1.220 OG RIS

[thaymond]

This. Is. Awesome. I did something similar with a Wee Heavy. Similar in that I reduced a gallon to 3 pints of syrup. 4.5 gallons of syrup tho, crikey!

Also, partigyle brews are also pretty awesome. Take the extra 1.051 and make a 5-6% stout. I did that with the Wee Heavy too.

 

[Easycreeper]

Ok. Afraid to boil much longer than 2 hours, I ended up with 5.75 gallons of wort at 1.163. I plan on adding most, if not all of this to my starter and making up the difference with cane sugar towards the end. Got a lot of ground to make up... Maybe some piloncillo is in order depending on how fermentation progresses...

Had I hit my 4.5 gallon mark, I'd have a gravity of 1.208. Oh well.

Between my 1.036 half gallon starter and the quart of 1.163 wort, I'm sitting at 1.063 in a 5L flask according to the Tilt. Guess that means the starter fermented out to the 1.014 range.

Currently canning the remainder of the wort.

 

[Easycreeper]

Picture proof. I'll admit to some disappointment, but if it'll ferment out, I can live with it...

But... At least the quart I added to the starter is excited to be there... I'm excited too.

 

[anotherbeerplease]

Just curious, if you boiled for 8-9hrs, why not just boil for 1-2hrs as standard, then freeze the beer post ferment? Seems it could avoid a lot of the problems involved with high grav ferments??

 

[Jwin]

Just curious, if you boiled for 8-9hrs, why not just boil for 1-2hrs as standard, then freeze the beer post ferment? Seems it could avoid a lot of the problems involved with high grav ferments??

As I stated earlier, eis beer is the way to go for BIG bees in my opinion. It does take a bit of still to pull it off though. If you can pump co2 into the FV as it crashes/freezes, you are on the right track.
OP: definitely gonna need some sugar to dry it out after the large DME additions anyway. With the remainder of the original wort, you might try and Candi it on the stovetop a bit more(or maybe it's already there?) and and it to a pale-ish wort with some Belgian yeast. 3787 comes to mind as the dark fruit and the bit of roast would possibly work well together.

 

[Jwin]

As for eis beer, brewdog has pushed the limit.
Here's a video from the UK brewery of some chap Tactical Nuclear Penguin and then some...

 

[Jwin]

Watching it myself again, a couple of years later, Sink the Bismarck is Punk IPA frozen 7x8x times

 

[Easycreeper]

Just curious, if you boiled for 8-9hrs, why not just boil for 1-2hrs as standard, then freeze the beer post ferment? Seems it could avoid a lot of the problems involved with high grav ferments??

It's a matter of seeing if I can crack that 20% barrier or at least come close with fermentation alone. It's a personal goal since having learned that it can be done.

Doing an EIS beer is something I'd like to do at some point in the future, just not with this beer. I want the full 5 gallons for packaging when done and going the EIS route just won't cut it.

Plus, EIS beers have that whole "distilled" stigma that goes along with them. Potential for trouble there...

 

[Easycreeper]

As I stated earlier, eis beer is the way to go for BIG bees in my opinion. It does take a bit of still to pull it off though. If you can pump co2 into the FV as it crashes/freezes, you are on the right track.
OP: definitely gonna need some sugar to dry it out after the large DME additions anyway. With the remainder of the original wort, you might try and Candi it on the stovetop a bit more(or maybe it's already there?) and and it to a pale-ish wort with some Belgian yeast. 3787 comes to mind as the dark fruit and the bit of roast would possibly work well together.

Thanks. That's a good idea to Candi some of the remaining wort. I'll load some up with sugar and boil for a while to get some complexity when I get the chance.

 

[Jwin]

It's a matter of seeing if I can crack that 20% barrier or at least come close with fermentation alone. It's a personal goal since having learned that it can be done.

Doing an EIS beer is something I'd like to do at some point in the future, just not with this beer. I want the full 5 gallons for packaging when done and going the EIS route just won't cut it.

Plus, EIS beers have that whole "distilled" stigma that goes along with them. Potential for trouble there...

