Refermenting bottled beer

[czeknere]

Okay, so I may be a little crazy to think of this. I have a chocolate stout that was brewed on Dec 1st, and has been in the bottle for a little under two months. My FG was sitting at 1.031 (-.010 for 1 pound of lactose, so 1.021). I should have pitched more yeast, but since it was an extract brew and a lot of times 1.021 happens with extract, I decided to bottle.

Well now, in my own rush and stupidity, the beer is quite sweet. It has an almost citrus quality to it, its somewhat unpleasant. So, long story short, I was wondering if anyone had attempted to 'referment' a beer. I had done some searching here and found that someone had asked about doing it after a beer is in a keg, but mine is in bottles.

Now I'm thinking I could get a starter going, crack open the beers and slowly pour them into a fermenter, then pitch the yeast at high krausen. OR I could get the starter going, crack open the beers and slowly pour them into my brew kettle and proceed like it was a normal batch.

So in doing this; what kind of chance do I have of oxygenating the beer? Should I be concerned about the yeast already resting at the bottom of the bottles? Would it even help to do this?

Maybe I'm just being crazy, but I'm tempted to try this just as an experiment.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I wouldn't suggest doing that, because you will oxidize the beer. You definitely don't want to boil it again - you'd lose much of the ethanol and probably completely alter the flavor profile.

What I would suggest is blending it with another batch, or a store-bought alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage in the glass "on demand". You could try the following:

• Brew another batch and ferment it very dry, but that might be difficult to do with extract
• Add some club soda - the high carbonation should cut right through the sweetness
• Maybe try some neutral-flavored beer. Maybe a Schwarzbier would blend well with it. Even some BMC might work, but that would lighten up the color substantially.
• Maybe try making cocktails with it, or if all else fails, use it for cooking.

Head out to the store and pick up a mixed sixpack of stuff that you think may work, and do some research. Again, I would suggest fairly dry beers that will cut through the sweetness without overpowering the flavor of your beer.

 

[czeknere]

• Brew another batch and ferment it very dry, but that might be difficult to do with extract
• Add some club soda - the high carbonation should cut right through the sweetness
• Maybe try some neutral-flavored beer. Maybe a Schwarzbier would blend well with it. Even some BMC might work, but that would lighten up the color substantially.
• Maybe try making cocktails with it, or if all else fails, use it for cooking.

I had tried blending it with a white chocolate pale ale that I did - didn't work, the flavors became so muddled it was pointless. I didn't even think about blending it with some club soda, that's a great idea.

I was quite concerned about oxidation, which is why I wanted to find out if anyone had done it before I made the attempt. But thanks for the advice, I'll give those things a shot!

 

[david_42]

There is still viable yeast in your bottles, otherwise it would never carbonate. If the sweetness is due to fermentable sugars, eventually it will ferment out. May or may not cause bottle bombs.

Or it might be due to the pound of lactose, which is a lot of lactose. In that case, there's no hope.

I'd let one warm up to see if additional fermentation will occur. Roll it around first to re-suspend the yeast. Loosen the cap just enough the break the seal and let it sit for a week.