there.

Sorry

JLem said:

Looking through the details of what maltodextrin is and how the various amylase enzymes work (via Wikipedia)...I am now convinced that maltodextrin will be digested by the enzyme into fermentable sugars.

Maltodextrine is nothing more than a string of glucose molecules joined together through "1-4 glycosidic bonds"...and both alpha and beta amylases attack 1-4 glycosidic bonds. So, I would not bother adding the maltodextrin in there.

Sorry

Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks for the search !

Thanks lads. I guess I'll just wait until it finishes, bottle it and drink it. Could be worse.

Even if you have 100% fermentable wort, shouldn't the yeasts attenuation have kick in a few points back?

bleme said:

Even if you have 100% fermentable wort, shouldn't the yeasts attenuation have kick in a few points back?

Click to expand...

No, not really...the attenuation listed for a particular yeast strain is for a "normal" beer wort, which will have a variety of sugars - some which can and some which cannot be fermented/metabolized by the yeast. In this instance, the wort was not "normal" and all the sugars that could not have been metabolized/fermented were converted into ones that could.

As long as the yeast is capable of fermenting a particular sugar (and conditions are still conducive to yeast health) then the yeast will keep on fermenting. This is why if you use an ale yeast to make hard cider it can take it down to a specific gravity below 1.000 - the sugars found in apple juice are completely fermentable by the yeast, so it doesn't matter if the yeast's normal attenuation is only, say, 70%.

JLem said:

This is why if you use an ale yeast to make hard cider it can take it down to a specific gravity below 1.000 - the sugars found in apple juice are completely fermentable by the yeast, so it doesn't matter if the yeast's normal attenuation is only, say, 70%.

Click to expand...

Ask me how I know!

I was given a Mr Beer kit, and while I had no intention of using the kit that came with it, I took the yeast and added apple juice + sugar (to 1.070) into the little mr Beer keg. It will apparently not stop.

My cider started at 1070... I figured it was done at 1012. Then I knew it was done at 1001, now I'm not sure what to think at 0997.

It is dry but pretty tasty though.

I measured it again today and its 1.000 now. hahahahaha! Still tastes ok tho. Bitter, but not unpleasant. Hopefully once I get it carbed up it'll be fine. The worst case scenario is that it is a lesson learned.

From the sample I took to measure the gravity, it will still be a nice beer. Nice dry beer....

HopZombie99 said:

...it will still be a nice beer. Nice dry beer....

Click to expand...

And at around 8.3% you won't really care after a pint or three

HopZombie99 said:

I measured it again today and its 1.000 now. hahahahaha! Still tastes ok tho. Bitter, but not unpleasant. Hopefully once I get it carbed up it'll be fine. The worst case scenario is that it is a lesson learned.

From the sample I took to measure the gravity, it will still be a nice beer. Nice dry beer....

Click to expand...

It is possible for the gravity to drop below 1.000, so it might not be done. Make sure you have stable readings before bottling.

Yes, I measured it at 1.002 a few days ago and it was 1.000 yesterday, so ill be sure to wait for it to finish before packaging.

Dry enzyme is crazy stuff man. At least as an experiment I know what it does to the beer.

I'm hoping for a good beer still. More potent than I was expecting but good.

Now that is a dry beer. Worst case scenario it could be used as an gasoline additive in a pinch.

*Your drunkle does not advocate using homebrew in your car's gas tank.

Is there a limit to how much the enzymes will convert?
If he added more un-fermentable sugars, would the enzymes enventually poop out? or will they continue to convert to fermentable sugars?

gingerdawg said:

Is there a limit to how much the enzymes will convert?
If he added more un-fermentable sugars, would the enzymes enventually poop out? or will they continue to convert to fermentable sugars?

Click to expand...

Generally, enzymes will function as long as conditions are right. They don't get used up in the process, though they may degrade over time. However, if temp or pH changes drastically, the enzymes will denature, which will render them useless. I have no idea what the optimal conditions are for the dry enzyme the OP used, so it is possible that the beer environment may not be ideal and so the enzyme is slowly degrading. Not sure if there is any way to tell though without adding maltodextrin and see.

As a follow up, the beer that was the reason for the OP turned out fine. It was stronger than I intended and it definitely lacked a bit of body, but the beer was mos def drinkable. As an experiment, the dry enzyme gave me a good 2% abv over and above what I thought I would get. The end result was a thin but drinkable beer.

Thanks to all for the advice given.

CHEERS!

HopZombie99 said:

As a follow up, the beer that was the reason for the OP turned out fine. It was stronger than I intended and it definitely lacked a bit of body, but the beer was mos def drinkable. As an experiment, the dry enzyme gave me a good 2% abv over and above what I thought I would get. The end result was a thin but drinkable beer.

Thanks to all for the advice given.

CHEERS!

Click to expand...

What was the enzyme called and how much did you use? Please.

Sorry mate, but I dont exactly know what type if enzyme is was. It was called dry enzyme on the package and I used the entire 3g packet that I bought. It cost about $1.50.

What about using campden tablets to kill the yeast to stop the fermentation?

You would probably have to keg after that because if you repitched dry yeast they would just keep eating, but it would be a nice trick to stop the fermentation where you want it.

TheJasonT said:

What about using campden tablets to kill the yeast to stop the fermentation?

You would probably have to keg after that because if you repitched dry yeast they would just keep eating, but it would be a nice trick to stop the fermentation where you want it.

Click to expand...

Wine and brewers yeast are not killed by campden tablets- that's why winemakers use them.

Oh. I thought that potassium metabisulphate was a sterilant... What would you use to stop fermentation?

TheJasonT said:

Oh. I thought that potassium metabisulphate was a sterilant... What would you use to stop fermentation?

Click to expand...

Stopping active fermentation, without creating off flavors, is like stopping a freight train. I can't think of anything reliable that would work well except for filtering with a .5 micron filter.

You could pasteurize it. ;P

Yooper said:

Stopping active fermentation, without creating off flavors, is like stopping a freight train. I can't think of anything reliable that would work well except for filtering with a .5 micron filter.

Click to expand...

I have a friend that wants to treat his wheat with Potassium Metabidulfite (kmeta) and Potassium sorbate (from his Skeeter Pee) then rack onto Strawberries and keg so he doesn't get fermented strawberry flavor.

I referred him to this thread but we are both curious WHY it won't work.