Can/should you adjust the gravity after fermentation?

[Christoff]

I have a couple batches that aren't perfect as the gravity is either too high or too low. I don't particularly want to drink mediocre beer and so I am playing with ideas to experiment. However I would rather drink mediocre beer than toss either batch. I haven't brewed long enough to know all the ins and outs and so I am perpetually second guessing my decisions (35-40 batches).

First batch - I just brewed this on Saturday. I could tell it was going to be on the sweeter side but opted to "let it ride" rather than top up with water to get the OG down (this was how I got into the mess on second batch). It is a porter/stout hybrid that came out 1.070 for just under 2 gallons. The first time I brewed it it was amazing! But I forgot to write down my gravity readings. I used ~6g (1/2 pack) of Windsor so I was expecting lower attenuation, but this might just be too much. I can see it looks on the richer side (I should have tasted my gravity sample. I usually do so I am not sure why I didn't this time). I used a tad bit more grain than my original recipe only because I didn't want to store odd amounts of grain.

Grain bill (off the top of my head):

5 lbs English Pale Ale
.75 Brown Malt
1.2oz Crystal 120 (I originally used 30 but I was out)
.3 Chocolate
0.57 lbs wheat

I am contemplating vigorously boiling some water and racking it into the beer if I find it is too sweet after fermentation is done (tilt says its apx 1.038 so I presume actual is a few points lower - anyone who encouraged me to purchase a tilt, thank you. It's awesome!). Or I am contemplating adding some s-05 to get it to attenuate a little more. However that last time I did that I got more attenuation than I wanted and lost some of the mouth feel I was going for, though I am leaning toward this being the safest option. If I pitch less yeast will that keep it from eating more of the residual sugar than I want, or just make the yeast struggle to eat the sugars they will eat either way? Three options: thin it out a bit using boiled water, add some s-05, or let it ride and drink it because the first two options could turn out not worth it.


Second batch:

Mexican Lager that I need to add water so i could cover the temperature probe in my CF10 conical. It didn't occur to me that the probe positioning wouldn't be great if my beer had less volume that 5.5 gal. It ended up at 1.042 if I remember correctly. Not horrible but it tastes watered down. (There is also a tangy end note I can't put my finger on and I am not sure I like it. I seem to be sensitive to a slight after taste I have noticed in several of my beers and I can't for the life of me figure it out. No one else points it out though) I am contemplating turning this into an experiment and taking 1 gallon and boiling it down a bit to increase the gravity. However I have read online that boiling it after fermentation could mute a lot of the flavourn or introduce off-flavours. I'm happy to drink a low/no alcohol beer I brewed from time to time so if it works, great. Has anyone done this with success? I am also contemplating adding some Pilsen DME to another gallon, either with or without pitching more yeast. Thoughts?

 

[RM-MN]

5 lbs English Pale Ale
.75 Brown Malt
1.2oz Crystal 120 (I originally used 30 but I was out)
.3 Chocolate
0.57 lbs wheat

The grain in red controls the OG (for this purpose) while the grain in green controls the color and flavor. If you add water to reduce the OG (or the amount of alcohol in the beer) you dilute the flavor components too so you get watery beer.

 

[Christoff]

The grain in red controls the OG (for this purpose) while the grain in green controls the color and flavor. If you add water to reduce the OG (or the amount of alcohol in the beer) you dilute the flavor components too so you get watery beer.

How do you avoid/ deal with that if you overshoot OG and it ends up too sweet?

 

[z-bob]

I added about a quart of distilled water to my last batch of beer to top-up the carboy because it was really too strong for the style. Fermentation was almost done but it still had a little ways to go.

How do you avoid/ deal with that if you overshoot OG and it ends up too sweet?

Maybe add hop tea instead of water?

 

[hottpeper13]

I've screwed up every beer i tried to FIX after fermentation; EVERY BEER!
Now the only way I do it is through blending.

 

[z-bob]

Now the only way I do it is through blending.

