Thick wort

Hi, I am doing my first "unassisted" brew. I did a kit that turned out bitter as all hell, and about 1.5 years later, I had enough cash and interest to pursue again.

My wort is very thick. My recipe was sort of...jankedy, if that's a word. I did a little bit of research and just threw something together out of supplies I had bought at the homebrew section of my local large liquor store. Don't worry...that's not going to be a long term habit, I just learn best if I go in blind and have to compensate for my mistakes. It gives me motivation to research.

Here's my recipe:https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/war-1

There is a brew log with it, you don't have to read that, I'll do you a summation for my question.

I boiled with a roughly 5.5 L pot(if I had to guess...it's a large sized regular kitchen pot that isn't as tall as a legitimate brewing pot...good for family amounts of noodles). It started full, but by the end of the boil there was roughly 2.5 L of very thick wort left. My approach for the boil was,I tried to leave it on a slow boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and stirring every 10-15 minutes(I added wayyy too many hops btw).

Now, once in the fermenter, I cut it with water, which allows it to actually be somewhat shakable and fluid, so I pitch the yeast and shake. 3 days later, fermentation has subsided. I know from past experience, that's no good, so I repitch with Safale US-05. A few hours later, things are looking good and there are bubbles in the airlock.

It has been a week since the boil and transfer to fermentation. Now, my container looks like this:



So, you can see the remnants of the thick wort on the bottom.

Now, my question is this...fermentation is subsiding, the bubbles are coming less frequently, yet I still have this huge mass of undigested sugars at the bottom. Is this going to go away when I put it in the fridge? Or have I basically halved the liquid content of my beer? Or worse, does this indicate I have a botched batch(heh)?

Thanks for your thoughts and help.

 

You need to do an OG vs FG to verify that fermentation is done. This is the only way to be sure that fermentation has completed. The bottom half of the jar is basically trub.

Don't take this the wrong way. Homebrew has a ton of different approaches as to how you brew. With that being said going in blind and then posting the results asking for help is not research. There is a vast amount of information in homebrewing. You should buy an extract kit, follow the receipt, understand the process and equipment involved. From there feel free to expand at your own rate.

 

That's not wort in the bottom half of the jug, that's trub. Also, flying blind with no real sense of what you're doing will result in some seriously bad beer. Find a good local homebrew supply shop, invest in a good homebrew starter kit and a copy of 'The Joy Of Homebrewing', which is practically the beginning homebrewer's Bible.

 

So many things wrong with this. You said you brewed once before. But then say you know from experience that after 3 days and no more bubbles you need to repitch the yeast???? This is not true no activity doesn't equal dead yeast. I'm not trying to belittle your here in anyway, but you just need to go to the right places and talk with the right people and read the right things. The other post will help you out with their suggestions take them and run. As of now your just wasting time and money and that's obviously not what your wanting.

 

I didn't see any base malt in the recipe. Just specialty adjuncts and a ton of hops. Doesn't look like an Oatmeal stout. They are very dark.

This will not resemble beer. Chuck it out and start afresh would be my advice.

 

I understand it's not research..I didn't mean to imply that I think what I'm doing here is my only research. I tried to find this question elsewhere, but couldn't find it, and I figured it wouldn't be a question I would find, so lacking already laid out advice, I had to ask.

And it's not like I don't understand the brewing process..I have done another batch, following the directions there. Also, I naturally collected questions I had from this brew that I actually found an answer for on the net. I'm not afraid of experimenting and having bad things happen..most of the fun for me IS this trial and error process.

Ok, so you think it's trub. I'll let it sit for a few days and then update, if I find a reason to do so. One thing to note is that this "trub" has been there since the beginning, and slowly sliding down. The top was actually clear and brown after the wort "slid" past it, before I pitched the second thing of yeast.

 

Ok...the kit I started off with a year ago included barley and that was it for the wort...I figured that would be ok. I will look up base malts and what that specifically signifies.

I won't chuck, I will find out what happens for science, not that I intend it to be good, I'm just curious.

 

Btw, I don't mean to give the wrong impression...I greatly appreciate you guys taking the time to tell me exactly how wrong I am :cross:

 

This brew without any base malt (i.e. no fermentable grain or extract), no mash to extract sugars from the absent malt, ridiculous hops, needless adding more yeast, and no concern as to the yellow color of your stout would seem to suggest otherwise.

If these steps sit well with your understanding then go with it. I like many will be of no use as my understanding is very different.

 

Yeah, if that recipe on brewtoad is accurate this batch is no good =/ you're not getting much air lock activity because the yeast have no sugars to eat.

Oats and flaked barley need to be mashed with other grains to break down sugars into starches. What's at the bottom of your carboy is likely starch from the oats and barley. I made a similar mistake when I first started brewing.

I don't want to discourage you from branching out, but I'd recommend more research on making simple extract brews before you get carried away with things.

 

Yeah, true, I suppose there are many parts to the brewing process and I can't lay claim to understanding most of them. I was speaking along the lines of mash,boil,ferment,etc.

