angryyoungman
Active Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2013
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I made 2 batches of "big" beer, a barley wine and an imperial stout. I did nearly everything the same, but used a stepped mash for the BW but mashed @ 149 for the RIS (give or take a few degrees, but it stayed right around 150 quite well). The OG was 1.100 for the BW and 1.115 for the RIS. I aerated using the same basic method (through a strainer then shook it like hell) for both. I pitched the same yeast as well (US- 04), but the yeast pitched in the BW was newer, the yeast in the RIS was about a month old. The grain bills were relatively similar with the only major difference being 5% of the bill was lactose added to the RIS. I was hoping for a final gravity of at least 1.030 for the RIS, but after checking the hydrometer fermentation has stopped and FG of the Barley Wine was 1.023, but 1.045 for the RIS. This comes from 2 readings a week apart.
Now the Barley Wine recipe called for the addition of champagne yeast to dry it out, but I was happy with that FG, so I opted to toss it in the Stout instead and hope to dry out that 1.045. Week later, nothing.
I'm going for a last ditch effort of adding some yeast energizer to the stout, but idk if there is much else to do... So my purposes here are to try and find out what went wrong and what else might be done. The only differences were stepped mash vs constant, additional unfermentable sugar to the stout, old yeast versus new. I suppose all together these factors likely account for the massive difference... But is there anything left to be done? Or should i just be content and try to bottle my stout syrup?
My plan was to add coffee and vanilla bean to secondary in the stout. With a higher than average gravity of like 1.030 i figured i could cut it down a couple points with the edition of coffee and make a serious coffee stout. instead I have a beer that has another beer worth of sugar left in it... I may just have to cut my losses and hope that 1.045 isn't so cloyingly sweet i have to dump it...
Now the Barley Wine recipe called for the addition of champagne yeast to dry it out, but I was happy with that FG, so I opted to toss it in the Stout instead and hope to dry out that 1.045. Week later, nothing.
I'm going for a last ditch effort of adding some yeast energizer to the stout, but idk if there is much else to do... So my purposes here are to try and find out what went wrong and what else might be done. The only differences were stepped mash vs constant, additional unfermentable sugar to the stout, old yeast versus new. I suppose all together these factors likely account for the massive difference... But is there anything left to be done? Or should i just be content and try to bottle my stout syrup?
My plan was to add coffee and vanilla bean to secondary in the stout. With a higher than average gravity of like 1.030 i figured i could cut it down a couple points with the edition of coffee and make a serious coffee stout. instead I have a beer that has another beer worth of sugar left in it... I may just have to cut my losses and hope that 1.045 isn't so cloyingly sweet i have to dump it...