high OG screw-up/can it be saved?

[chelero]

so I totally screwed the pooch because of a typo in jamil's book. in his dunkelweizen, he has 2.2lb munich lme and in parenthesis (3.08K). yeah, so long story short, I was just copying down the metric measurements, and I put in probably about 2K more LME than I should've. gave me an OG of 1.092 instead of about 1.056-1.060. so now the beer's gonna be at about 9%abv instead of 5 and change. can I save this beer? if so, how? blending? or just call it a weizenbock. right now I'm calling it my doofus-weizen.

 

[chelero]

oh, and I'm not trying to pin this on the typo.It was totally my mistake. I should have looked at the recipe closer. lesson learned!

 

[Edcculus]

I'm for calling it a weizenbock. No use diluting it. My only concern would be how much yeast you pitched. If you pitched enough for a smaller beer, it proably won't be enough to do a good job on the higher gravity.

 

[chelero]

How can I tell if I need to pitch more yeast? I used a wyeast activator, but I only have the one. Could I use a pack of the danstar munich(re-hydrated)? What would happen if I just left it? would it turn out too heavy?

 

[TipsyDragon]

for a gravity that high i would pitch about 4 or 5 packets.... if my mental math is right. for a wart that high you should use somewhere around 300 - 350 billion yeast cells. a packet of dry yeast typically has between 40 and 70 billion cells.

if you just left it i would be afraid of getting off flavors or the fermentation taking way to long.

 

[Edcculus]

The pitching rate calculator can help you figure it out. Look like you need 3 packs if you didn't make a starter. I think you would be safe pitching the dry. That combo should give it what it needs.

 

[chelero]

so does my original wyeast count as one, and I just pitch 2 more packets? I'm not sure how to use the calculator

 

[Edcculus]

yea, thats right. You are supposed to use the calculator to find your original pitching rate. You are just doing it a little backwards.

 

[chelero]

Thanks so much! So I should re-hydrate and when they're cooled down close to wort temp then pitch 'em straight into the carboy? should I be ready to re-affix the blowoff tube? and will they "get along," the wyeast and the danstar munich? or will the result be weird?

 

[Edcculus]

I'd rehydrate the dry yeast. I don't think you will have a problem with 2 strains.

 

[Jumbo82]

One more thing. This beer will take more time for everything. Longer primary, longer secondary (if you use one), and longer bottle conditioning. Don't plan on drinking this beer in 6 weeks.

 

[chelero]

OK, so I ignored everyone's advice, as I was out of town for awhile. I came back, got the jitters about adding more yeast so late, and just bottled it. stupid, I know. of course the beer never carbed. it tastes nice though, a little overly sweet for sure. is there still a way I can save this beer? could I empty all the beer into my bucket and re-bottle the beer with the re-hydrated yeast I like I should have done in the first place a couple of months ago while it was still in primary? I just don't want to dump 50 bottles. I'm sorry for not following the advice, my noobness continues to haunt me. i got freaked out and I wasn't around to do anything at the time! thanks,
c

 

[Yooper]

Did you happen to take a FG reading? If so, and it was an acceptable number, what I'd do now is simply open a package of dry yeast, open all of the bottles and put just a grain or two into each bottle and recap. (I had to do that once myself, when my yeast was all pooped out).

If you don't have a low enough FG reading, I wouldn't do that, though. You might get bottle bombs if the beer finishes in the bottle. If the FG is too high, you'll have to put it back into a fermenter but try not to splash it at all. You'd have to build up a big starter, since you've got a high alcohol environment, and then try to get it to finish.

It really depends on the FG reading you have.

 

[chelero]

thanks yooperbrew! my og was 1.093 and my fg was 1.028. beersmith had them estimated at 1.091/1.021

 

[chelero]

you think thats low enough to pitch directly into the bottles? or should I dump them back into a fermenter?

 

[Yooper]

you think thats low enough to pitch directly into the bottles? or should I dump them back into a fermenter?

Well, I just don't know to be honest. You've got only 68% attenuation, but 8.5% ABV. I'd be afraid that some nottingham yeast might cause overcarbonation, IF it can handle being put into 8.5% liquid. but pouring it into a fermentor at this stage will probably oxidize it and ruin it.

I guess I'd try the dry yeast into the bottles, or at least a couple of bottles, and see if that worked before doing the whole batch. The dry yeast can be tightly closed and stored for a week or two in the fridge, while you wait and see if it might work and not cause bottle bombs.

 

[ChshreCat]

Curious... what temp have the bottles been sitting at?

 

[chelero]

probably around 68-70F. it's been cool here lately, but wasn't that cool in december when I bottled

 

[Sujeto]

Sorry to restart a dying thread but I found this one by searching for an answer to my question
I recently brewed a Chimay Grand Reserve clone w/ a high gravity like the OP (Sunday 11/21). Mine's at 1.093. Well I pitched 1 vial of White Labs Trappist Ale yeast and afterwards read up on high gravity brews and the need for double pitching.
Should I leave it as it is and check the gravity after 2 weeks or should I pitch a second vial as soon as possible which would be Black Friday? I'm concerned about the yeast not being able to handle the 9 - 10% ABV this beer is supposed to be.
Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Prosit!

 

[juslod]

I would go ahead and pitch more yeast, for the cost of insurance on such a high ABV I would!