"Natural Ice" is a good beer for that. It has no character of its own, but it's fizzy and fairly high in alcohol so it doesn't water your beer down too much. I've done that many times with HB that tastes too... something.

 

[hotbeer]

FG is what it is. If you didn't hit your FG within a few points of the recipe prediction then that might be something you need to address in your processes or it might just be due to circumstances you can't control or figure out if it's only a few batches out of many.

I'd only try to adjust the FG of my beer after fermentation if the aim was to change the ABV. But even that's a maybe. I'd likely just change that in the next batch by changing up the water and fermentable quantities.

I don't particularly want to drink mediocre beer

If your beer is mediocre and you aren't hitting your OG and FG within a few points, then you need to figure out why that is. You are doing something or several things wrong.

If your beer is mediocre now, adjusting too high a FG by dilution will only make it worse.

 

[Christoff]

I've screwed up every beer i tried to FIX after fermentation; EVERY BEER!
Now the only way I do it is through blending.

I have this hI was thinking about brewing more as a. Option too.

FG is what it is. If you didn't hit your FG within a few points of the recipe prediction then that might be something you need to address in your processes or it might just be due to circumstances you can't control or figure out if it's only a few batches out of many.

I'd only try to adjust the FG of my beer after fermentation if the aim was to change the ABV. But even that's a maybe. I'd likely just change that in the next batch by changing up the water and fermentable quantities.


If your beer is mediocre and you aren't hitting your OG and FG within a few points, then you need to figure out why that is. You are doing something or several things wrong.

If your beer is mediocre now, adjusting too high a FG by dilution will only make it worse.

I just find drinking a beer that is too sweet or too thin mediocre. I am new, so there are probably plenty of ways to improve my beer. I am trying to tackle it slowly so I can isolate my mistakes. I am guessing this one was because I used a bit more grain than my original recipe. I made an imperial stout recently that was so sweet I couldn't drink it, which made it worse than mediocre. I gave it to friends because after priming the carbonation didn't help. I would actually like to drink this one but if I won't totally enjoy it it seems pointless. I'll have one or two to get an idea of where to improve, save one or two to compare and get rid of the rest. I find there seems to be so many tips and tricks on this site I was hoping there might be ways I could try to work with where it's at. I definitely don't want to decrease the drinkability of the beer and the abv doesn't matter to much to me.

I have a nut brown that is missing some wow to it. Maybe I will try blending it. I've been avoiding kegging it for this reason.

 

[hotbeer]

Are you doing clone recipes of products from craft or commercial breweries that you are familiar with? Then at least you'll have something you can compare the tastes with.

If yours doesn't come anywhere near the taste/color/smell of theirs then there are definitely things you need to figure out what went wrong. But those things happened well before your beer hit it's FG. Trying to adjust a beer that turned out bad will not make you a better beer. At best you just learn how to disguise the fact it's a bad beer. And likely only from yourself.

If your beers are sweeter than they should be, then maybe fermentation was not completed. Or you had way to many unfermentable sugars in your wort. The thinness might be your water chemistry depending on what you are brewing.

A good place to begin helping you will be sharing with us what your OG, FG and recipe was for the brews. As well what temperatures you fermented it at and for how long you kept it in the FV.

 

[Christoff]

Are you doing clone recipes of products from craft or commercial breweries that you are familiar with? Then at least you'll have something you can compare the tastes with.

If yours doesn't come anywhere near the taste/color/smell of theirs then there are definitely things you need to figure out what went wrong. But those things happened well before your beer hit it's FG. Trying to adjust a beer that turned out bad will not make you a better beer. At best you just learn how to disguise the fact it's a bad beer. And likely only from yourself.

If your beers are sweeter than they should be, then maybe fermentation was not completed. Or you had way to many unfermentable sugars in your wort. The thinness might be your water chemistry depending on what you are brewing.

A good place to begin helping you will be sharing with us what your OG, FG and recipe was for the brews. As well what temperatures you fermented it at and for how long you kept it in the FV.

