1.200 20%+ 120 Minute IIPA

[sirsloop]

Ha............

 

[Geo-Brewer]

Thank you both Sirsloop and Danek! I stirred the cake and It seems to be working quite nicely. Ill let you know if it continues to the target FG.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I harvested the yeast from the stout's primary, and prepared a healthy starter with yeast energizer and corn sugar.

Is this a good way to make a starter for high grav brew? Yeast Energizer is the stuff for 'waking up' yeast that didn't finish (I dunno what it does wrt yeast health and future fermenting power) and it seems corn sugar might make the yeast lazy wrt fermentables (only fermenting the simplest/easiest to ferment). It seems for high grav you need a lot of yeast but it seems it should be healthy as possible and not 'lazy' (for lack of a better word). I don't do high grav brews yet so I'm sincerely asking.

sirsloop brewed a pre-batch just to get a big honkin' slurry of uber-healthy yeast.

 

[sirsloop]

Yeah, I wouldn't use corn sugar... swap it to DME and you'll be fine. I also used servomyces, go-ferm, and fermaid-k throughout this process.

 

[sirsloop]

1.091 + 10 pounds of dextrose (1.183) in... still bubblin!

So I think its safe to say I'm going to be hitting at least 1.200 OG on this one. At this point I could add in another three pounds of dextrose, some will still ferment, and it will be balanced sweetness wise. Time will tell how this one ends up. If I end up getting the OG to 1.020 and finish at 1.030... that's 25% ABV!!! That's only 4 more pounds of dextrose including what I added today.

 

[jvetter]

Have you checked the gravity lately? Mine bubbled the same as the OG climbed, but the yeast started to slow down in the higher alchohol levels. Towards the end it was bubbling around the same amount but couldn't even eat .5 points after a couple of days, so I had to stop adding sugar.

Mine finished at 1.030 and is plenty sweet in my opinion. From what I have heard DFH 120 min IPA is in the 1.040s, but I have never tested myself.

 

[sirsloop]

Yesterday it was 1.018 and still bubblin away...I'll check again tomorrow afternoon and see where its at. One thing I noticed is after I add dextrose a lot of the CO2 in solution comes out and it takes a while before the airlock bubbles again. If no more C02 is being produced and there is none left in solution to trick you... then the only CO2 thats bubbling out is newly created. Newly created = more alcohol. Anyways, as I approach 11-12+ pounds of dextrose I'll be watching the gravity closely.

 

[MacBruver]

I can't even begin to think about how to bottle condition this stuff, haha. I guess you gotta just see how far you can push the yeast, and still leave it a little room to go, eh? or are you just gonna force carb this stuff?

Also I think your current OG (if that makes any sense) is more like 1.173... assuming the dextrose gets you 40 points per pound per gallon.

 

[Superman3278]

Hmmm....watching with x-ray vision....

 

[sirsloop]

I'm going to keg and force carb it. I can pour beer into bombers afterwards. Also, a pound of corn sugar in a gallon of water is roughly 1.046...

 

[MacBruver]

Hm... I thought that was for sucrose? I was goin off of this:
BT - Understanding Specific Gravity and Extract

From these equations it is evident that sucrose produces a specific gravity increase of 46.31 points/lb/gal

...

Because it is the reference, only sucrose will yield 100% of its weight as extract when dissolved in water. Other sugars, even though they will completely dissolve, produce a smaller increase in density and yield something less than 100%. Dry malt extract, for example, yields about 97%, dextrose (corn sugar) about 90%.

I'm not trying to call you out here, I'm just trying to understand this stuff fully... is there any way to know for sure besides to just drop a pound of it in a gallon and throw a hydrometer in it? Or should I just DWHAHB?

 

[Saccharomyces]

Corn sugar is dextrose monohydrate (C6 H12 O6 * H2O), whereas Sucrose is the anhydrous disaccharide C12 H22 O11. Some quick math shows corn sugar is therefore only about 90% sugar by weight since 10% is just water bonded to the glucose molecule. That is why you get 40 pts/lb/gallon with it as opposed to 46 with sucrose.

 

[sirsloop]

interesting... well I have more than enough corn sugar to compensate! HAH!

 

[Stinkonamonkey]

So after all is said and done and you've added enough sugar to kill off the yeast, what will be left to clean up the mess? Does the alcohol kill the yeast or just make it dormant?

