I think I screwed up....

[VWBrewDude]

so I recently got into homebrewing. Up until batch 5, I had been buying pre assembled homebrew kits. So I decided to venture off and build my own recipe. I was shooting for a NE Style IPA which I had been successful with on my first attempt. But this time, I switched up the grain... completely by accident. Instead of ordering 2-row, I somehow, in a drunken, late night stupor, ordered Belgian Abbey grain. Didn't realize until mashing in. That being said, I continued on. Now.... my recipe was supposed to be 10# 2-row but instead got 10# Abbey. It is currently fermenting and is super dark. Should I even bother with bottling? Or just dump it and cut my losses?

 

[stieg000]

I wouldn't toss it until I tasted it. I'm certain if your fermentation and sanitation is good it'll be drinkable. It won't be to style though.

Post you grain bill. I just looked at the malt on northern brewer, its a little dark. 16°L.

 

[beerlover77]

Don't dump it!!!
According to Weyermann's webpage it is a base malt so you should be ok

https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/weyermann-abbey-malt-25-kg

The beer is going to be darker, maltier and more flavourful = delicious
Maybe you brewed up your new favourite by accident!!

 

[JohnK93]

I've never used Abbey malt, but the Q&A on Northern Brewer say this isn't a self-converting malt. Did you take any gravity readings after mashing?

 

[VWBrewDude]

I wouldn't toss it until I tasted it. I'm certain if your fermentation and sanitation is good it'll be drinkable. It won't be to style though.

Post you grain bill. I just looked at the malt on northern brewer, its a little dark. 16°L.

I attached a pic. Sub my 10lbs With the abbey. Probably gonna skip the dry hop as well

 

[beerlover77]

I've never used Abbey malt, but the Q&A on Northern Brewer say this isn't a self-converting malt. Did you take any gravity readings after mashing?

I see that 'someone' answered the Q&A and stated this but it is listed as a 'base malt' which leads me to believe that this will self convert. *I have not used this malt so I am making assumptions here*

 

[VWBrewDude]

I see that 'someone' answered the Q&A and stated this but it is listed as a 'base malt' which leads me to believe that this will self convert. *I have not used this malt so I am making assumptions here*

I took a gravity reading before it went into the fermenter and I think it was around 1.042.

 

[stieg000]

Your probably gonna end up with a malt forward beer that's not going to be that bitter. Taste it, decide if you want to dry hop.

 

[VWBrewDude]

Your probably gonna end up with a malt forward beer that's not going to be that bitter. Taste it, decide if you want to dry hop.

That's what I was thinking too and exactly what I was NOT aiming for. Again, I am new at this and hopefully this will be one of my few mishaps.

 

[Calder]

I took a gravity reading before it went into the fermenter and I think it was around 1.042.

Recipe estimates 1.070 with a 68% ash efficiency. If you only got 42, you left a lot of sugars on the table. I suspect 1.042 is incorrect.

Should be tasty. I would dry hop.

 

[beerlover77]

I can't even see your recipe... too small and blury

 

[ba-brewer]

I see that 'someone' answered the Q&A and stated this but it is listed as a 'base malt' which leads me to believe that this will self convert. *I have not used this malt so I am making assumptions here*

The link you posted earlier say you can use up to 50% which seems funny for a base malt, most base malts say you can use at 100%. The product tags says caramel and crystal malts and the sensory chart says specialty malt.

I use abbey often but treat it as light crystal, I add a half pound to blondes and pale ales to add maltiness. Smells great when crushing and in the mash.

 

[beerlover77]

The link you posted earlier say you can use up to 50% which seems funny for a base malt, most base malts say you can use at 100%. The product tags says caramel and crystal malts and the sensory chart says specialty malt.

I use abbey often but treat it as light crystal, I add a half pound to blondes and pale ales to add maltiness. Smells great when crushing and in the mash.

This is interesting and I want to see how this beer ends up! I wonder how this malt is processed?

 

[ba-brewer]

A lot of recipes say you can substitute abbey and aromatic so I normally use or think of them as the same thing. I looked and Aromatic malt seems to have some diastatic power. Castle Malts has both an Abbey and an aromatic malt and only the aromatic mentions diastatic power but no value. The dingeman aromatic on the northern brewer site has a diastatic power of 30 which I think is a bit low for use as base malt. I seem to recall the combined average diastatic powers of a mash are suppose to be over 35 for proper conversion, but I could be wrong.

If the OP got a 1040 (or anything)for a SG seems like something was able to convert sugars, that cant be all from pre-converted sugars.

 

[Calder]

I tried looking up the grain. As best as I can tell it has no diastatic power. If that is the case, all you had was from the Munich (which ain't much).

1.040 in 5 gallons = ~18 points per lb for the grain alone, or ~ 13 poiints per lb if you include the 4 lbs of Oats. Not sure what you have. May not ferment much. Let us know what happens.

 

[VWBrewDude]

I tried looking up the grain. As best as I can tell it has no diastatic power. If that is the case, all you had was from the Munich (which ain't much).

1.040 in 5 gallons = ~18 points per lb for the grain alone, or ~ 13 poiints per lb if you include the 4 lbs of Oats. Not sure what you have. May not ferment much. Let us know what happens.

Got some pretty good activity going on. Maybe just from the yeast. Smell is huge. Got a few more days to go before bottling day. I'll check back in with a gravity reading.