My first really big beer

[Bigbeavk]

Bottled March17
This past weekend I had to test one and as soon as I opened the case I see the bottle caps bulging upwards. I chilled one with the raspberry in the fridge for 2 days and opened one up. While I was deciding which glass to use I look down and foam is coming out the top and running across the counter.

Question is am I close to having bottle bombs? (12oz bottles with standard caps)
Should I move them into the cellar at this point? I do have other cases sitting on top of this for weight lol

I know this stuff should sit and condition for a long time. I could barely finish one it was so thick and sweet.

Here's the recipe:

Russian Imperial Stout
First brew we did 10 gallons. OG was 1.135 Split the batch into two 5gal buckets and added 4lbs of raspberries to the hot wort in one of them and let them pasteurize for 20 minutes before chilling and pitching the yeast. The other 5 gallons will not get fruit.

Tasted right out of the bottling bucket. mmmm yummy. I can't wait to see how it progresses. I'm going to try and just leave it alone for 3 months before I open the first bottle. Even the batch with Raspberry added tasted great!


Recipe Type Extract
Brew Date Feb 17
Batch size: 10.0 gallons

LB OZ
16 0 Pale Liquid Extract
8 0 Dark Liquid Extract
4 0 Wheat Liquid Extract
2 0 Chocolate Malt
1 4 Crystal 120L
1 0 Black (Patent) Malt
1 0 Malto-Dextrin
1 0 Roasted Barley
0 4 Flaked Wheat

Hops

boil 45 mins 12.0 oz East Kent Goldings pellet
boil 30 mins 1.0 oz Cascade pellet
boil 30 mins 1.0 oz East Kent Goldings pellet
boil 5 mins 2.0 oz Willamette pellet
boil 5 mins 2.0 oz Cascade pellet

Yeast
White Labs Super High Gravity Ale (WLP099)
Ale yeast in liquid form with medium flocculation and 83% attenuation
Champagne yeast added after 3 weeks
Original Gravity 1.135

Final Gravity 1.040 measured
misc
boil 20 min 2 tbsp Irish Moss

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

oh my goodness! that's a frighteningly high FG. Is that the target the recipe called for? Im surprised the champagne yeast didnt get it down lower that that. you might consider wrapping your cases in trash bags just in case so you dont ruin any carpet if you do explode. Also, be really careful when opening them, as the stress of prying off the caps might cause them to shatter. I always hold the first bottles of a batch to be opened in a towel just in case

 

[cclloyd]

I'm thinking the same thing - I don't know what your target gravity was but if you bottled at 1.040 and it tastes really sweet then it likely wasn't done yet and you have the potential for serious physical injury (not to mention mental anguish) in those bottles. Be careful for certain.

 

[wonderbread23]

Yeah, you're sitting at 70% attenuation right now.... probably left too much sugar in solution considering your yeast choices.

 

[Golddiggie]

I think you bottled it far too soon... Chances are, by what you're describing, it really wasn't done fermenting when you did bottle it. Especially with it only at 1.040 after a month. Big brews can take much longer to fully ferment/finish.

At this point in the game, you have to decide if you want to recap the bottles, chill them down for a solid week (maybe more) and see how they are, or just put them into plastic bins and keep your fingers crossed. If you have a basement, that's on the cooler side most of the year, put them down there too. Hopefully you won't have them fully pop, but you won't know until it happens, or doesn't.

Personally, I would have given it at least two months on the primary yeast and then checked it. IF it looked like it needed it, I might have added more yeast to see about getting it to finish lower.

BTW, without knowing the IBU's for the hops, assuming the amount you added was in ounces (or fractions of an ounce), you're under the IBU range for the style. In the area of about 40IBU, where the style is 50-90. I think if you had more IBU's in the brew, it would help to balance out the high sweetness you're getting. Also, that sucker is DARK!! Style is 30-40 SRM, you're at over 55... Nothing really wrong with that, since I doubt most people can tell any difference after around 30 anyway. If you brew it again, I would dump the dark LME and use either more pale LME, or some extra light DME to boost the OG to where you want it. Probably do some late additions for the LME too.

Is this your first big brew? Before this one, what was the highest ABV brew you made? I've done a couple in the 8-10% range, and am looking to make another before I step up into the 12% (or over) neighborhood... You might have hit an elevated 'curse of 1.020' with your batch... One of the problems with using so much extracts...

You probably could have done without the 1# Malto-Dextrin too, since that doesn't ferment...

 

[Bigbeavk]

Target Gravity was 1.125
One guy suggested using the champagne yeast right at the start of it since it was taking so long. From what I've seen in other recipes the final gravity seems about right though. I just hope they survive. lol
Of course while the teacher was busy with other students I had 2 bags of grain and I think I poured 3 gallons of wort over each bag. That might explain the high gravity but being a new brewer I guess I'll learn one way or the other.

Edit: From what I've read on this forum I definitely feel that we bottled way to soon!

On the other hand the teacher and 2 of his volunteers all took home a case each so what ever happens we all will get it lol.

 

[coypoo]

The best thing to do for really large beers (> 1.110) is to brew a 5 gallon batch before and use the yeast cake. You'll have a ton of health and very active yeast and you'll get the best possible attenuation.

 

[beerkrump]

"I could barely finish one it was so thick and sweet. "

I think this should tell you something about how the high FG is going to present itself in your beer. You might think about blending it with something dry.

Maybe a dry hard cider...

 

[Bigbeavk]

I corrected the Hops amounts listed above.

So maybe I could make Black n Tans? I have 10 different cases that we brewed so it may be fun to try a mixture. I don't know I might just recap the bulging ones. Actually it's only the ones with raspberry that are bulging so maybe the others will be ok. I guess I better try a plain one too and see how they are.

 

[dcp27]

How did you get 1.135 for an OG? Thats impossible from the listed ingredients. Even with 100% efficiency, the highest you could have gotten was 1.125.

 

[Bigbeavk]

We measured the OG right after using the chiller at 70°F. I highly doubt the accuracy of these hydrometers to begin with but that's what it read. I work in Metrology so a piece of paper stuffed into a tube really doesn't give me a lot of confidence.

 

[NyPDFustercluck]

try seeing if it's calibrated right by testing it in 60F plain water

 

[Bigbeavk]

Well I got an email today from one of the guys that also had a couple 6 packs of this Imperial Russian Raspberry Stout. Evidently he's had a bottle explode and is recommending I dump mine. Man I really hate doing that. Is my other option recapping them? I moved mine to the cellar last week which is 60°f and a little lower at night. What are my options at this point?

 

[dcp27]

its annoying, but better than dumping. you could empty them back into a carboy for another week or so, let them do their thing, then re-bottle.

 

[Bigbeavk]

I've only got two 6 packs. Wouldn't that be way to much head space in the carboy?

 

[Mparsons327]

I wouldnt go through all the trouble for a 12pack of beer. Just let them sit and if any survive make some black and tans!