I imagine you have a lot of nasty byproducts in there right now. Have you considered stopping while the yeast is still viable and letting it condition for a while? You could add unfermentable sweetener to make it taste better.

 

[sirsloop]

I'm not a fan of non-fermentable sweetners. You're talking about something like splenda? There's no need to add it considering the yeast won't be able to ferment it. We're only talkin about like a pound of additional sugar at this point.

 

[Coastarine]

I'm not a fan of non-fermentable sweetners. You're talking about something like splenda? There's no need to add it considering the yeast won't be able to ferment it. We're only talkin about like a pound of additional sugar at this point.

Not necessarily splenda (I did not like that in my a-wine) but possibly lactose or malto-dextrin. I just don't like the idea of adding something artificial.

 

[sirsloop]

I checked the gravity a few minutes ago. It is still at 1.019 and is still bubbling away. I added another pound of dextrose bringing the total up to 1.091 plus 11 pounds of dextrose. Tomorrow night I should be right around the 20% ABV mark if you calculate corn sugar at 1.040 lbs/gal. If I can make it to 13.5lbs of dextrose that will be roughly 1.200 with the dextrose calculated at 1.040. Oddly enough, beersmith has it at 1.046...

I also moved the fermenter away from my sliding glass door into my bathroom, where the temp should go up to roughly 75°F. Its been in the mid 60's this entire time being right next to the door (winter).

 

[sirsloop]

Its still bubblin... although a little slower. I opted to not add any more sugar yesterday as it is slowing down. I'll check out the gravity tonight and see where its at. I'll probably end up putting in another 2 pounds over the next few days....

 

[Danek]

Do you know what? I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the yeast. All that reproducing and gorging themselves sure sounds like fun, but they must be exhausted by now. In fact, if your yeast were human, you know what they'd look like?

 

[steelerguy]

Mine finished at 1.030 and is plenty sweet in my opinion. From what I have heard DFH 120 min IPA is in the 1.040s, but I have never tested myself.

I tested it and got 1.032 and it was way too sweet in my opinion. By way too sweet, I mean WAY TOO SWEET!

I think if this were in the mid 1.02x it would probably be fine.

 

[Kuglehaus]

Do you know what? I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the yeast. All that reproducing and gorging themselves sure sounds like fun, but they must be exhausted by now. In fact, if your yeast were human, you know what they'd look like?

Hey come on... the man can sing a good drinking song with the best of them. Leave Shane alone..

I love the thread, it's this type of thing that inspires the rest of us to push ourselves.. Kudos to you!

 

[sirsloop]

lol... got out of work early today and checked it out. It was at 1.024 and still bubblin away about once every 30 seconds. Its definitely slowed down but I think I can probably count on another 5-10 points before it really stalls out. I added another pound of dextrose bringing the total up to 1.091 plus 12 pounds of dextrose!! LOL No fear brewing!!! I think im gonna hold off for about a week, let it settle a bit, and see where the gravity is at. I think at this point I can call the primary fermentation a success as far as how much dextrose I was able to get in the thing. Taste? We'll see...lol... its certainly got some heat to it at this point.

 

[sirsloop]

you guys are still working on 09/09/09 and 10/10/10... im on 12/12/12!!

 

[Saccharomyces]

I'd call it a 13/13/13. One for AFTER the world comes to an end...

 

[sirsloop]

13...hmm... gonna need some more dextrose...LOL... another pound will make 13!

 

[sirsloop]

checked the gravity today... 1.023. Stirred it up and added the 13th pound!! Thats 1.195 OG and calculated 23% ABV if that ferments out back to 1.023!!

 

[Bobby_M]

So what's the alcohol tolerance of HDPE?

 

[sirsloop]

still bubblin....slow but sure

 

[reim0027]

The poor yeasties! You are sure working them hard.

I am sitting here imagining a primordial stew (or witch's brew). They are thick and slowly bubble up, only to burst with a loud thick burp-like sound. You are sitting over your kettle with a big wood stir spoon, slowly stirring and adding your ingredients (like eye of newt or salamander's tail) and cackling every time a bubble burps.

How close am I?

 

[sirsloop]

Ehh... fermenter is sittin on the floor bubbling away... every couple days I drop in a glass jobbie that reads a number, then I proceed to stir in another pound of sugar. I told ya I wasn't gonna stop until they give up!!