torilen
Well-Known Member
First, let me say this. I don't check for gravity, since I brew 1 gallon, to 1-1/2 gallon batches and don't want to lose any of my brew. I know...that doesn't help answer my questions much. I was able to check my final gravity. I explain that further on.
I had made a strong beer, expected ABV was supposed to be around 11.38 or so. Using the online calculator, my starting gravity should have been 1.111 and final gravity should have been 1.029. I used 4# amber LME and 8oz sugar, along with a total of 4oz steeping grains.
I let the beer ferment for around 10 days or so. That's usually how long mine go. Typically, I let them go longer, as it takes me a week or more to actually get around to taking the brew off the yeast. This time, because of the high ABV, my plan was to add in wine yeast at the end to finish it off. I did this, and the fermentation went good again for another 3 or 4 days, and then taper off and finally stopped. As usual, it took me almost a week to take the beer off the yeast.
It came out WAY too sweet. I had some left over, outside of putting the beer in the secondary to age. I put that in the fridge. Tonight, I checked the final gravity and it is around 1.050. Adjusting for the temperature in the fridge, figure 1.049. This gives me an ABV of 8.14. Respectable, but still way too sweet.
Is it possible to repitch some wine yeast into the secondary? Will it start fermenting again? Or should I just leave it as is, drink a sweet beer, and try not to mess up next time...whatever it was I screwed up?
Thanks.
I had made a strong beer, expected ABV was supposed to be around 11.38 or so. Using the online calculator, my starting gravity should have been 1.111 and final gravity should have been 1.029. I used 4# amber LME and 8oz sugar, along with a total of 4oz steeping grains.
I let the beer ferment for around 10 days or so. That's usually how long mine go. Typically, I let them go longer, as it takes me a week or more to actually get around to taking the brew off the yeast. This time, because of the high ABV, my plan was to add in wine yeast at the end to finish it off. I did this, and the fermentation went good again for another 3 or 4 days, and then taper off and finally stopped. As usual, it took me almost a week to take the beer off the yeast.
It came out WAY too sweet. I had some left over, outside of putting the beer in the secondary to age. I put that in the fridge. Tonight, I checked the final gravity and it is around 1.050. Adjusting for the temperature in the fridge, figure 1.049. This gives me an ABV of 8.14. Respectable, but still way too sweet.
Is it possible to repitch some wine yeast into the secondary? Will it start fermenting again? Or should I just leave it as is, drink a sweet beer, and try not to mess up next time...whatever it was I screwed up?
Thanks.