Though it is often called distillation, it's not. Its perfectly legal as far as federal laws go. I think there are only 2 states that have laws restricting anything to do with them. Neither Of which have to do with the Homebrew scale iirc. Also of them has been cleared my the moderators.

 

[Easycreeper]

Though it is often called distillation, it's not. Its perfectly legal as far as federal laws go. I think there are only 2 states that have laws restricting anything to do with them. Neither Of which have to do with the Homebrew scale iirc. Also of them has been cleared my the moderators.

Cool. I was under the impression it was frowned upon by lawmakers. Good to know that I won't be in any risk of getting in trouble when I make my attempt. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Easycreeper]

Guess I'm going to have to admit defeat on this one. The second round is stuck in the mid 1.070s with only 2.25 gallons in the carboy. The shorter boil time didn't help at all it seems. I'm either getting a huge amount of unfermentables or I'm front loading the wort with too many simple sugars and the yeast are getting lazy on me.

At this point, I'm pretty frustrated with 099 since I'm feeding it like recommended, keeping SG below 1.100 with incremental feedings and lots of oxygen. I've had much better luck throwing wort at it with wll SGs over 1.120 and feeding it simple sugar as it starts to finish fermentation.

 

[Smellyglove]

I'd add wort with active enzymes, let it sit, then add krausen, see what happens.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

Beano might help.

 

[Easycreeper]

Beano might help.

I'm about four tabs in right now. It may take a bit longer to work than I think it does, so there could be that... Also have a bit of amylase enzyme in the mix.

It's not like the yeast are dead since krausen picks right up in about an hour of each addition. I could have a recipe or process problem that's resulting in a bunch of unfermentables.

Stepping up another starter right now to see if the other yeast is lazy, but I don't have much hope of that being the issue.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Smellyglove]

I'm about four tabs in right now. It may take a bit longer to work than I think it does, so there could be that... Also have a bit of amylase enzyme in the mix.

It's not like the yeast are dead since krausen picks right up in about an hour of each addition. I could have a recipe or process problem that's resulting in a bunch of unfermentables.

Stepping up another starter right now to see if the other yeast is lazy, but I don't have much hope of that being the issue.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Am I correct in that you boiled this for only 2 hrs?

 

[Easycreeper]

Am I correct in that you boiled this for only 2 hrs?

Yup. The second batch was only two hours with a very low boil. But, vigorous or not, boiling is the same temperature...

 

[Smellyglove]

Yup. The second batch was only two hours with a very low boil. But, vigorous or not, boiling is the same temperature...

Well yeah, boiling is happening at the same temperature at any given atmospheric pressure, but boiling harder gives you more maillard-products, which in turn give you a less fermentable wort.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

To be fair, I don't find the WLP099 instructions to be that helpful. The tips and tricks from the Black Tuesday notes seem to apply to most yeast. If doing high abv I prefer to use Dry Belgian or WY3787, maybe 3711. WLP099 is way too finicky. I've gotten it past 20% but it was way more effort than the aforementioned yeasts.

 

[Jwin]

Thermal load. It's a b**ch.
Before you dump it, try some brett or goodbelly. Never know...

 

[Easycreeper]

To be fair, I don't find the WLP099 instructions to be that helpful. The tips and tricks from the Black Tuesday notes seem to apply to most yeast. If doing high abv I prefer to use Dry Belgian or WY3787, maybe 3711. WLP099 is way too finicky. I've gotten it past 20% but it was way more effort than the aforementioned yeasts.

I plan on ordering some Dry Belgian early next week when I'll have the best chance of getting it refrigerated quickly. Should have a decent pitch of that ready by next weekend. That will also give me some time to step up the 099 starter one more time and pitch it.

With your big beers, how are your apparent attenuation percentages? Were you able to get the FGs sufficiently low?

Thanks to everyone who have provided knowledge and suggestions so far.

 

[Easycreeper]

Thermal load. It's a b**ch.
Before you dump it, try some brett or goodbelly. Never know...