 

ok guys can be harsh at times... but ill say this and some of this is reiterated from previous posts.. first and foremost you have no base grain or extract and you did no mash to extract starch and convert to sugar. so even if everything else was perfect you still wont get beer. the amount of hops for a 1 gal batch is enough for a strong IPA (not for a stout). now additionally you mentioned some strange transferring to and from funnels measuring cups and ladles. splashing and mixing of wart before fully cooled is at times (depending on who you ask) no no.

long and short of it is after all your labor of love you will not have beer or anything that in my opinion will be palatable. my advise is to dump it, get a kit with step by step instructions and perhaps read a book or two or even scan some youtube for step by step brewing.

I hops you get to tasting some great brew in the future but its sad to say this is not going to be anything you will enjoy.

 

Yeah not trying to be harsh, but you clearly don't. As was mentioned this will not be beer - no fermentables and no alcohol. With the hops you used I'd have to call it exceedingly bitter starch water. No harm in experimenting, but you at least want to make beer.

There's lots of help here to take advantage of for future batches. Post your recipe before brewing next time - folks would happily go over it as well as your process and let you know if you are on track. As mentioned How to Brew is a great place to start.

 

I don't know about harsh. Honest would be a better descriptive.

Sounds in the OP like the grains were boiled. Boiled down to gelatinous goo. An oatmeal like consistency given the grain bill. The oatmeal is at the bottom of the gallon jug with the barley and other stuff.

This is unquestionably one of the most off base attempts at a brew I have seen here. Almost thought it was a joke thread at first till I read the OP's reaction to the initial advice.

 

I also suggest picking up an extract kit from your LHBS. While all-grain brewing isn't as simple as "boil some grains and add yeast", extract brewing is almost that simple. And it allows you to start understanding parts of the full brewing process while still ending up with drinkable (even tasty) beer. Unlike your experiment, which sadly will be neither of those things.

 

This is one of the few times when Papazian's RDWHAHB doesn't apply at all. I demand the OP uploads a "tasting video" to youtube

 

So, interesting things happened. I was kinda feeling like "**** it" even though I said I was going to wait, so I dumped it, but first, I saved myself a little. It tasted sort of like beer(but it really wasn't as bad as many people were predicting, not that I would drink it in quantity). But it definitely wasn't beer. It was missing "thickness," but the hops weren't too bad. It was almost as bad as Bud Light , but not that bad. Still, though, you guys inspired me to head up to my local homebrew. I talked to the guy there, extremely knowledgeable, he set me straight on a lot of my questions, and I'm preparing to do a stout via his advice, instruction, and recipe. Anyway, just a final thank you for entertaining my ****ed up experiment.

 

I bet Bud Light is better. Lol.

Cheers on going the right direction this time... I suggest reading the stickies at the top of this forum to get a better understanding of the process.

 

Think of it as tuff love. It hurts us more than it hurts you

 

After reading all the posts and comments and staring at the picture of his "brew", I have to admit that I have never seen anything like it.
My initial thought before someone actually mentioned it was that OP literally boiled all the grains down into oatmeal goo.
How else could a wort ever be described as thick? Having to be cut with water?

 

Read How to Brew, look at the Beginners forum and ask us for "research "
Then get a kit and brew it.

 

So first of WELCOME! We have all royally ****ed up our first few batches so try not to be too intimidated. How To Brew is my brewing bible and it is free and online and I love it more than the Joy of whatever. http://www.howtobrew.com/

Read this. It will help you. Now a few tips,

As mentioned previously, you don't have a base grain. You basically created fermented oatmeal. The starch apparently was broken down as your OG is far higher than your FG. The bottom part is trub and that you have so much of it is most likely because this is almost 100% protein, and not the good kind either.

I have seen stouts with IBUs as high as this. Stouts can take an absolute beating with hops because they are so heavy but honestly, you continually hoped which is cool but not really in the style of stouts. The chocolate was only for color and didn't add anything at all to your beer.

Basically, you fermented watery oatmeal. I wouldn't drink that. Also, did you sanitize stuff?

So basically, feel free to start with all grain brewing and look up brew in a bag. Then piece together what you did. Ignore the overly harsh criticisms. You tried and tried valiantly but that stuff will be undrinkable and if you try it, you will not want to brew again.

 

Let us know the results of the next batch.

 

I did order a copy of How to Brew so I could mark it up as a result of this thread, as well. I read a little of it online, but I decided having a homebrew shop near me was too convenient...they even do free classes every week.

I am starting that stout right now...and oh my god...I was such a fool. This thing looks so purdy.

 

the hardcopy of HtB has more up-to-date info than the online.

not that the online version isn't a valuable resource, it definitely is

SO GLAD!!! to see you on the right track and on your way to brewing, what I hope is some very tasty beer

good luck with this and all future brews, welcome to the obsession.
gooble gobble, ONE OF US!

 

Yeah, I'd also recommend something for your first beer being really really really simple (i.e. light dried malt extract, water, one kind of hops, done). It's a lot easier to get the basics down before you start being experimental.

Been there done that, draft some really ****ty oak aged caramel Scotch ale when I should've done something FAR simpler.