Beano... Talk me out of it!

[Fast35]

I brewed a bourbon county stout recipe 4 weeks ago and had some problems with mashing that aren't entirely relevant here. Basically, I was aiming for 155 and settled at 157 after the extremely long mash in process. There was a lot of grain and it took us a long time! So realistically, the first grain that went in was in much hotter water for a while...

Anyways, my FG settled at 1.051, target was supposed to be 1.040. I did all the tricks I could find- swirling, warming, even adding some champagne yeast with no improvents. So, it seems there are no more fermentable sugars available.

I racked it into a barrel the other night and had 3 1/2 gallon growlers full of excess beer. I intended to have some extra to top off the barrel as the angels took their share, but have a lot more than planned.

Here's what I'm considering- possibly adding beano or maybe amylase enzyme to some of the growlers and letting them ferment out to dry, then blend it back into the barrel aged stuff later. I think the beano would keep working on the barrel aged stuff, so I would warm up the beano beer to 140 or so to denature it.

This would lower the amount of sugars in the final beer and lower the FG a little. Calculators show that it would take a gallon of water to lower to 1.040, but would also water it down too.

I know people generally recommend against beano, but if it's only added to a portion of the beer, it shouldn't ruin the flavor significantly.

Talk me out of this idea...

 

[lumpher]

The biggest problem I've heard reported about beano is that it just doesn't know when to stop drying out the beer, and will get the beer dry as dust after a while. I've used amylase enzyme before successfully on a Winter Warmer that stopped (not just stalled) in the mid to upper 1.030's, and AA dropped it to 1.016 after a couple weeks, then stopped drying it out. It also didn't kill the proper mouthfeel for a Warmer. I'd go that route, instead of Beano.

 

[Fast35]

The biggest problem I've heard reported about beano is that it just doesn't know when to stop drying out the beer, and will get the beer dry as dust after a while. I've used amylase enzyme before successfully on a Winter Warmer that stopped (not just stalled) in the mid to upper 1.030's, and AA dropped it to 1.016 after a couple weeks, then stopped drying it out. It also didn't kill the proper mouthfeel for a Warmer. I'd go that route, instead of Beano.

That's what I've read about both. I'm just afraid that if I did the AA to the whole batch, it would go too far. Perhaps I could do 1 growler of each as a test and see what happens. If the AA only takes the sample down to somewhere close to 1.040, I could just add that to the whole batch then.

 

[Gavin C]

Why not add amylase?

Here is a thread about that.

Beano is alpha-galactosidase. I would not use it.

 

[lumpher]

What I mean is I didn't add the AA till fermentation stopped at about 1.036, iirc. I did the standard warming up, swirling, etc; nothing helped. Then I added the AA, and it dropped it to 1.016, then it stopped on its' own. After 2 months it was still 1.016. That was just 1 usage, so not a large enough sample of experiences to say "that's how it will work for you", though.

 

[Fast35]

Why not add amylase?

Here is a thread about that.

Beano is alpha-galactosidase. I would not use it.

Just read through that thread and it's quite useful! Seems like the last page says that the enzymes will keep working indefinitely though? So, if I mixed the growler with AA in the big batch, it would keep working on it?

Why then are there different amounts recommended based on batch size?

 

[Fast35]

Well, I added amylase enzyme to 2 different growlers and they've dropped it 2 points in the past 3 weeks. I didn't add any fresh yeast, but I added some ec-1118 to primary right before racking, so I assume there should still be some available?

I'm back to considering beano to dry out 1 growler and then heating it up to denature it. Then add that growler to the main batch to lower overall gravity and boost abv.

I can't find a definite temperature that it will denature at, so I'm guessing I'll have to get it as warm as possible. Once alcohol starts evaporating, I'll shut it down. I'll then add that to another growler to see if it is definitely denatured, and then add that to the main batch. Any thoughts on this?

 

[The_Bishop]

How are you measuring the FG? Not a refractometer, right? They're no good once there's alcohol in solution.

 

[Fast35]

How are you measuring the FG? Not a refractometer, right? They're no good once there's alcohol in solution.

Good ol glass.

 

[moors]

I had a stalled fermentation (1.020) and tossed in some Imperial B64 Napoleon that I top-harvested from another batch (B64 is similar to Wyeast 3711). It was at a ferment boil the next morning with a fresh krausen. Champagne yeast is useless because it only eats simple sugars. By the time your fermentation is stuck, the simple sugars are gone and your yeasts are having a hard time eating more complex molecules. The B64/3711 will eat straight into those complex sugars, finishing your fermentation. Using B64/3711 might change your intended flavor profile. My stuck fermentation was a Hefeweizen. After adding the B64, it turned into a brown ale, and my wife loves it.

 

[Queequeg]

I think moors is right. You need a yeast that can metabolise a bigger range of sugars and dextrines. 3711 will work.

 

[Fast35]

Thanks! I'll check and see what the LHBS has on hand.

 

[bigdaddybrew]

I've used Beano to jump start a stuck Amber Ale. It was rich and sweet OG about 1.055, stalled about 1.025. I crushed and added 1 tablet. The air lock kicked in several hours later. I checked gravity daily and kegged it at about 1.009. No problems. If you bottle forget it cause you could end up with bottle bombs as it dries out. In a barrel it will dry it out. Sour beers are frequently this dry. Not sure how heating to 140f will affect the flavor but may denature the enzymes.