Is my beer ruined? Can it be saved?

[MSWHeather]

Goal - Create a clone of Epic's Brainless on Peaches

Plan - brew a Belgian Triple (recipe did include a 1lb of candied sugar), add peaches and oak spirals soaked in Chardonnay in secondary and let it sit for maybe 3 months.

Brew Day - everything went beautifully. Timing and Temperatures were spot on... until the wort chiller. Saturday was my first time brewing outside. My wort chiller sprang a leak! I though I had addressed it but it appears a slow leak continued. I'm estimating about a gallon of water got into the wort. My gravity dropped from 1.075 to 1.045. I added two yeast packets and it fermented like crazy (more than I've ever seen before).

Fermentation is done and I think its ready for secondary this weekend.

Is my beer ruined?

Should I continue with the peaches and oak spirals?

I'm guessing I'll end up with Miller Lite on Peaches.

Lessons learned:
1) check wort chiller before using
2) don't turn hose on full bast

Suggestions and feedback welcome.

 

[flars]

I wouldn't go any farther if the water which leaked through the chiller was contaminated with chlorine or chloramines.

 

[MSWHeather]

Milwaukee water is great for brewing.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I kind of agree with flars but then again, you'll still have beer. It just won't be what you planned on. I'm torn on what to tell you to do. I think I'm leaning towards finishing it...

You could take a gravity reading and then taste the sample and see what you think from there...?

 

[eric19312]

Sounds like you made beer.

I'd bottle/keg it and rebrew before doing the 3months on peaches and oak. I'd be concerned that it is a relatively low alcohol beer right now that might be too susceptible to contamination. I am taking the intent is a clean beer with peaches and oak not a sour beer.

 

[owmatooth]

i'll say it'll be a tasty summer peach session. Hopefully your mash was on the lower side, so the entirety of the 1.045 will ferment out. what was the SG after the primary? you should have a easy 4.2% session beer. The 1 lb of candied sugar was likely responsible for the vigorous fermentation. Are you going to arrest the yeast (sorbate I believe)? otherwise the peaches will just ferment out and you'll have some firewater.

 

[MSWHeather]

I'll move it to the secondary this weekend and check the SG. How do I arrest the yeast? I'm not familiar with this process?

firewater? My father has suggested I start making whiskey.....

 

[Lefou]

"I'm guessing I'll end up with Miller Lite on Peaches."

nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: Five stars for that one comment.
If I was concerned over complex sugars being left unconverted, I'd add just a bit of powdered amylase to the wort during active fermentation in the primary. You'll very likely end up with a dry beer given the candied sugar, regardless.
I've intentionally created drier versions of a certain beer style simply because some ales can support it ... and sometimes, your unintended mistakes can turn out better than expected.

 

[Lefou]

I'll move it to the secondary this weekend and check the SG. How do I arrest the yeast? I'm not familiar with this process?

firewater? My father has suggested I start making whiskey.....

To slow fermentation of an ale, a good option would be refrigeration to just above 32F/0C. The yeast won't die, but over time, they'll drop out of suspension and your beer will tend to clarify a bit.

Are you bottling or kegging? If you're bottle conditioning, yeast health is important because they contribute to your beer's carbonation process. You'll want them to be active and healthy at room temperature for good carbing.
If you're kegging and have reached your desired final gravity, all you have to do is put the beer in a sanitized keg, pressurize at the proper temperature, and wait a few days.

 

[Anon111]

Finish it. You have a light beer, not what you planned but hey, such is life. There's always a second try.

 

[flars]

Milwaukee water is great for brewing.

All municipal supplied water is treated to prevent bacteria buildup in the distribution system. Chloramine level may not be too high but if you build your brewing water from RO or distilled there may be a noticeable flavor difference in you beer.

 

[MSWHeather]

Just checked the gravity = 1.025

 

[Owly055]

Remedial brewing is one of the real challenges of brewing. My late father used to say of carpenters that the real professional is the one who can cover up his mistakes well. A very realistic assessment in my opinion.
A quiet unassuming man, a social worker, my respect for him grew with leaps and bounds when I saw him break his walking stick over the hood of a car downtown that tried to force him (and others) up on the curb, making a right turn through a crosswalk, and again when I read an account in the newspaper of him wading into a conflict in the course of his work, and backing down an armed man....... entirely unarmed himself except for his commanding presence.
Pardon me for "waking poetic" over a man who meant so much to me and shaped my life. Ordained, he chose a "higher calling", which I did not understand at the time. A teetotaler, himself, he never sat in judgment of me or others, though he dealt with the "wreckage> every day.

I've adopted his "carpenter observation" in brewing, and pulled the proverbial fat out of the fire numerous times. To be fair, I have some of the best well water in the world. You can boil it dry and it leaves virtually nothing behind, so I cannot relate to Milwaukee water.... or any urban water. I often laugh at people for buying water........... how absurd is that?? In your case, I would look at what I needed to add to get the gravity up, and retain the original "balance". DME for example, or invert sugar. While doing that, I'd look at the hops, the IBUs and flavor and aroma, and think about ways to get things back on track. It's where the real fun in brewing is!!! When things go wrong, is the time when we are really challenged......not when things go like clockwork. You are homebrewing......not running a microbrewery. It has been said of music that if it sounds good it IS good...... Of brewing one can say, "If it tastes good it is good".

Another disclaimer........ I'm a rather "radical" brewer.

H.W.

 

[soccerdad]

Down here folks say rurnt. It may not be ruined, but it might be rurnt.

 

[MSWHeather]

Good news - moved to secondary and checked gravity = 1.025. Tasted like a Weis beer. Added peaches, oak spirals and wine. Bottle in 3 months.