missed my FG...any suggestions to mitigate things?

[tbrink]

so i made a minimash honey kolsch about three weeks ago and last night i transferred it to secondary. when i took the gravity readings, i had to double and triple check to make sure i wasn't seeing things, but no, i had flown past my intended FG by about 7 points. i was supposed to have something in the ballpark of 1.014, but wound up with 1.008 instead.

LB___OZ___Malt or Fermentable
4____0____Extra Pale Liquid Malt Extract
2____0____German Two-row Pils
1____0____Wheat Malt Extract Syrup
1____0____Wheat, Red
0____12___Honey (reinheitsgebot be damned)
0____8____Extra Light Dry Extract
0____8____Weyermann CaraHell

1 oz perle @ 50 min
.5 oz vanguard, kent goldings @ 15 min
.5 oz vanguard, kent goldings @ 5 min
1 oz saaz @1 min

WL029 german ale yeast

i mashed the grains at 155F for 50 min, and all liquid additions were just prior to flameout...honey first, then LME. this was a 5 1/2 gallon batch. initial gravity was 1.06, which also overshot my projections of 1.057.

now i realize i've got a bigger beer on my hands, and somehow i'll try to manage :cross:, but i'm a little concerned that it'll be too thin. can i add some nonfermentable sugars in secondary to help put some meat on them bones, and if so, how much?

i tasted my sample, and i've since abandoned this notion of having a light summery beer. well, in all honesty i abandoned that when i decided at the last minute to add the honey...i mean sure, honey is highly fermentable, but i wasn't expecting it to be this highly fermentable, especially since i only put in a cup.

so my question is this...what would happen if i added either maltodextrin or lactose (or both, or something else entirely)? i'm looking to add a little body and maybe bring out the honey flavor a little more.

thanks!

 

[Pappers_]

If you are really going for a kolsch or kolsch-like beer, I wouldn't add lactose. For me, 1.008 fg would be fine.

 

[tbrink]

okay then, i won't add it. i guess my concern was quaffability, but i do admit that i willingly threw that notion out the window at brewtime. i guess more than anything i was just shocked how this fermented out so much.

i've been thinking about it over the past couple of days and i sort of decided to say screw it, if dionysus saw fit to bless me with more alcohol, then who am i to turn away a gift from the gods?

it's not like my family & friends will push the glass back and say, "sorry man, this beer just has too much alcohol."

 

[a10t2]

Has your thermometer been calibrated? If you were mashing lower than you thought that could easily explain the change in FG.

For that matter, has your hydrometer been calibrated?

 

[TastySalmon]

Your FG is not that far off from your target FG. Relax and enjoy it. Maybe it will be better than you had ever hoped.