Opinions Please. Can I/Should I........?

[DNKDUKE]

OK.... All y'all to me, are the experts, so......let's say I'm still an impatient brewer and I pulled a beer out of primary and racked into secondary too early. When I secondaried, I racked on top of a quart of maple syrup and some yeast nutrient and made sure that I sucked out a little of the trub into secondary. When I did this, the gravity was 1.045 from an OG of 1.085. (I know, I know...:smack

Question: Since I don't know how much more yeast I added in the racking and am afraid that this won't reach a decent gravity, OR worse yet, not carbonate properly, can I/should I introduce more yeast (which I saved from primary) into the carboy at this time or just let it go?

It's sitting in a temp controlled fridge at 63deg F
Yeast is WLP007

 

[m00ps]

Let it sit for a while. Since you racked it so early, the yeast will be more active and there will be more in suspension. Theyll probably pick back up unless they cannot tolerate that high a gravity

Next time: just dump the maple syrup into the primary. Much easier and less risk of infection / oxidation

 

[wi_brewer]

I'd wait before doing anything. If the gravity was still 1.045 then it has a long way to go and there should be plenty of yeast in suspension.

 

[brewprint]

The yeast should compensate and reproduce itself as needed. There's not really a whole lot of reasons why that wouldn't happen. It just may take a little while longer.

If you're worried take it out of the fridge and place it in a 70 degree or so room.

 

[passedpawn]

Add more yeast. I'd do it right away. There's no reason not too. Get a starter going if possible, or just buy two or three vials. I'm concerned that by racking the beer to secondary you've introduced a bunch of O2 and bacteria (it's always present) and, with all that sugar still available, you risk problems.

I want to rant about secondaries and screwing with the beer before it's done, but I think you know all that already. Good luck.

 

[Psylocide]

How long was it in primary? A couple days?

 

[DNKDUKE]

How long was it in primary? A couple days?

14 days
I made a (2) gallon beer starter rather than a regular starter.
The WLP007 too off on this beer like a volcano for the first week. then all but stopped. I tried to rouse is with gentle stirring to no avail, so I secondaried. I have not touched it since (about 10 days)

 

[DNKDUKE]

Add more yeast. I'd do it right away. There's no reason not too. Get a starter going if possible, or just buy two or three vials. I'm concerned that by racking the beer to secondary you've introduced a bunch of O2 and bacteria (it's always present) and, with all that sugar still available, you risk problems.

I want to rant about secondaries and screwing with the beer before it's done, but I think you know all that already. Good luck.

I do..........

I have approx. (1) L of yeast saved. Can I just re-introduce the yeast or are you sticking with the 2-3 vial starter?

There are no visible signs of infection.

 

[DNKDUKE]

how long was it in primary? A couple days?

lol

 

[kombat]

Wait a sec ... it's been fermenting for 2 weeks, and it's only down to 1.045? That doesn't seem right. How are you measuring the gravity? Are you using a refractometer by any chance?

 

[Psylocide]

I haven't made a beer over 1.070, but I would think that it would have fermented out further than that in 14 days. I could be wrong though, I have no experience with that yeast or OG.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Wait a sec ... it's been fermenting for 2 weeks, and it's only down to 1.045? That doesn't seem right. How are you measuring the gravity? Are you using a refractometer by any chance?

(sheepishly)...yes...

 

[DNKDUKE]

(tongue-in-cheek) ...but I love my refractometer - it has a pretty blue line and I don't have to squink (popeye) to read it....

 

[Psylocide]

(tongue-in-cheek) ...but I love my refractometer - it has a pretty blue line and I don't have to squink (popeye) to read it....

Well, you need to do the conversion then... I think alcohol messes with the readout.

Unless you already know this.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/

 

[PoppinCaps]

Beat me to it...

 

[DNKDUKE]

Well according to this calculator, it's done. 1.005

 

[Psylocide]

Problem solved then, eh?