This particular recipe was my attempt at recreating a Canadian beer a really miss. They mention what they use on their website (Canadian companies have to tell you all ingredients) but not in proportions. From what I remember, I think it is pretty close. A friend came down recently and tried it and said it was pretty close too and they have had recently.

The dark beer started at 1.070, currently sitting at 1.038 according to my tilt but I am guessing that is one or two points off due to krausen stuck in it. The grain bill etc should be in my original post, i think? I did forget mash temp, which, as long as my thermometer isn't failing me, it was 156F fairly consistently, with a drop into the mid 40's at one point because I distracted. My chart tells me it's sitting at 46.5% attenuation which is super low even for windsor if I understand this all correctly. It also sounds like it won't improve much if all the windsor talk on here is accurate, plus that matches my own experiences with the yeast. I definitely do not think this is bad beer, I am just getting pickier as I improve. I can't even touch some of the beers I made when I first switched to all grain. But being able to counter some of the sweetness (or others small misses) will make it more palatable for me. Fermentation was at apx 68 for the first 24 hours, 72 avg since 11:30pm last night, and it stopped at 1.038/9 since 1am this morning. My thermometer seems to read alright in boiling water so I am assuming it is not it. I am contemplating throwing some notty or s-05 in there. If it doesn't hit the 60-65% range I am guessing there are just too many unfermentables in it? Though I am on the fence about the additional yeast as well. This beer is good at the happy medium between stout and porter.

The mexican lager started at 1.042 (for reasons I described above - I really should have just left it alone). 7 lbs pilsner, 2.25 vienna, 0.25 munich, and 2 lbs flaked corn. mashed at 149. I haven't taken a Hydrometer reading because the liquid line doesnt cover the probe a whole lot, I've only sampled a small amount a few times. Fermented with 34/70 between 53.5-54.6 F until apx 5-6 bubbles per minute, then upped slowly to 68 over 2 days, left for 3 more. It's been lagering for 5 weeks now (I hear the sweet spot is 8-10 so thats what I am aiming for)

 

[TyTanium]

My advice: resist the urge to tinker with finished beer.

With rare exceptions for me, my tinkering has made things worse not better. Take notes on what you wanted, and make adjustments on the next batch.

Homebrewing is fun, and it's natural to want to "do something". More often than not "via negativa" wins...the best action is no action.

 

[Christoff]

My advice: resist the urge to tinker with finished beer.

With rare exceptions for me, my tinkering has made things worse not better. Take notes on what you wanted, and make adjustments on the next batch.

Homebrewing is fun, and it's natural to want to "do something". More often than not "via negativa" wins...the best action is no action.

Yes, I am definitely learning this. I am not sure tinkering has worked yet. Maybe I just needed someone to tell me that. Repeatedly. Again....

 

[hottpeper13]

Sounds like they're not packaged and you keg. Awesome because I blend between finished kegs. So keg them and brew a beer to blend with,easy peasy.

 

[Christoff]

Sounds like they're not packaged and you keg. Awesome because I blend between finished kegs. So keg them and brew a beer to blend with,easy peasy.

Sometimes the most obvious answer is not the obvious answer. Lol i guess I can just make myself a beer cocktail half and half. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[hotbeer]

1.070, currently sitting at 1.038 according to my tilt

After not even 3 full days that's reasonable. What you taste now won't be the finished product. There is still a lot of sugar to be turned into CO2 and alcohol. Check back on it in two to three weeks. Drink something else, even if you have to purchase it.

Though some things to think about

1. With your grain bill you aren't getting a great efficiency. But if this is stuff milled by a LHBS or online brew supply then probably about what one would expect.
2. You just built this from the ingredient list on their website? No amounts given or other stuff? Did you look for a clone recipe?
3. You mashed at 156°F. That's a tad higher than any beer I've done. Usually I stay at 154°F. Higher mash temps might make sweeter beer because you get more unfermentable sugars. I don't know if that 2°F difference from mine is going to make a difference. But I don't like sweet beers either. I go for the bitterness. But again, wait till it finishes fermentation and is ready to go in a glass.

