1554 clone recipe: Why so sweet?

[brewer8700]

So, I just finished brewing a New Belgium 1554 clone recipe form Austin Homebrew. I followed the instructions closely on brewing day, and also followed what they said for fermentation. I had a very active fermentation period for about 5 days, starting about 8 hours after pitching my yeast. The directions said to transfer to secondary 5-7 days after active fermentation begins, but at day 7, the airlock was still rapidly bubbling, so I waited to transfer it to day 10. It then sat in secondary for a full two weeks. I tried my testing tube on bottling day, and it was intensely sweet, so I began to be a bit nervous. Then checked my gravity...my OG was 1.061, and my FG was 1.034, giving me a surprisingly low ABV for what I was expecting after all that crazy fermentation. Now I realize this is way to early to judge a beer, its only been a week, but I tried one tonight more out of curiosity than anything else. The beer is still really sweet, its carbed up OK, but just a really sweet beer, that has a taste of un-fermented sugars on the back of my tongue. Does anyone have any thoughts on what could be the issue? Should I have left it a full two weeks in primary, despite the instructions?
Btw...I used white labs southern german lager yeast as per the recipe.

 

[pabloj13]

Wait, you bottled at that gravity?!

 

[brewer8700]

Should I have waited longer? It said to bottle after 2 weeks secondary, so that's what I did. What would have caused it to still be so high?

 

[pabloj13]

Should I have waited longer? It said to bottle after 2 weeks secondary, so that's what I did. What would have caused it to still be so high?

Ignore the kit instructions. Your FG needs to be stable for several days before you bottle. That is likely not done fermenting and you are probably at risk for bottle bombs. Did you make a starter? What temps were you fermenting at?

 

[whiskeyjack]

You have a few options to you. 1. Open up every one of them bottles and gently put them in your fermenting vessel and let them finish, you may have to add more yeast if it doesn't finish up. Being gentle will decrease oxygenation. 2. Pasteurize the bottles, several threads on here how to do it on the stove top in 180-190 degree water. Or option 3, put them in something so that when they explode, it wont go every where. This is just my 2 cents..

In the future go 3-4 weeks in the primary and before bottling test with a hydrometer and get 2 consecutive readings a few days apart. No need for secondary

 

[brewer8700]

I did not make a starter, just used the yeast and followed the instructions for pitching without a starter, took it out of the fridge like 12 hours in advance of brewing to warm it to room temperature. I fermented right at about 60-65 degrees the whole time. What would you suggest I do at this point? Is there anything I can do, or is the whole batch shot?

 

[brewer8700]

So the fact that they have carbonated already will be ok if I choose option one of putting them back in the fermentor? If so, I assume I would have to do priming sugar again when I bottle the second time?

 

[whiskeyjack]

How long have they carbed, if they are fully carbed 3+ weeks then there is a chance they will not blow but I would put them in a fridge just in case. If its only been a few days chances are whatever yeast is left will continue to eat all the residual sugars till it blows.

If you try to take them out and let them ferment the rest of the way you will have to re prime

 

[brewer8700]

When I transferred it to secondary, I smelled it and all I could smell was an overwhelming smell of alcohol that was so strong it burned...should this have been a sign that it was not done fermenting?

 

[whiskeyjack]

No just young beer, it hasn't had the chance to blend together.

 

[brewer8700]

They have carbed for six full days. Are my chances of getting a good beer out of it by putting them back in fermentation greatly decreased? I do not have a LHBS anywhere nearby...3+ hours away, so if I would have to re-pitch more yeast, I would have to order it, and it would take a few days to get here. I actually should have another kit coming in with belgian wheat yeast in the next couple days. If I were to use this yeast, how would that effect the flavor? If I were to just let it sit as is, do you think there would be enough yeast left to eat enough of the sugars so it would be safe to bottle again in a couple weeks, or do you think re-pitching yeast is the best bet to saving it?

 

[pabloj13]

When I transferred it to secondary, I smelled it and all I could smell was an overwhelming smell of alcohol that was so strong it burned...should this have been a sign that it was not done fermenting?

No. Smells mean very little. The gravity has to be your clue.

Few things...

This lager yeast has a recommended temp range of 50-55 degrees. You are likely to have some unpleasant flavors that take some extended lagering to clear.

I disagree that these might finish in the bottles without blowing. It only takes a couple points extra to blow the bottles. You might have 15!

Personally I think I'd try to return them GENTLY to a fermenter. Any excess splashing could lead to oxidation. The problem is, by racking early, you took the beer off of the majority of the yeast. Maybe put it back in the fermenter and put it to the diacetyl rest temp (60-65 degrees) and see if you can get it to finish out. Then bottle again as normal, adding priming sugar again.

Alternatively, if you can stomach the beers the way they are now, you can pop a top every few days. Once they have fully carbed you can stovetop pasteurize them by following the instructions on several threads on here.

Finally, another option is once they carb up, you can chill the whole batch in the bottles to slow any further carbonation. Keep in mind that any warming up can lead to future bottle bombs.

 

[pabloj13]

Follow-up, having enough yeast to properly carb up is the absolute least of your concerns at this point. There is almost always enough yeast to carb a beer in the bottle.

 

[brewer8700]

Alright, disaster temporarily averted. I have transferred all my beer back into fermentor. Thank you guys so much for your suggestions. About 2/3 of the the bottles, foamed over the top when I opened them. I tried to save as much beer as possible, and tried to be as gentle as I could with foaming bottles. I also tried hard to sanitize as carefully as possible while going through the process. Hopefully the beer will taste OK when finished, and I am in no hurry now, I learned my lesson. If nothing else I saved myself from a huge disaster in my bedroom, an angry wife, and 50 bottles. I am pretty sure every one of them would have blown up in the next couple days, so thanks. I still managed to save 4.5 gallons, so we'll see...I'll post back on here how it turns out, and if I have any more questions.

 

[pabloj13]

Any news?

 

[brewer8700]

I have no news to share yet, just letting it ferment, and will probably check gravity on Thursday, then again on Friday, and if all looks good, will shoot for bottling Saturday or Sunday.

 

[brewer8700]

So here is what I am running into. I just checked the gravity, and it it at 1.034, maybe even a little higher...so no change after 8 days in the fermentor. Here is what I was thinking, please be honest with me if it will screw up my beer. Being so far from a Home brew store, I was thinking of using my Belgian wheat yeast that is in my fridge for my next recipe and pitching it in my 1554...how will that effect my 1554? Is it a bad idea to use two different kinds of yeast in the beer, and should I just order the same stuff I used in the first place? Also, I was thinking I could save the yeast once it ferments the 1554, and use it in my belgian wheat beer, I have seen things on doing this, would there be any tips to this process I should know about? Let me know your thoughts, and if its a bad idea.

 

[Sheldon]

I did an all grain clone and used S-23 dry yeast for 5.5 gal and had a OG of 1.053 and FG of 1.015. The beer was fantastic. I will let someone with more experience answer the two yeast question.