Extremely low final gravity. How can I bring it up?

[ciacheflv]

the OG was 1.030

 

[DRoyLenz]

We're really going to have to see the recipe to know how to help you.

 

[Synovia]

Yeah that FG is way too low to be correct. I think even with a serious infection you're not going to get an FG that low.

If hes adding sugar or anything its not. Most of my apfelwein finishes up around there.


Edit: Misread, thought he was saying .990, and not .900.

.900 isn't impossible though. Alchohol has an SG of about .78. So his beer would have to be about 50% alchohol...IE wrong.

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

I think the original question steered us down the wrong path.
You want to sweeten a beer that is too bitter, right?

If so, I'll second the malto dextrine and also suggest adding lactose aka milk sugar.
It should be available online or at your LHBS.

If a pound of lactose doesn't fix it, consider dumping if it's undrinkable.
You're better off starting a new batch rather than waste too much effort on a bad one.

 

[WillPall]

For those who don't do well with my blunt, to the point questions, I apologize.

You question isn't blunt. It just doesn't give us the information we need to answer it.

This isn't the first forum in wich I have asked this question and the "its beer just drink it" answer doesn't help me learn how to correct this issue if it can in fact be corrected.

It can't, in fact, be corrected. It can be improved, but we've already told you how to do that and you haven't listened.

It's much lighter than I would like and I simply wanted to know if anyone had experimented with adding more extract and re-pitching a finished beer.

It has been done before, as rod has pointed out, but boiling an already fermented beer isn't going to help anything:

... i would boil up some malt extract in the minimum amount of water to prevent scorching - cool and add it to your existing carboy of beer.

 

[BioBeing]

As I stated earlier, I appreciate all of your suggestions. For those who don't do well with my blunt, to the point questions, I apologize. This isn't the first forum in wich I have asked this question and the "its beer just drink it" answer doesn't help me learn how to correct this issue if it can in fact be corrected. As far as the gravity goes, the beer finished at 1.009. Again I apologize for the confusion. It's much lighter than I would like and I simply wanted to know if anyone had experimented with adding more extract and re-pitching a finished beer.

It is not that you are blunt, it is that you are pointedly ignoring our questions!! But that said, I'll be blunt back: You did not give us enough information to help you.

1.009 is very different to 0.900, which your previous post stated! So here, you gave us wrong information. See how hard that makes it to help you?

If you say "add more extract", I assume that means you used extract originally. Is this correct? If it is correct, then there is basically no way you could have gotten a low OG, unless you did not add as much DME as you were supposed to have. My point is that if this is the case, then your low READING (not the same thing as a low OG) could be due to incomplete mixing of top up water with the boiled extract. I have done this myself. Others on here have posted about this. It happens all the time. If this is in fact what you have done, then your OG is probably OK, and the taste of the beer is due to something else.

Do you follow me so far?

Now, if you made an all-grain beer, then the low OG could be real. This is a different issue, and could be gone into in another thread.

So, assuming extract, and your OG is actually OK, you are aware that you way over hopped for the style anyway, right? This alone will make you beer taste ... wait for it... hoppy. You haven't posted your recipe, so we still do not know what hops you added, or when...


Next: what state is the beer in now? All you say is "finished". If you are tasting beer right out of the fermentor, then you are tasting warm, green, flat beer. However, you could add some extract to it at this point if you wish, stir up the yeast. The yeast will wake back up. But by doing this, you will change the overall balance of the beer (if you just add DME, and no steeping grains, you will dilute out the colour/taste contributions they gave in the first place). Which is why some people have said to blend it, as then you can make a new wort with the correct properties for the style, just underhop it this time!

Or bottle it, and let it carb and condition. This will change the taste considerably. But you will have a very hoppy irish red.


If your beer is already bottled, I'd say trying to save this now is more trouble than its worth. Just let it condition for a year or two to let the hops mellow out.


ETA - you said red ale, which I read as Irish Red. So not sure exactly what style you were shooting for. Still, 66 IBU is quite high. Hops will mellow with time. If you are drinking it young (less than at least 3 weeks in the bottle/keg) then you are not tasting the final product.

 

[annasdadhockey]

It is not that you are blunt, it is that you are pointedly ignoring our questions!! But that said, I'll be blunt back: You did not give us enough information to help you.

1.009 is very different to 0.900, which your previous post stated! So here, you gave us wrong information. See how hard that makes it to help you?

If you say "add more extract", I assume that means you used extract originally. Is this correct? If it is correct, then there is basically no way you could have gotten a low OG, unless you did not add as much DME as you were supposed to have. My point is that if this is the case, then your low READING (not the same thing as a low OG) could be due to incomplete mixing of top up water with the boiled extract. I have done this myself. Others on here have posted about this. It happens all the time. If this is in fact what you have done, then your OG is probably OK, and the taste of the beer is due to something else.

Do you follow me so far?

Now, if you made an all-grain beer, then the low OG could be real. This is a different issue, and could be gone into in another thread.

So, assuming extract, and your OG is actually OK, you are aware that you way over hopped for the style anyway, right? This alone will make you beer taste ... wait for it... hoppy. You haven't posted your recipe, so we still do not know what hops you added, or when...


Next: what state is the beer in now? All you say is "finished". If you are tasting beer right out of the fermentor, then you are tasting warm, green, flat beer. However, you could add some extract to it at this point if you wish, stir up the yeast. The yeast will wake back up. But by doing this, you will change the overall balance of the beer (if you just add DME, and no steeping grains, you will dilute out the colour/taste contributions they gave in the first place). Which is why some people have said to blend it, as then you can make a new wort with the correct properties for the style, just underhop it this time!