If you have more than one beer you don't like the taste of, then blending as @hottpeper13 does sounds like a more reasonable thing to do than does trying to adjust the flavor of one finished beer. But I've never done that.

 

[hotbeer]

Oh... IMO, 1.070 SG, while not quite a big beer is still up there quite a bit. Lower OG brews will ferment out with fewer problems along the way, again IMO.

Is the beer you are trying to clone almost 8.00 % ABV? If not, then that might be part of an issue for how it tastes compared to the original.

 

[Christoff]

After not even 3 full days that's reasonable. What you taste now won't be the finished product. There is still a lot of sugar to be turned into CO2 and alcohol. Check back on it in two to three weeks. Drink something else, even if you have to purchase it.

Though some things to think about

1. With your grain bill you aren't getting a great efficiency. But if this is stuff milled by a LHBS or online brew supply then probably about what one would expect.
2. You just built this from the ingredient list on their website? No amounts given or other stuff? Did you look for a clone recipe?
3. You mashed at 156°F. That's a tad higher than any beer I've done. Usually I stay at 154°F. Higher mash temps might make sweeter beer because you get more unfermentable sugars. I don't know if that 2°F difference from mine is going to make a difference. But I don't like sweet beers either. I go for the bitterness. But again, wait till it finishes fermentation and is ready to go in a glass.

If you have more than one beer you don't like the taste of, then blending as @hottpeper13 does sounds like a more reasonable thing to do than does trying to adjust the flavor of one finished beer. But I've never done that.

You think Windsor yeast will drop much more than a couple points? If it was other yeasts, I wouldn't even bother suggesting it (I've at least learned that much), but everything I have read says not to expect big changes with windsor after 36 hours. This round is too hoppy and so its actually more bitter than I would like (I just poured a small sample as I was curious how it was doing). It may just cut the sweetness if it doesn't change much.

1. I use the mill at the LHBS or what NB sent me, the latter being a terrible crush. It's actually awful and half the time it doesn't even looked milled. The LHBS says the mill is set to the same crush as spike's specs, which I can't remember off the top of my head. I do the brew in a bag for the smaller batches and experiments. Thanks for pointing this out, that's really helpful. The numbers on brewfather are so small I thought it said 1.068 but is says 1.088. I was aiming for 1.063 or so before I tossed the additional grain in so I didn't have to re-vacuum seal and store nominal amounts of grain.

2. Sort of off the top of my head. I used some recipes from Palmer's how to brew and classic recipes and came up with something I thought would get in the vicinity with the assumption I would have to tweak for a while. I was actually pretty close on my first attempt. I've been further since. There is no clone recipe however. It's a small, albeit popular, Canadian brewery in BC and generally, the world ignores us until we play hockey. lol

3. Yeah, my original recipe ended up being mashed a little high but I really liked it so I stuck with it since it worked. But I am pretty sure the OG was higher on this batch, partly because their is slightly more grain.

 

[Beermeister32]

I learned my lesson about fixing bad batches. As a beginner, we don’t want to throw anything away and will often suffer through bad batches.

I was having unknown phenols showing up in my beer from the tap water I was using at the time. Anyway, I thought I had it figured out, and figured I’d save the 5 gallon batch by blending it with a good 5 gallon batch.

Human flavor thresholds being what they are, after blending I ended up with TWO identical bad tasting, phenolic 5 gallon batches. I couldn’t blend it away, it was still there! I screwed up my good batch trying to save the bad one. Of course as a Newbie I suffered through and drank both kegs. Just what you did, Newbies don’t throw anything away….!

 

[hottpeper13]

You can't fix a bad beer by blending ,but most that are just off on FG, IBU's and SRM can be blended into good to excellent beers.

 

[Mark3885]

I always will fill a pint glass half full of one beer , then fill it up with another. Usually like pale ale and a brown ale , my own version of a black and tan . This way you experiment with the percentage of both beers and don’t ruin a whole keg. I have a large kegerator and 8 cornies on tap at any one time.

