1.128 OG garbage beer

[Boleslaus]

Personally I am a huge advocate of the "Phuck it, throw that **** in there and see what happens" so I can't wait to see how this turns out! (This is coming from the person that accidentally mashed an extract brew by deciding to steep 2 row for 45 minutes on a stovetop and dumped 3 pounds of raspberries in the boil and 2 more in the secondary)

So how did that turn out haha?

 

[Germelli1]

So how did that turn out haha?

Depending on your tastes, it turned out quite decent. It fermented out further than I expected (I assume the raspberries were responsible). It ended up like a bland pale ale with nice fruity tones...exactly like a raspberry flavored Rolling Rock.

It is a great session or beach beer haha [Edit] It was also good for gaining the confidence of the SWMBO in my homebrew and my light lager friends really liked it

 

[klyph]

Aeration is to help the yeast multiply. Oxygen does nothing to help yeast turn sugar into alcohol. If you built up a good starter, aeration isn't necessary in this situation.

I don't think "necessary" is in the spirit of this brew.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

The yeast were cooking along nicely when I came home. I aerated the beer for about 30 minutes, added the new starter and some yeast energizer/nutrient. Hopefully this works!

I actually gasped out loud when I read the statement in bold font!

But whatever, it's a Frankenbeer. So maybe one of the ingredients is oxidation

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

So, it has been a long time since I brewed this beer and thought I should update. I was enjoying a Leinenkeugels Big Eddy(Russian Imperial Stout) with dinner tonight and started thinking about this brew. BTW, if you have access to Big Eddy, it is awesome. Anyway, I took a few steps between my last post and now. I did a 500mL starter with ICV D-47 and added it to the brew about a month and a half ago. The fermentation kicked up for a few days and then ceased again. It has been sitting in the secondary ever since, untouched. I checked the gravity tonight and it is still sitting at 1.052 even though I have seen it burp a few times when I go down to check my other beers. The smokeyness that I was tasting early on has become a lot less prominent. It is still very sweet and could probably make a good desert beer when carbonated (which will of course be forced....how much?) I am in no rush with this beer, so I wonder how much longer I should leave it in there, Months? Years?

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

I am also thinking about dry hopping. Thoughts?

 

[humann_brewing]

So I decided a few weeks ago to make what I am calling a garbage beer. I am transitioning to all grain and wanted to purge every last grain/extract/sugar that I had in the house. Obviously I had no style in mind. Aside from the grains that I added (which included 2 lbs of chocolate malt), there was about 4.5lbs of malt extract, 4 lbs of cornsugar, and 5 lbs of honey. My starting gravity was 1.128 and I pitched with champagne yeast(EC-118). In the 3rd day of fermentation it foamed out the airlock, oops. After 2 weeks, I transfered it to the secondary and the gravity was 1.053. 2 weeks later(today), I checked the gravity again it is still at 1.053. I would assume with the champagne yeast is would ferment almost completely. Is my fermentation stuck? Should I get another packet of yeast started, transfer to a new fermentor and pitch again? It is way to sweet right now.....

first of all, wow 1.128!!! 2nd all of I have had a few.

Ok so with that said you sent a champagne yeast on a maltose mission, you shouldn't have expected them do to do well.

I probably would have started with a nice high alcohol tolerant yeast like WLP001, WLP007 etc.... let it finish, then toss in the champagne or some beano first.


that is all for now, more beer.....

 

[scrambledegg81]

If, after 4 different yeasts, and a double aeration, it's only dropped .01, I'd say you have the greatest stuck fermentation in the history of stuck fermentations. Honestly not sure what you should do at this point...perhaps force filter it, keg & have a nice honey Frankenbrew on your hands? Might be a hit with the wimmins.

 

[jbrookeiv]

Just buy some 3711 online and let it work its magic. Believe me, you won't regret it.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Do yourself a favor and read John Palmer's book "How to Brew" straight thru cover to cover before you attempt all grain. IMO you need to at least understand the basics of fermentation before transitioning from extract to all grain.

Oh please. What an arrogant response to a genuine "help me " post.

 

[humann_brewing]

I actually gasped out loud when I read the statement in bold font!

But whatever, it's a Frankenbeer. So maybe one of the ingredients is oxidation

lol, I actually did what the shortened version actually says.


seriously thought you need a serious army to attack that kind of nuclear sugar attach

 

[rjwhite41]

Oh please. What an arrogant response to a genuine "help me " post.

I wouldn't call this a genuine help me post. This is a "hey look at me I'm drenched in gasoline and I'm playing with matches" post.

 

[EricCSU]

The yeast scoff at your airlock and your bubble counting skills.

lots of LOLZ

 

[jbrookeiv]

The yeast scoff at your airlock and your bubble counting skills.

Going in my signature.

 

[corbomite]

Just buy some 3711 online and let it work its magic. Believe me, you won't regret it.

+1, I think this is a good idea, maybe even with the beano.
That or go apesh$t and dry hop it like crazy to try and balance it out.

