Oktoberfest FG way too low at 1.005

Consequently, the beer is not balanced, tasting a bit bitter.

Normally, I'd just drink the mistake away... But I'm having a halloween party and I'd like people
to enjoy the oktoberfest a bit more.

If I add .005 points of sugar to the beer to bring it up to 1.010-1.012, is there going to taste
as if it was part of the normal fermentation ? Or will it have a different taste ?

One chart I found shows .005 of sugar for 4 gallons is 1/2 pound. I did a taste test and it came out a bit sweeter than I would have expected. But at the 100ml / 1.7g scale, it might be off a bit... I'd probably do half that and evaluate it taste wise.

 

If you add sugar it's either going to ferment out (likely, unless you've filtered out all of the yeast), (and the beer will seem just as thin or thinner with slightly more ABV), or add sweetness to the beer like you mentioned.

What you're looking for is something like maltodextrin which will add mouthfeel, wont get fermented out by yeast, and will taste similar to what a "normal" fermentation that finished higher would have.

 

Two things:

First, your mash temp?

Secondly, you didn't happen to use US-05 (dry) yeast did you?

 

No US-05. Good old wy2206. I made a good starter, crash cooled it and pitched all the yeast.
Very fast ferment.

Well looks like my FG calc was bad. I'm not as low as I thought. Just too high a bitterness.

 

I would say that it is easier to blend two different beers than to fix one. You say it is o hoppy? How hoppy , how long was fermentation. Did you start this beer 6 months ago? Depending on your hops a young beer can be harsh. Two weeks later it could be a completly different beer.

 

Hoppy as in not balanced for an Oktoberfest beer. It was made Aug 2. So it should be
good and clean now. I ferment in 50s and lager at ~40.

 

The best thing to do would be to lager it longer; but I understand that you're looking to serve it to people soon, so..

I'd say to either filter the beer starting with a 1 micron filter; or add in some polyclar (PVPP) at the recommended dosage.

Polyclar will help pull out polyphenols (including the hop-derived type) that can increase the perception of bitterness; obviously you can't do much about hoppiness, but for bitterness this can help a little bit.

Follow the instructions and use the recommended dosage- NOT MORE. Chill your beer close to freezing (buy 4 lbs of dry ice at the grocery store and put it in a towel and wrap it around your corney keg in your fridge; this will drop the temp within a couple hours) then dose with polyclar shaking the keg up well. -Then you need to let it sit untouched for 2-3 days or sit one day and filter; you will want to transfer off of the polyclar because drinking it isn't good.

Honestly though the best option is just to wait; or add malto dextrin as someone else recommended. You COULD add a tiny bit of lactose, too as it's unfermentable sugar but I'd say that this is a bad idea.

The best option is to probably enjoy it for what it is. Many of these "solutions" bring their own more sinister risks with them.

Adam