 

[hotbeer]

You think Windsor yeast will drop much more than a couple points? If it was other yeasts, I wouldn't even bother suggesting it (I've at least learned that much), but everything I have read says not to expect big changes with windsor after 36 hours. This round is too hoppy and so its actually more bitter than I would like (I just poured a small sample as I was curious how it was doing). It may just cut the sweetness if it doesn't change much.

Don't know about Windsor yeast. It's not quite the yeast I'd pick for anything I currently plan to brew or have brewed. I know it's got it's fan base just like others. And since you particularly don't like sweet beers, Windsor seems an odd choice since according to Lallemand...

Windsor does not utilize the sugar maltotriose (a molecule composed of 3 glucose units).
Maltotriose is present in wort in an average 10-15% of all malt worts. The result will be fuller body and residual sweetness in beer. Be advised to adjust mash temperatures according to desired result.

LalBrew Windsor™ | Lallemand Brewing

And since thinness of your beer was one of your complaints, then that might be your water or some certain other malts, other grains and even sugars you aren't using.

Will it's SG move a lot? Maybe, if we are talking about between now and three weeks from now. But if you are expecting a lot between now and tomorrow, then might not see any change in SG.

And when you taste your beer and relate that to us, then make sure you are very specific what stage you are tasting your beer.

 

[hotbeer]

The numbers on brewfather are so small I thought it said 1.068 but is says 1.088. I was aiming for 1.063 or so before I tossed the additional grain in so I didn't have to re-vacuum seal and store nominal amounts of grain.

Your OG was 1.088 instead of 1.068? You probably should have diluted it to 1.063 before you began fermentation. Assuming 1.063 is what the recipe called for OG to be.

And if your OG was 1.088, then maybe your amount of yeast pitched and the quantity of wort need to be considered. And any wide range of temperature variation where you keep your FV.

I don't vacuum seal my grain or malts. I just push out most of the air and tape the bag shut. Many might even say that is too much. Malts and grain keep for a long time.

 

[Christoff]

I learned my lesson about fixing bad batches. As a beginner, we don’t want to throw anything away and will often suffer through bad batches.

I was having unknown phenols showing up in my beer from the tap water I was using at the time. Anyway, I thought I had it figured out, and figured I’d save the 5 gallon batch by blending it with a good 5 gallon batch.

Human flavor thresholds being what they are, after blending I ended up with TWO identical bad tasting, phenolic 5 gallon batches. I couldn’t blend it away, it was still there! I screwed up my good batch trying to save the bad one. Of course as a Newbie I suffered through and drank both kegs. Just what you did, Newbies don’t throw anything away….!

Thats definitely where I am at. I am slowly purging the remaining beer from batches older than 6 months ago and new ones that just didn't cut it. I can not for the life of me figure out what this after taste is so I ordered a kit from Ward's. I have a water report from a few years ago that may not be accurate at this point to try to ensure it's not the water. Getting an O2 tank helped a lot and I am trying to not be so cheap with my yeast. Just got a starter kit so I can keep yeast and make starters. I am hoping this is the last thing as I don't want to have to mess with my water all the time. I have definitely hit my threshold of drinking bad beer. lol

 

[madscientist451]

You can't fix a bad beer by blending

That depends on how "bad" a beer you can tolerate.....

 

[Christoff]

Your OG was 1.088 instead of 1.068? You probably should have diluted it to 1.063 before you began fermentation. Assuming 1.063 is what the recipe called for OG to be.

And if your OG was 1.088, then maybe your amount of yeast pitched and the quantity of wort need to be considered. And any wide range of temperature variation where you keep your FV.

I don't vacuum seal my grain or malts. I just push out most of the air and tape the bag shut. Many might even say that is too much. Malts and grain keep for a long time.

