over caramelized beer.

[Jobt32]

Trying to figure out what to do with a batch that I have that I accidentally over caramelized by adding extract at beginning of boil. From what I understand its the cause of my beer being stuck around 1.020 FG when I had a target of 1.010 (and very very dark). I've had the same problem with my first 2 batches and the beer has come out terrible, I've since learned and am now making good beer (batch 4 and 5 are coming along very nicely). But I can not drink another 50 beers of it and want to try to save it before I bottle it.

From what I understand by over caramelizing the beer, some of the sugars became too complex for the yeast, thus the high gravity. It has been a month now since I brewed it, is it worth rehydrating some new yeast and pitching it to see if new yeast can go to work and try to bring the gravity down a bit more?

recipe was:

7lbs Liquid Wheat Extract
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.90 %] (60 min) Hops 13.7 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.90 %] (30 min) Hops 10.5 IBU
1.00 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc (optional)
1.00 items Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast

If nothing else Ill just bottle it and drink another 50 punishment beers, but like I said I already had 100 punishment beers and would love to save myself that pain.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Yooper]

Not much you can do now, unfortunately. Call it a 'dessert' beer and next time don't add all the extract at the beginning, and throw away any remaining 5.2 'stabilizer' garbage and it'll be better next time.

 

[sky4meplease]

Somewhere around here there is a thread about "the curse".
Not knowing the sticky details it has something to do with DME and LME not attenuating past 1.020.
Buying the lightest ME you can and adding a portion of it late in the boil can help with the color but you may have your work cut out for you trying to dry out a beer with it.

 

[yohoe]

Incomplete fermentation? Though I'm not familiar with dry yeast, I couldn't get past 1.02 until I used a yeast starter and oxygen

 

[JimRausch]

So what exactly about this 1.020 beer don't you like? Is it too sweet? Off-flavor? Just not the color you were hoping for? If it's a flavor thing, there might be some things you can do to ameliorate it.

 

[Jobt32]

oops I forgot to take out the stabilizer, that was for the AG version. I did not use it.

The beer is way too sweet, and gives me heart burn after a beer or two from all the sugars. not sure why a stout or different high gravity beer doesn't do it but these beers do.

The color isn't important to me, its just a reminder that the beer isn't what it's meant to be.

This beer I did just pitch dry yeast, though on previous beers I rehydrated yeast and still had the problem.

So adding new yeast and hoping for a new fermentation is unlikely to work?

Its just too bad it took me 3 bad batches to finally learn the late extract addition method, talk about a lesson learned.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Some people have tried using beano to get past the 1.02 mark https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/using-amylase-enzyme-beano-restart-stuck-fermentation-111576/

 

[unionrdr]

I don't know why so many insist on this 1.020 curse. It's just a bad step or steps in your process causing the errors. Only use about 1lb extract per gallon of water in the boil. Add the rest @ flame out. Do this with LME moreso than DME. LME caramelizes (read maillard reactions) way easier than DME in the boil.

 

[IslandLizard]

Wheat beer has a very distinct flavor, which you may not be used to (yet). They're also relatively light in color, so that makes me wonder why yours came out "very very dark." Some darkening from the boil is normal and inevitable, but more than that can be an indication of very heavy caramelization or possibly scorching which leaves an acrid or in the worst cases an ashtray-like flavor, which is unpalatable, and a sure dumper.

Did you find a scorched area on the bottom of the pot or a brown sticky residue? Do you stir the extract in while the flame is off? And stir the pot while scraping the bottom regularly? How much wort do you actually boil?

Are you sure you got wheat extract? It is light brown in color and dissolves to a pale, straw yellow. Was it fresh? I presume it was poured from a vat, since 7lb is not the usual multiple can size (3.3 lb).

Properly rehydrating yeast before pitching is definitely the preferred method. What yeast did you use?

Keeping fermentation temperatures toward the low end for the yeast strain makes for cleaner beer, with less fusel alcohols and other off flavors. Then when the fermentation nears the end, raise the temps a bit (5-10°F) to finish it out.

If you like to experiment, you could add fruit to your beer. Like strawberries, raspberries or blackberries or so, it will cover up some off flavors and gives it a different taste, but it may not be worth the expense or make it any better if the beer is really ruined.

If the beer isn't ruined, you could make a small batch of beer with lots of yeast (basically an active starter) and pitch that into your fermentor at high krausen to try to resurrect the 1.020 batch.

 

[JimRausch]

Got ya Jobt- I figured it must be too sweet. So what can you do?
1. Boil some hops in plain water and add to the batch to increase the IBUs to try and offset some of the sweetness.
2. As Island mentioned, add fruit. Might sound odd, adding more sugar in the form of fruit, but the fructose and glucose in fruits are completely fermented leaving the acids to offset the sweetness. Try 1 lb of frozen and crushed cranberries. It worked real well in my Cranberry Graf.
3. Carbonate it a little higher than normal. Co2/carbonic acid tends to lend a little acid bite to offset sweetness.
3. Or- give it all away to wife/girlfriend. I may get in trouble here, but the female persuasions tend to like my sweeter offerings.
Good Luck!

 

[Jobt32]

I did a 3 gal boil, no major burn marks on the bottom, a few small ones though. I used S-05 yeast and pitched dry. and yes it came from a vat from my LHBS in order to get 7lbs, I even asked he said it was a brand new bottle he just got in a few days ago.

Ive made 2 batches since this realization of what i was doing wrong and they are coming along very nicely, gravity is hitting my target right on the mark and color is nice and light (one is a blonde ale and one a pale ale). It is definitely what I was doing wrong, I don't think I'll have problems getting below the 1.020 mark again, just with these over caramelized beers I did.

I think I'm going to go ahead and add some fruit to it, that is a good idea, maybe that will make it at least drinkable. and if not, I'll have my other beers to drink.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[IslandLizard]

That fruit should be pasteurized, either from cans or, if fresh, gone through a freezing process. Count on a minimum of 3 pounds per 5 gallon of beer. Could use more. Some fruits are not very sweet, so you could add some table sugar to the mix, again to boost alcohol and dry it out. Make sure there is no fruit floating on the top, you'll grow mold. It should be all covered with beer, and if not, that fruit should be pushed down so it gets immersed in beer.

You could split the batch over a few gallon jugs and make 5-6 different kinds. This can turn into a nice adventure.

Next time a pound of malt extract per gallon of water is more than enough, I'd cut to 3/4 pounds. Add the balance at flameout. Stir well to mix it all.