nebben
Well-Known Member
Last night we brewed an alt, that was already estimated to be towards the upper end of the 7A style range (1.053 @ 75% efficiency for my recipe vs. 1.054 limit for style 7A). We did a double decoction mash. I didn't take a pre-boil reading...perhaps I was cutting corners where I could, and I figured I would get the OG in the fermenter anyway.
I let the wort sit in the pot overnight and this morning I checked my OG. Umm, yea...I'm not sure what I'm going to do now with a 1.070 Alt beer! I'm a little concerned that the whole beer might be off balance a bit with the lack of bitterness and alcohol. The final mix-up in this haphazard brewing experience was that I accidentally pitched the Kölsch starter into the pale ale carboy this morning when I first got up, before I was thinking clearly enough to differentiate between the two fermenters. So now it seems that the Pac-man starter that I had been building up for a week will have to wait.
Recipe:
8 lbs UK Pils malt
1.5lbs Munich II
1 lb Belgian Aromatic malt
8 oz Caramunich II
4 oz Carafa II
(11.25 lbs grain total)
.75oz Columbus 14.7%AA @ 60 minutes (31.5 IBU)
.5oz Tettnanger 4%AA @ 15 min (2.8 IBU)
Mash shedule:
122F for 35 minutes
decoct ~8qt, boil for 2 minutes
150F for 45 minutes
decoct ~7.5qt, boil for 2 minutes
167F for 10 minutes
Batch sparging to collect 6.5G wort pre-boil
Mashtun:
10G Rubbermaid cylinder cooler with stainless steel false bottom
My OG measurement came to 1.070 on the hydrometer, at room temperature. One thing that was somewhat surprising was the measurement of the refractometer on the last runnings coming out of the mashtun. I did this to verify that I wasn't pulling sub 1.010 wort out of the tun and to my surprise it read about 1.023, which is higher than I normally see for my mashes after already collecting 6.5G of wort. According to beersmith, for the recipe I used, 1.070 means that I hit 95% brewhouse efficiency. I usually get between 70 and 80% for infusion mashes, although this is only my second decoction mash. I collected just about 5.5G of boiled wort from the boil pot.
Options?
First, because I already pitched my Kölsch starter into the other brew, I have only a Pacman starter (1/2 G) that is on-deck. I would rather still have an alt-beer if I can help it. What would you do? Pitch 2 packages of new Kölsch yeast (since it is yeast-less at this point and 1.070), or pitch the pacman? The pacman was started from the dregs of a Rogue bottle about a week ago.
Second, with this beer at a stratospheric 1.070, would you expect it to still taste something like an alt? Might it be better to go in a different direction with this beer, yeastwise?
Any other ideas?
I let the wort sit in the pot overnight and this morning I checked my OG. Umm, yea...I'm not sure what I'm going to do now with a 1.070 Alt beer! I'm a little concerned that the whole beer might be off balance a bit with the lack of bitterness and alcohol. The final mix-up in this haphazard brewing experience was that I accidentally pitched the Kölsch starter into the pale ale carboy this morning when I first got up, before I was thinking clearly enough to differentiate between the two fermenters. So now it seems that the Pac-man starter that I had been building up for a week will have to wait.
Recipe:
8 lbs UK Pils malt
1.5lbs Munich II
1 lb Belgian Aromatic malt
8 oz Caramunich II
4 oz Carafa II
(11.25 lbs grain total)
.75oz Columbus 14.7%AA @ 60 minutes (31.5 IBU)
.5oz Tettnanger 4%AA @ 15 min (2.8 IBU)
Mash shedule:
122F for 35 minutes
decoct ~8qt, boil for 2 minutes
150F for 45 minutes
decoct ~7.5qt, boil for 2 minutes
167F for 10 minutes
Batch sparging to collect 6.5G wort pre-boil
Mashtun:
10G Rubbermaid cylinder cooler with stainless steel false bottom
My OG measurement came to 1.070 on the hydrometer, at room temperature. One thing that was somewhat surprising was the measurement of the refractometer on the last runnings coming out of the mashtun. I did this to verify that I wasn't pulling sub 1.010 wort out of the tun and to my surprise it read about 1.023, which is higher than I normally see for my mashes after already collecting 6.5G of wort. According to beersmith, for the recipe I used, 1.070 means that I hit 95% brewhouse efficiency. I usually get between 70 and 80% for infusion mashes, although this is only my second decoction mash. I collected just about 5.5G of boiled wort from the boil pot.
Options?
First, because I already pitched my Kölsch starter into the other brew, I have only a Pacman starter (1/2 G) that is on-deck. I would rather still have an alt-beer if I can help it. What would you do? Pitch 2 packages of new Kölsch yeast (since it is yeast-less at this point and 1.070), or pitch the pacman? The pacman was started from the dregs of a Rogue bottle about a week ago.
Second, with this beer at a stratospheric 1.070, would you expect it to still taste something like an alt? Might it be better to go in a different direction with this beer, yeastwise?
Any other ideas?