Brewfather said it should have been 1.088. I originally thought it said 1.068 so I didn’t think too much of it. I was aiming for lower 60’s and when I poured it into the fermenter it looked rich like my imperial stout (which I ended up giving away). I didn't really take into account the extra lbs or so of grain as I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. I guess we will see. It's currently stalled at 1.037 according to my tilt. I'm shocked it's sitting at 47% attenuation. I am transferring to a keg tomorrow or friday so I will be able to use my hydrometer.

My grains are crushed when I bring them home as I don't have a mill yet (I'm taking advice on best quality / bang for you buch middle range mill if anyone has any suggestions). I'm hoping vacuum packing buys some time. Saving 0.75 lbs of crushed pale ale seemed like a waste of my energy.

 

[hotbeer]

Why do you need to transfer to a keg to get a regular hydrometer reading? And the Tilt should be good enough for a there about reading if nothing else. You can swirl the beer in the FV to ensure that it's not hung up on the side or has too much yeast and trub sticking to it.

We're still only on day 5 or 6. I'd still wait it out for two more weeks and just ensure that my ambient temps are stable at the mid to upper end of the ideal range for the yeast.

And resist any urges to open the FV!

 

[Christoff]

Why do you need to transfer to a keg to get a regular hydrometer reading? And the Tilt should be good enough for a there about reading if nothing else. You can swirl the beer in the FV to ensure that it's not hung up on the side or has too much yeast and trub sticking to it.

We're still only on day 5 or 6. I'd still wait it out for two more weeks and just ensure that my ambient temps are stable at the mid to upper end of the ideal range for the yeast.

And resist any urges to open the FV!

I did swirl it but didn't help in that I didn't see any changes in the tilt reading. It's changed ~1.5 points in 1am feb 7 so I am guessing it can ride it out ok in the keg for the remainder of fermentation? I was going to try my hand and at pressure transfering to a keg to let it ride out the rest of fermentation and then I can just serve from there. I have never used a CO2 to transfer out of a plastic fermenter mind you, but I am hoping it will not come in contact with any O2. Though as I am typing this, maybe I want the yeast at the bottom to help finish up the fermentation? I generally leave them for 3 weeks but it I get it into the keg now I can make more beer, which I what I like windsor for (the quick turnover). But given your message, do you think I should just leave it?

 

[hotbeer]

But given your message, do you think I should just leave it?

If the keg will be it's final resting place till consumed or dumped then I currently don't see an issue with moving it.

You aren't going to refrigerate it right away are you?

Still, you have several brews that haven't turned out well. And they don't seem to get down to the FG that they should. You really need to be finding out why that is.

And that is likely something you do during the mash, or your water chemistry is just making your wort too low or high a pH for the yeast to thrive.

 

[Christoff]

If the keg will be it's final resting place till consumed or dumped then I currently don't see an issue with moving it.

You aren't going to refrigerate it right away are you?

Still, you have several brews that haven't turned out well. And they don't seem to get down to the FG that they should. You really need to be finding out why that is.

And that is likely something you do during the mash, or your water chemistry is just making your wort too low or high a pH for the yeast to thrive.

I bought a bunch of grain from NB and I am beginning to think this may be the reason. Until someone mentioned it above I didn't realize it could be the problem. Their crush is/was terrible with some of the grain. I am also guessing it has something to do with the BIAB process. However, I have had a couple batches that turned out really well. My honey rye was amazing, and the smoked porter was really really good. I did more of a simple sparge with those batches so that may have something to do with it. I don't seem to have a problem when I use my Spike Solo (last batch target was 1.50 and I hit 1.052), but I can't drink that much beer so it's not regularly used. I have a japanese lager fermenting and it hit my target using the BIAB but I also grabbed new malt for this one, so I am going to say it's something about me getting lazy with BIAB sparging or the malt crush or both.

I am waiting on my water profile from Ward's. Just dropped it off at Fed Ex wednesday. My old well report from a few years ago suggests the profile is mostly ok (assuming I am understanding what I am reading), just Chloride, which is high (250), which may be why the percieved sweetness? It's low on Calcium (19.4 ppm) and Sulfate (4.86 ppm), which, based on palmer's book, don't seem to be hugely problematic? Alkalinity is 86.2 ppm.