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

Well, I added Beano yesterday. It's already going again. I had thought about doing this a while back and decided not to. I figured what the hell. Now I just need to keep track of it to hopefully catch it somewhere around 1.020 - 1.025. I don't like the idea of adding heat to the beer to stop the enzyme. Maybe I will just keg it, bottle it, and never leave the bottles out of the fridge for a long time. I would still like to dry hop, but I don't know if I should while it is bubbling again.

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

Update:

I have been avoiding doing anything with this beer for a long time. Last night I finally kegged it. The gravity at kegging was 1.022. It tastes pretty good actually. It reminds me of an Imperial Porter with a smoked flavor.

I am going to force carbonate it and bottle it from the tap. It's not something I just want to leave on tap. One everyonce in a while will be good with this one.

 

[Jrod]

Yeah having 14% abv beer on tap seems like a path to avoid. Glad it turned into something drinkable albeit 20 months later.

 

[SenorPepe]

That's awesome. This thread entertained me.

 

[rjwhite41]

Shocked to see this thread pop up again. Glad you got something drinkable out of it. Patience is a virtue

 

[ao125]

Yeah having 14% abv beer on tap seems like a path to avoid.

Man... If only I could have Avery's "The Beast" or "Mephistopheles" on tap in my living room, my life would be complete... short... but complete.

 

[bchurch]

I wouldn't call this a genuine help me post. This is a "hey look at me I'm drenched in gasoline and I'm playing with matches" post.

That's awesome, cheers to that

 

[pinback]

awesome thread. love the ups and downs. and really like the happy ending.

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

awesome thread. love the ups and downs. and really like the happy ending.

You make it sound like a movie. That being said.....I own the rights to the movie.

Also, everyone, I have refined my brewing techniques and knowledge a hundred fold since I originally posted this. If I were to do anything like this again, I would certainly change my order of operations. I did document my ingredient list and series of events well, so......

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

Also, I am going to carbonate with 2 volumes of CO2.

 

[kingwood-kid]

Could someone explain the logic behind "I am transitioning to all-grain, so I got rid of all my grain?"

 

[pinback]

I'd say not much logic. Just good ole fashion fun. It is a hobby after all. For him it wasn't all about the style, the numbers, or what the books say. Just a man with some grain, water, and yeast.

 

[Nyxator]

I enjoyed this thread immensely, with occasional irritation at all the naysayers. Nice work with this one! I'm convinced now that 1.052 really WAS your terminal gravity until that Beano broke down the dextrins. Also, claims that champagne yeast can't handle maltose are false. Wine yeasts typically can't handle maltotriose, but have no problem with maltose.

Also nice work on ignoring the flame comments. Those people clearly need to remove their mash paddles from their asses and relax a bit.

 

[CCericola]

+1 on having racked too early. The yeast are on their own timetable. You can't decide it's done because your schedule says it's done. The yeast don't care about your plans. They laugh at your plans. They spit upon your schedule and fart in your general direction. The yeast answer to no one, least of all us puny homebrewers. Yeast are our masters and we are nothing but their lowly servants kneeling before them asking them to grace us with their gifts of alcohol and esters. All hail the yeast.

You win a +1 internets for this. This has got to me favorite quote in a long time.

 

[scrambledegg81]

In the spirit of awesomeness:

 

[bigbeergeek]

How much Beano did you add to achieve great success?

 

[sweetcell]

How much Beano did you add to achieve great success?

this thread is indeed awesome, thanks everyone for the entertainment. i subscribe to the "use what ya gots" ethos as well. most batches i've made have started off with a well-documented recipe... then on brew day i look in freezer to see what needs to be used up.

 

[ao125]

What is Beano, and what does it do exactly?

 

[rjwhite41]

Beano is an over the counter pill for gasiness. It breaks down complex sugars into simple sugars. By doing so the yeast can then consume it. It's not something you generally want to play with in beer although I do use it in an American Light Lager that I do every year. I start out at 1.040 and it helps take it below 1.000, usually 0.998, by the way I use two pills lightly crushed. There's some threads around about it and I know BYO did an article mentioning it several years back.

 

[Lost_Sailor15]

Could someone explain the logic behind "I am transitioning to all-grain, so I got rid of all my grain?"

It wasn't so much about getting rid of all my grain as it was getting rid of all my extract. The grain was just added so that it wasn't 100% extract. I have a tendency to like brewing beers that everyone else would say WTF would you do that for. For example, this beer and an IPA that I made that on the books has 315 IBU and 9.5% abv. The human tounge can not taste that much bitterness, but all the other floral contributions make the beer amazing!

Bigbeergeek,
I added 4 crushed tablets of beano to the secondary. I was really surprised and fortunate that the gravity didn't go too low.

 

[kingwood-kid]

Okay, what I read was:

I am transitioning to all grain and wanted to purge every last grain/extract/sugar that I had in the house.

You'll see where I got all confused.

Lest anyone misunderstand me, I'm not critical of your process or disregard for style guidelines. The last thing I want to become is someone who tells people I'll never meet that they need to brew exactly like I do or have their homebrewing license revoked.

 

[urbanmyth]

Pics or it didn't happen.