Help "fix" my batch of beer

[Duane]

Greetings!

So I set out to make a sweet, dessert-type stout. That didn't exactly happen, despite the full pound of Crystal 120 and moderate mash temperatures. Totally baffled as to what happened. FG is 1.010, it tastes bone dry, and it has no head whatsoever (even when sloshing it into my glass)... and who wants to drink a stout without a creamy head?

So, my plan is to pop all the caps, dump it back into a fermenter, steep another pound of crystal, AND for safe measure add a pound of lactose in attempt to sweeten it up and bump up the FG.

One obvious problem with this plan is the realitu that there is no way to dump all those bottles into a bucket without introducing a significant amount of oxygen. No good at this stage in the process!

My question is this: In addition to adding the Crystal and Lactose, should I also add a half pound or so of fermentable sugar to kick-start fermentation again in order to get the yeast to eliminate the oxygen I'd be introducing? WOULD adding this small amount of sugar solve the oxygen problem? Or would I need to add more sugar than that? If more, how much more?

Thanks!

 

[JonM]

I'd leave it be, learn my lesson, and brew another batch. These "fixes," especially when they involve pouring bottles out and rebottling, just make things worse.

So what was the mash temp? How long have they been in bottles?

 

[flars]

How did you prime your stout for bottle carbonation?

 

[estricklin]

What was your original recipe?

 

[Duane]

9# Vienna
1# EACH of chocolate malt, crystal 120, and instant oats
Small amount of noble hops
Wyeast weihenstephan (3068)

Mash 152 deg.
Ferment 76 deg.

It has been bottled about a week. It IS definitely carbonated, if that's what you're wondering. I used table sugar.

And I definitely want to try to fix the batch. Not going to drink it as is, and not going to throw it away. I figure it's worth a shot, and I've had luck once before with this kind of a thing. Plus I haven't learned any lessons with this batch. Still have no clue what went wrong.

Thanks!


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[JonM]

Adding more sugar to restart fermentation will just dry the beer out more, which is the opposite of what you want.

I'd try putting a little bit of lactose, or honey, or - heck DME in a glass and pouring an individual serving on top of it. That's probably the simplest and safest way to make it more palatable.

I can't help but notice that you fermented with German hefeweizen yeast at a very high temperature, so I'm sure the yeast just went nuts on the fermentable sugars in there. That's a really attenuative yeast. If you want it sweet, next time try 1728 or 1968 or one of the other low-attenuators.

 

[Duane]

Yeah, the yeast and high temp were intentional. I was going for a "bananas foster stout" Banana was all I smelled as this fermented, but I can't taste it much.

Regardless of yeast strain and fermenting temperature, I can't figure out why a full pound of crystal 120 doesn't give me ANY sweetness or body.

Anyone have an answer to my specific question? Perhaps a more specific way of asking is, do the yeast cells use up the oxygen in the wort during their reproductive phase, during fermentation, or both?

 

[KepowOb]

Oxygen is the first thing the yeast consume, but as others have said, trying to save this might just make it worse.

The best option at this point might be to blend it with another beer.

As for the low attenuation, it does seem a bit odd, but as someone said, when your aiming for a sweeter beer, you need to pick the right yeast too. I get that you wanted some of the characteristics from this yeast, but one of its characteristics is also high attenuation.


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[estricklin]

I would point out that, it's only been bottled a week, it may be pretty carbonated but as time goes by you may see some more carbonation develop, and with it some head.

Crazy that 120 didn't leave more unfermentables than that, I'm clueless unless you have some wild yeast going on.

 

[Duane]

Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest.

I have a malty Belgian strong ale on tap. After I pour 12 oz of this stout from the bottle, if I top off the pint with some of the malty Belgian it balances out quite nicely!




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[Dynachrome]

Look up maltodextrin.

 

[foltster]

I 2nd the recommendation to not try and "fix" it. Blend when you consume it, if that helps.

Honestly 1LB of C120 is not that much, nor is 120 *that* sweet especially compared to c40 or c60. Mash at 152 is fairly neutral so with a high ferment temp and aggressive yeast strain I would not expect this to have to much in the way of residual sweetness. Chocolate malt also provides some additional bitterness/astringency that reduces the mouthfeel somewhat.

1 Week to full carbonation in the bottle is pretty optimistic. Ill bet this will be much better in 2 weeks.

 

[Dynachrome]

Has time in the bottle helped this, inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Duane]

Thanks for the comments, all. Time in the bottle has increased carbonation a bit, but hasn't done anything for head retention. within a few seconds after pouring the foam dies and I'm left with a clear, glassy surface to my stout.

Taste has improved some. It's not a bad beer. I'm out of that tripel now, so I do add a touch of sweetness to the pints - usually a tsp of maple syrup does the trick, turning it into a decent maple stout.

Once I have my keezer up and running I'll be able to get all the bottles cold conditioning, which should help clean up some flavors from what I suspect is some yeast yet in suspension.

Thanks for the info on Crystal 120! I've always been scared to use more than a lb. I'll try more next time.

Cheers!

 

[bja]

Mash higher next time. Somewhere between 156 and 158.