Or bottle it, and let it carb and condition. This will change the taste considerably. But you will have a very hoppy irish red.


If your beer is already bottled, I'd say trying to save this now is more trouble than its worth. Just let it condition for a year or two to let the hops mellow out.


ETA - you said red ale, which I read as Irish Red. So not sure exactly what style you were shooting for. Still, 66 IBU is quite high. Hops will mellow with time. If you are drinking it young (less than at least 3 weeks in the bottle/keg) then you are not tasting the final product.

Well stated!!!

 

[Shooter]

It is not that you are blunt, it is that you are pointedly ignoring our questions!! But that said, I'll be blunt back: You did not give us enough information to help you.

1.009 is very different to 0.900, which your previous post stated! So here, you gave us wrong information. See how hard that makes it to help you?

If you say "add more extract", I assume that means you used extract originally. Is this correct? If it is correct, then there is basically no way you could have gotten a low OG, unless you did not add as much DME as you were supposed to have. My point is that if this is the case, then your low READING (not the same thing as a low OG) could be due to incomplete mixing of top up water with the boiled extract. I have done this myself. Others on here have posted about this. It happens all the time. If this is in fact what you have done, then your OG is probably OK, and the taste of the beer is due to something else.

Do you follow me so far?

Now, if you made an all-grain beer, then the low OG could be real. This is a different issue, and could be gone into in another thread.

So, assuming extract, and your OG is actually OK, you are aware that you way over hopped for the style anyway, right? This alone will make you beer taste ... wait for it... hoppy. You haven't posted your recipe, so we still do not know what hops you added, or when...


Next: what state is the beer in now? All you say is "finished". If you are tasting beer right out of the fermentor, then you are tasting warm, green, flat beer. However, you could add some extract to it at this point if you wish, stir up the yeast. The yeast will wake back up. But by doing this, you will change the overall balance of the beer (if you just add DME, and no steeping grains, you will dilute out the colour/taste contributions they gave in the first place). Which is why some people have said to blend it, as then you can make a new wort with the correct properties for the style, just underhop it this time!

Or bottle it, and let it carb and condition. This will change the taste considerably. But you will have a very hoppy irish red.


If your beer is already bottled, I'd say trying to save this now is more trouble than its worth. Just let it condition for a year or two to let the hops mellow out.


ETA - you said red ale, which I read as Irish Red. So not sure exactly what style you were shooting for. Still, 66 IBU is quite high. Hops will mellow with time. If you are drinking it young (less than at least 3 weeks in the bottle/keg) then you are not tasting the final product.

This answer FTW!

 

[TexLaw]

If your beer is already bottled, I'd say trying to save this now is more trouble than its worth. Just let it condition for a year or two to let the hops mellow out.

Great reply, but I wouldn't try aging a 1.030ish beer for a year or two. Even assuming the hydrometer is off by 15 points, that sort of beer is made for drinking fairly fresh (no matter how hoppy it is).


TL

 

[ChshreCat]

What's annoying people is that the OP asks a question, many people answer "no" and he keeps re-asking the question. If all he wants is someone to say "yes" then he should just go ahead and do whatever the hell he wants.

 

[motobrewer]

i purposefully made a beer just like this; except not 66 IBU's, more like 20. extract.

Ordinary bitter, 1.033 to 1.006. pretty darn good for my first beer. I might make it again, except kick up the OG to maybe 37, and the IBU's to 25.

like others said, post the recipe. more information = more help.

 

[mkorpal]

On a side note, is .9 even theoretically possible? What is the gravity of pure ethanol?

 

[bonzombiekitty]

On a side note, is .9 even theoretically possible? What is the gravity of pure ethanol?

.794

Someone previously mentioned to get .9, you'd need something along the lines of 50% alcohol.

 

[DansBrew]

I'm still basically a noob, but this guy... he's the one who will tell his other forums that HBT is mean to noobs. I've had nothing but great responses to my topics, and have never felt insulted by direct answers I get. Noob or not, this guy just does not want to listen.

 

[DRoyLenz]

I'm still basically a noob, but this guy... he's the one who will tell his other forums that HBT is mean to noobs. I've had nothing but great responses to my topics, and have never felt insulted by direct answers I get. Noob or not, this guy just does not want to listen.

Well, if you're right, that's a shame, because, like you, I've had nothing but great experiences from this forum, ESPECIALLY in regards to my noob questions. There is no comparing HBT to the other forums.

Given the nature of most other forums on the internet (not specific to brewing) I can understand people's hesitation. The anonymity of the internet makes for some toxic threads, and I'm just glad I've found one as accepting and helpful as HBT. Kudos everyone!

 

[agroff383]

Well, if you're right, that's a shame, because, like you, I've had nothing but great experiences from this forum, ESPECIALLY in regards to my noob questions. There is no comparing HBT to the other forums.

Given the nature of most other forums on the internet (not specific to brewing) I can understand people's hesitation. The anonymity of the internet makes for some toxic threads, and I'm just glad I've found one as accepting and helpful as HBT. Kudos everyone!

I also agree I have got a lot of info from this site and although it is difficult to tell people's tone sometimes (as it is anywhere on the internet) I firmly believe anyone who takes the time to come on here and answer questions, noob or not, really genuinely wants to help another person make great beer.

So you can't be a puss if someone might SOUND a little what you think is harsh, they aren't most of the time, just how they type or talk or whatever.

That is why we are here in the first place, to make great beer, and both me and whoever drinks my beer thanks HBT!