Barleywine fermented too dry

[strongarm]

I had a Barleywine with an OG of 1.081. Primary yeast was norther brewers neobritanica. It was only ably to get the gravity down to 1.029. I felt that it was a little too sweet and wanted to drop a few points. I pitched a 2L starter of 099 high gravity yeast and it dropped the FG to 1.003. I was surprised it went so low and feel that it's too dry. Anyone have this happen? Any suggestions? I did transfer this into a 5g bourbon barrel so that may pick up more flavor and sweetness but I don't know if it will be enough.

 

[a6ladd]

Add some maltodextrin, ~4oz should do the trick for a 5 gallon batch. 1.029 is a little high but not drastically so, barleywine should have quite an emphasis on malt so I probably would have left it where it was and tried a little more potent starter on the next batch. Im not too surprised that the high gravity yeast took it down that low, I would have thought maybe 1.008-1.010 or so but Ive never used it before. You live and you learn, right?

Anyway the maltodextrin should remedy the problem and lend some mouthfeel to you beer, if you arent happy after 4oz then add some more

Cheers!

 

[Piratwolf]

Add some maltodextrin, ~4oz should do the trick for a 5 gallon batch. 1.029 is a little high but not drastically so, barleywine should have quite an emphasis on malt so I probably would have left it where it was and tried a little more potent starter on the next batch. Im not too surprised that the high gravity yeast took it down that low, I would have thought maybe 1.008-1.010 or so but Ive never used it before. You live and you learn, right?

Anyway the maltodextrin should remedy the problem and lend some mouthfeel to you beer, if you arent happy after 4oz then add some more

Cheers!

Can you just add maltodextrine to already fermented beer?

 

[a6ladd]

I'm trying to find a link to another thread I was reading with a very similar question, but the simple answer is yes. The only thing I can't remember is if it was added dry or mixed into ~1 cup of water, boiled, then added. FWIW, I believe it was added to the water, boiled then mixed.

 

[a6ladd]

I cant find the exact thread the information was on but I would add it to boiling water then mix it into you primary/secondary. Because it is so highly unfermentable (~12%) you could even add it when it comes time to bottle, along with the standard amount of priming sugar. I would however NOT recommend doing that in order to sample it before you to put it into bottles/a keg to make sure its got the mouthfeel/body you are looking for. If you are aging it in the burbon barrels for a while I'd say just add it to that and give it a sample down the road.

 

[strongarm]

Is another option to maltodextrin using cara-pils/dextrin or does that just add body and not more sweet flavor? I will probably go with maltodextrin but wanted to know if there were any other options.

Boiling in some water makes sense to me.

 

[a6ladd]

I believe, but I am not sure, that maltodextrin is simply just a spraydried version of carapils/dextrin. I feel like I have seen dextrin in a spraydried form but cannot find it right now. Maltrodextrin is just another, short chain version of dextrin. It should give you VERY similar results.

 

[david_42]

Dextrin malt is fine in the mash, but straight malto dextrin powder is the fix post-fermentation. Just boil it in 3-4 ounces of water and pour it in.

 

[strongarm]

Done. Thanks for the help