Low OG Russian Imperial Stout any help?

[MrKangaruu]

Hello all!

After being stationed in Germany and gaining a love for beer, I have returned back to the US and found myself in need of a hobby... Home brewing interested me so I decided to try it out.

I bought a Brewers Best - Russian Imperial Stout. My question is: Per the packet insert, OG should be 1.076 - 1.080. However, mine ended up at 1.060..... It has been fermenting for the past 4 days and has been active. Doing the math by the worksheet given in the recipe shows that my beer if it were posible to get down to 1.000 would be about 5.5 percent. It should be around %7.75 - %8.25......

Can I add anything to bump up the alcohol content?? I am still getting CO2 bubbles from my airlock.


Thank you

Brandon

 

[MaxStout]

I'm assuming this is an extract kit? The OG should come out close to the stated range, unless your kit was a little short of extract. The only other thing I can think of is your hydrometer reading was off.

Using this calculator, you would have 7.88% ABV going from 1.060 to 1.000. It won't ferment down to 1.000, but if it ferments down to, say, 1.016, you'd have about 5.8%.

You could always add sugar to boost alcohol, but that would make it thinner and affect the flavor. Why not just let it ferment as is and enjoy a mild RIS?

 

[brew_ny]

it is hard to get a good mix with extract if you put in the right amount of sugar

your OG is fine

all the best

S_M

 

[MrKangaruu]

Thanks for the quick responses. After my top blew off and painted my wall with froth I thought I was in over my head..... After finding this site it helped me with the overall picture of home brewing.... I will let it go and see what happens!

 

[MaxStout]

The ABV may not fall within the range of a typical RIS, but who cares if it turns out to be tasty beer? Don't give up on it.

Oh, and use a blowoff tube next time. Those active fermentations can get messy if there's no place for the excess krausen to go.