Should I add sugar or DME to my secondary?

[Shred]

I moved my Irish Mocha Stout into my secondary last night after a week in the primary. There hasn't been any real activity in the airlock for several days.

If I read my hydrometer correctly, my OG was 1.044. The SG was at 1.022 last night. This seems really low to me.

I put 4 ounces of cocoa nibs and about a cup or so of very strong, cold-brewed espresso in the bottom, which I understand shouldn't have much impact on my FG.

I did notice a little activity in the airlock last night (a bubble every couple minutes, maybe).

Should I add a bit of sugar to the secondary (how much?) to up the ABV or just wait it out a couple weeks and retest?

 

[scottyg354]

If there is a bubble every couple of minutes, its still fermenting. Give it a few days and take another SG reading. I think your good.

 

[aarong]

So your beer is fermenting...your abv is from the difference of og and FG. Just let it keep fermenting.

 

[aarong]

Your beer should keep fermenting to around 1.010 to 1.018 range. That depends on a lot of factors but is a ballpark number.

 

[Shred]

Thanks, that's kinda what I figured, but it's going so slow (and actually seemed to stop in the primary) I wasn't sure it would ferment enough to up the ABV to a reasonable level. I was shooting for around 4% based on my BeerSmith estimations.

I'm assuming the slight agitation during racking "woke" the yeast back up?

Out of curiosity, what would happen if I did add some DME or sugar? Would I need to add more yeast before bottling?

 

[beerbreath81]

Generally the secondary does not have much action as far as the airlock is concerned. the purpose of the secondary is to give time for the beer to clarify and i guess you could say "age" to give time for the flavors to come together. Fermenting is done. If alcohol content is what you are after then your thought is not offbase. I would focus more not on this batch but future batches. If alcohol content is what you are after you need to consider what can be done to get a higher OG. I would enjoy this batch and move on to next.

What was your target OG, did you come out low from your target?

I have heard of some brewers doing this to acheive higher alchol contents, they add sugar or backsweeten secondary to prevent the yeast from getting alcohol poisoning and dieing off. They will add sugar thoughout the processes. I have never added sugar to the secondary but if i were thinking about it i would consider the following:

1. adding sugar will have an effect on final products taste
2. adding sugar to secondary will essentially start the process over (secondary becomes primary)
3. adding sugar will take longer for process to complete.
4. once added sugar how do you track OG and FG?????

If i did add sugar i would add a brown sugar or honey that has been mixed with warm water and allowed to cool.

Bottome line, if you are sanitary about the process i beleive you will achieve your goal, if you decide to try it try it and let us know how it comes out so we all may learn.

 

[frazier]

No you wouldn't need to add more yeast. But you would be tampering with the recipe, which may or may not get you what you want.

You want more alcohol? Add sugar; or wait till bottling time and add vodka (I'm not really serious about that last option). This may get you the alcohol you want, but it won't get you the beer you want.

If you had to add something, I would say add DME. But, you don't have to. It wouldn't solve your problem in any case. Your problem is not low alcohol, it's low attenuation. But we don't even know it it's done, so wait another week before you even begin to think about entertaining the notion that you might get the idea to panic.

In short, RDWHAHB!

 

[aarong]

Now that it is in secondary you lost a lot of the yeast. There should still be enough in their if you added DME but it will probably take a little longer to kick off. The best way to add it would be boil as little water as possible and add your DME to it. Let it boil for at least 5 min. Cool then pitch to the secondary. I'm not sure how you would calculate the amount of DME so somebody else can chime in with that.

 

[Shred]

I just went and checked on it and I'm still getting a bubble every couple minutes. For whatever reason, racking it woke the yeast back up. Maybe I should have agitated the wort more before pitching. I always figured the aerator on the tap would do it's job and add enough oxygen when topping to the appropriate volume, though.

I've read that plain table sugar doesn't have much impact on the taste, but as long as it's still going I'm not going to touch it.

As for how to read the OG & FG... I have no idea. I imagine there must be some sort of formula using average readings from the OG & Primary vs. the OG in secondary and FG, but I have no idea what it is.

 

[Shred]

Found the answer. Treat late sugar additions as if they were added during boil (unless the alcohol content is above the tollerable level of the yeast):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/how-do-i-calculators-fg-after-adding-fruit-sugar-secondary-321583/

 

[aarong]

To calculate OG you take a SG reading using a hydrometer before pitching the yeast. For FG you take another hydrometer reading before bottling/kegging after fermentation. Then plug it into a calculator online or using beer smith.

 

[Shred]

I love the RDWHAHB replies, but my HBs aren't ready yet! I guess I'll have to settle for store-bought and tough it out

 

[beerbreath81]

kinda got me questioning how to figure FG if sugars are added, i came up with same as answer you did, heres a guy who forgot to add sugar during boil and added it to secondary, may be worth finding out how it came out

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/calculating-abv-sugar-addition-secondary-352784/

 

[Shred]

The big question is, how will I calculate FG with a few pounds of frozen raspberries added into the secondary for my next brew?

 

[frazier]

The big question is, how will I calculate FG with a few pounds of frozen raspberries added into the secondary for my next brew?

It's as simple as calculating the color of a sunset.

Just brew it and enjoy it! Some things cannot be calculated.

 

[Shred]

Uh oh... I tested it last night and it doesn't look like the SG has changed much in the last week. I think I may have had some weak yeast. Should I consider adding more yeast to the secondary or just bottle a 2.7% ABV stout? It tastes pretty good now. Strong mocha flavor.