I am slowly picking away at my issues. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and if it's not "perfect" I get grumpy about it. Being so new at this is a great exercise in patience. This might actually be the most complicated hobby I have taken on.

 

[hotbeer]

The only thing that the crush of your malts and other grains is going to affect is the OG you might get if your recipe is figuring the amounts at a higher efficiency. To a certain extent that does affect taste as you won't create the same amount of alcohol.

But your main issue seems to be you aren't getting no where close to your FG. I don't think grain crush will have any affect on that, unless you have been doing some things you haven't told us yet to get your OG close to the same OG of the recipe.

 

[BAF]

My rule of thumb is don't try to fix a whole lot. Usually it ends up making more of a mess, and it adds more variables which makes it difficult to see what exactly happened at the end of the brew day. For the most part, I roll with whatever is going on and then, after the fact, figure out what went wrong and if I need to update my equipment profile, process, or whatever, so that I can predict the next batch.

If I've got a volume issue that I can reasonably address by adjusting boil time or power, then I will, but beyond that, I don't do much. If I'm doing a big beer, I'll check my mash pH and adjust.

I don't try to correct gravity (unless it's really a volume issue) by adding water or DME or anything like that. If you're consistently off, then you need to adjust your efficiency/boil-off rate/losses/etc so that you can reliably predict your batch. Otherwise you're going to be chasing problems forever. And that's before fermentation. Once it's in the fermenter, I don't deviate from my recipe at all. It's way too late to try to fix gravity, volume, etc at that point.

So yeah, stop with the band-aids, and figure out what is going wrong. Is your mash temperature or process off? Do you need to tweak your equipment profile in whatever software you're using? Do you need to start using software to be able to adjust your recipes so you can brew them as intended?

Figure out what's wrong with your process and fix that. IMO, your goal should be to have your process and variables dialed in enough to not to have to make corrections.

(edit) I also agree with others that you probably can't really fix mediocre beer after the fact. You're just going to frustrate yourself and waste time and money and potentially make the beer worse. Either drink it or dump it and figure out how to not make the same mistake next brew.

 

[Christoff]

My rule of thumb is don't try to fix a whole lot. Usually it ends up making more of a mess, and it adds more variables which makes it difficult to see what exactly happened at the end of the brew day. For the most part, I roll with whatever is going on and then, after the fact, figure out what went wrong and if I need to update my equipment profile, process, or whatever, so that I can predict the next batch.

If I've got a volume issue that I can reasonably address by adjusting boil time or power, then I will, but beyond that, I don't do much. If I'm doing a big beer, I'll check my mash pH and adjust.

All makes sense. I was generally curious as a thought experiment. If I am not going to drink all of it, seemed like an opportunity to experiment. Some good feedback came out of this too. I've started using brewfather to help shore some of this up. Generally speaking though, I am guessing BIAB is a pretty straight forward process if you are consistent, so there really isn't much beyond what I have mentioned above. I am curious what the water report will come back with.

My last porter/hybrid stout just got some pretty good reviews from friend's of friends so I am guessing I am being harder on the beer than is actually the case.

 

[Christoff]

The only thing that the crush of your malts and other grains is going to affect is the OG you might get if your recipe is figuring the amounts at a higher efficiency. To a certain extent that does affect taste as you won't create the same amount of alcohol.

But your main issue seems to be you aren't getting no where close to your FG. I don't think grain crush will have any affect on that, unless you have been doing some things you haven't told us yet to get your OG close to the same OG of the recipe.

There was discussion earlier that my OG was very low. My eyes saw a 1.068 on brewfather so I didn't think too much of it but then it was pointed out that it should have been a lot higher. Brewfather actually said 1.088 when I looked closer, hence the conversation about the crush. I am assume on a low(ish) attenuating beer (which I was going for here) the OG is going to play a roll because more sugars will be present and the mouthfeel will be bigger? (if that's the right word)?