 

[DNKDUKE]

I will take a gravity when I get home tonight and because I'm going to do that with a refracto meter, I will plug the number into the calculator.
Results forthcoming.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Problem solved then, eh?

Maybe, I'll see what the number looks like tonight.

:rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin:

passedpawn: I was heading toward your advice when I got this refractometer thing. If the gravity is not to my liking, I will be using your suggestion.

 

[passedpawn]

Maybe, I'll see what the number looks like tonight.

:rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin:

passedpawn: I was heading toward your advice when I got this refractometer thing. If the gravity is not to my liking, I will be using your suggestion.

I have a refractometer. I gave up getting it to read properly after fermentation. I'd cal it for one beer, the next beer it would be way off again. Hydrometer is the only way.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Ok.
The current gravity is 1.005.
So the next question is do I condition in the secondary and then bottle OR do I bottle now and let it sit for 4-6 weeks?

 

[Psylocide]

What kind of beer was this supposed to be?

That puts you at ~10.3% ABV @ 1.005 FG.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Maple sap and syrup porter.
That's about spot on for the recipe since it called for TWO quarts of syrup with an ABV closer to 11.5% and I only used 1 QT.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Know that I used the refractometer and plugged the number into the calculator.
Even after adding the qt of syrup, my refract. Number was 1.049. Only .005 higher than before I added the maple.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Yamo bottle but I'm gonna take my time. So if I don't get to it for another week or two that's OK.
I'm working on my patience............

 

[DNKDUKE]

UPDATE:
This has been sitting in bottles for 3 weeks and is just starting to carbonate - I opened a bottle last night. It is still sickeningly sweet so I honestly do not think any further carbonation or conditioning is going to help the flavor. (first needed opinion)

I am thinking about opening 3/4 of the bottles and dumping them in a sanitized carboy with the slurry that I saved from this beers primary. Has anyone ever tried/done this? Is this a viable option for a beer that I think I pulled out of fermentation too early?

 

[stpug]

UPDATE:
This has been sitting in bottles for 3 weeks and is just starting to carbonate - I opened a bottle last night. It is still sickeningly sweet so I honestly do not think any further carbonation or conditioning is going to help the flavor. (first needed opinion)

I am thinking about opening 3/4 of the bottles and dumping them in a sanitized carboy with the slurry that I saved from this beers primary. Has anyone ever tried/done this? Is this a viable option for a beer that I think I pulled out of fermentation too early?

How about opening one beer and getting a hydrometer reading on it? If there's much carbonation then you might want to first decarb the beer by warming it up a bit (80F should be good), and stirring until most of the carbonation has gone away, then cooling back down to 60F for the reading.

It's hard to believe that a 1.005 beer is sickeningly sweet and since you came up with that FG using a refract calculator then I think it's time for a second opinion (i.e. hydrometer).

Also, in regards to the recipe, what were your hop additions or expected IBUs?

 

[DNKDUKE]

How about opening one beer and getting a hydrometer reading on it?

Will this be accurate?
I will try this tonight.

 

[stpug]

Will this be accurate?
I will try this tonight.

Yes, as long as you remove most of the carbonation and get the beer to around 60F when taking the reading.

I have poured beer into a glass (or metal bowl), and then put that glass in a larger bowl of hot water to warm it up. Stirring every 5 minutes for about half an hour is usually sufficient to knock out most of the carbonation. Then put the glass in a bowl of ice water to cool it back down to 60F.

 

[DNKDUKE]

Yes, as long as you remove most of the carbonation and get the beer to around 60F when taking the reading.

I have poured beer into a glass (or metal bowl), and then put that glass in a larger bowl of hot water to warm it up. Stirring every 5 minutes for about half an hour is usually sufficient to knock out most of the carbonation. Then put the glass in a bowl of ice water to cool it back down to 60F.

I will do this.
Stay tuned.............

EDIT:
Where are you going solution wise, with this?