I've been able to keep the second batch in the mid 60s to low 70s. It's a pretty big swing which isn't ideal, but it's better than the mid 50s. Controlling temp on less than 5.5 gallons is sort of difficult with my setup.

I'll look into the brett and see if there's anything I can make work with the ingredients used. Good thing both batches are in glass... Hoping Dry Belgian will kick start the second batch.

 

[AMessenger]

That's crazy that the Super Yeast is being so difficult. What ABV would you expect this second batch is sitting at?

If it were my beer I think I would give it a few weeks in the mid 60s unpurturbed to work through the sugar before throwing in the towel. I would bet this is a case of stressed yeast rather than too much unfermentable sugar.

 

[Easycreeper]

That's crazy that the Super Yeast is being so difficult. What ABV would you expect this second batch is sitting at?

If it were my beer I think I would give it a few weeks in the mid 60s unpurturbed to work through the sugar before throwing in the towel. I would bet this is a case of stressed yeast rather than too much unfermentable sugar.

Only sitting at around 8% right now. There's something else going on because I see krausen shortly after each addition.

There may have been too many simple sugars added to the wort to begin with, so I may have some lazy yeast. I'll repitch 099 as soon as I can step the starter up once more, cold crash, and decant.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

I plan on ordering some Dry Belgian early next week when I'll have the best chance of getting it refrigerated quickly. Should have a decent pitch of that ready by next weekend. That will also give me some time to step up the 099 starter one more time and pitch it.

With your big beers, how are your apparent attenuation percentages? Were you able to get the FGs sufficiently low?

Thanks to everyone who have provided knowledge and suggestions so far.

I mash all of mine very low for as long as I can and I usually get at least 85% attenuation with the right yeast.

Edit: if anything I usually overshoot my target final gravity by starting with as fermentable of a wort as possible. If I want a higher finishing gravity I'll go fairly heavy on the specialty malts or use a yeast with a lower alcohol tolerance and push it to its limit. For a higher finishing gravity Chico is my goto strain.

 

[Jwin]

A vitality starter might be food as well. Get the little buggers active before they get too drunk

 

[Easycreeper]

A vitality starter might be food as well. Get the little buggers active before they get too drunk

That was part of the plan for the first round, but got put to the wayside when things didn't pan out. I'll build up the next step to about 1.100 and pitch at high krausen.

 

[Easycreeper]

Haven’t updated in a while, so here goes:

TL;DR: Both batches still fermenting. Clinging desperately to hope that one or both will finish out still…

I’m fully vested with the second batch with 5.5 gallons of wort into the fermenter. That brings the OG for this batch up to 1.149 and some change that doesn’t bear accounting. It has been liberally dosed with Beano and another over the counter enzyme supplement called Pancreatin that contains amylase, lipase, and protease. It’s doubtful the latter is attributing anything since amylase is the only applicable enzyme in the mix…

Anyway, the second batch is down to 1.060 so far and continues to drop 2-3 points per day fairly reliably according to the Tilt reading. There’s still activity on the surface of the wort, indicated by many tiny bubbles (there’s a song about that, but it wasn’t about an imperial stout…). No krausen, but there looks to be quite a bit of yeast still active and in suspension because the wort still has a milk chocolate color instead of the pitch black the beer will eventually be.

Made another addition to the first batch, bringing current OG up to 1.167 with 2.25 gallons into the carboy. I have no way to check current SG outside of taking a hydrometer sample until the Tilt gets pulled from the other batch. However, the sample I took a couple of weeks ago showed SG to be around 1.070, down from the then OG of 1.151.

Both batches have a small pitch of TYB Dry Belgian as well for insurance.

I’m ready to have my ferm chamber and carboys back…

 

[AMessenger]

Nice! Happy to hear things are moving.

What was your desired FG on these?

 

[Easycreeper]

Nice! Happy to hear things are moving.

What was your desired FG on these?

I'd love to see 1.030, but I'm pretty sure that's not in the cards. Right now, I'd settle for 1.040. May take some doing to get to the latter anyway. Just gonna ride it out and see what happens!