Did I just ruin my beer?

[Kennanwt5]

He all... I am wondering if I just ruin my beer in light of the new information I just received.

I brewed a blue moon clone (AG) and everything went fine on brew day. No issues. Fast forward to two weeks later. I was getting ready to transfer to 2ndary but wanted to get a FG reading before I did. I usually would use my hydrometer, but since I got this new fancy refractometer, I gave that a shot. This is where I ran into trouble. I didn't realize until about 10 minutes ago that using a refractometer for FG it can be dicey since the alcohol can mess with the results. That said, when I did the reading, I was still getting a brix that converted to a FG of like 1.022. I was like WTF... maybe its not done or maybe the yeast needs to be roused. Did that, gave it another day. Same reading...

This is where I am concerned. I decided to add some S-05 yeast to the beer to see it they could pick up where the 1056 leftoff. In hindsight, i realize that FG was probably reached, but I got thrown off by the refractomerter reading.

That said, did I just ruin my beer by pitching yeast into fully fermented beer???

 

[brandonnys]

Probably not. My guess is you're not going to filter, so you'll just have a higher level of yeast in there than you originally planned for, so it might taste a little more yeasty. It's definitely not ruined.

 

[Brewski_59]

No you didn't ruin it. Many bottlers will add yeast to finished beer for conditioning.
Just give it time, make sure your fermentation is complete by comparing at least three FG readings with 2-3 days between readings, if there is no change observed. You know its ready to bottle.

 

[Kennanwt5]

Thanks all... I am feeling better. BTW,I am going to keg.

I had the idea of cold crashing the beer to drop some of the yeast, even though the style does mandate a clear beer. Maybe that would help reduce some of the yeast flavor.

 

[brandonnys]

Yeah, that would probably help.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

While a refractometer is not reliable in measuring SG once fermentation has begun, it is usable to determine whether gravity has become stable or is still dropping. As long as you understand your tools, they are all usable.

 

[witster18]

cold crash the crap out of it... that will minimize some of the yeastiness of the flavor.. do that asap... do it for a while.. at least 36 hours minimum... then add some wheat flour if you want some cloudiness back.. nobody the wiser.

 

[Kennanwt5]

cold crash the crap out of it... that will minimize some of the yeastiness of the flavor.. do that asap... do it for a while.. at least 36 hours minimum... then add some wheat flour if you want some cloudiness back.. nobody the wiser.

geniussssss

Thats good to know to since this is going to be served at a memorial day BBQ