I still have no idea why the attenuation is so low though. Windsor is bad, but this is really bad. It's still bouncing between 1.36 and 1.037 (majority of readings at 1.037).

 

[hotbeer]

I still have no idea why the attenuation is so low though. Windsor is bad, but this is really bad. It's still bouncing between 1.36 and 1.037 (majority of readings at 1.037)

Might be something you did while mashing. Check to be certain your thermometer is accurate enough. If you had to warm up your mash, did you take temperature readings in several places?

If you are using a all-in-one vessel, then I don't know anything to say about proper procedures with them.

On the ferment side of things, under pitching and ambient temperatures taking a nose dive at critical times might be an issue.

What about ingredients, did you use any unfermentable sugars such as maltodextrin?

And how certain are you that your wort pH wasn't too low or too high? Test strips can be difficult to read if you haven't had experience with them doing other things. For lighter colored beers, I've had good success using them to assure me I'm in an acceptable range.

However for my very dark porters I've been brewing lately they leave me in doubt as the color of the wort makes seeing the test strip color virtually impossible.

 

[Christoff]

Might be something you did while mashing. Check to be certain your thermometer is accurate enough. If you had to warm up your mash, did you take temperature readings in several places?

If you are using a all-in-one vessel, then I don't know anything to say about proper procedures with them.

On the ferment side of things, under pitching and ambient temperatures taking a nose dive at critical times might be an issue.

What about ingredients, did you use any unfermentable sugars such as maltodextrin?

And how certain are you that your wort pH wasn't too low or too high? Test strips can be difficult to read if you haven't had experience with them doing other things. For lighter colored beers, I've had good success using them to assure me I'm in an acceptable range.

However for my very dark porters I've been brewing lately they leave me in doubt as the color of the wort makes seeing the test strip color virtually impossible.

I actually just bought a new thermometer because I am not sure I can trust the one I have. I generally check it every 10 min when I mash. I used my new one today and they were not syncing. The old may have been ~5 F off however the new one is hard to read. Since I was already aiming to mash a little high this explains the attenuation. I was thinking of brewing another batch and using the other half of the yeast to see if it attenuates the same or better. I have heard of dry yeast batches being off but maybe that was something of the past?

The dark beer in question on this thread was from the BIAB process, not my solo. I am basically just brewing on the stove until it warms up

The ingredients I listed above is everything I used. Just pale ale malt, crystal, brown, wheat, and the chocolate malt. I avoid adding any additional sugars in almost everything, unless it's totally necessary for the style.

I am not certain of the pH. I think my strips are too old so I stopped using them. I have ordered a meter the other day. Beerfather says would have been 5.77 but I don't know if that is enough to create the attenuation issue.

 

[ncbrewer]

I actually just bought a new thermometer because I am not sure I can trust the one I have.

I wouldn't trust either one without calibrating against boiling water and an ice bath. (An ice bath is a lot trickier than it sounds.)

 

[Christoff]

I wouldn't trust either one without calibrating against boiling water and an ice bath. (An ice bath is a lot trickier than it sounds.)

I did boiling water when I first bought the old one and it seemed fine, but you also have to pull it out to read it so if its not in the liquid perfectly it can be tough to get an accurate reading. I haven't with the new one yet. The new one is 5 F increments however so it is hard to read. I should just bite the bullet and get a decent once. These $15 ones are finicky.

 

[ncbrewer]

I use this one - totally satisfied: ThermoWorks RT301WA Super-Fast® Pocket Thermometer

 

[Christoff]

I use this one - totally satisfied: ThermoWorks RT301WA Super-Fast® Pocket Thermometer

great. thank you.

 

[DonT]

Do you have a refractometer? If not, you should. And use it during the mash to monitor the progress. In fact, use it for all gravity checks up to the minute you pitch.
Do you use the Spike Solo for all your brews?
I would invest in some kind of fermentation temp control... And, what do you ferment in?